Tag: Righteousness

Digging in Deeper: Philippians 1:20

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“…as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Here, Paul is talking about his current physical situation and how some folks are responding to it.  Just before v. 20 here, he talks about people who are sharing the Gospel out of both pure and selfish motives.  Either way, Paul says, the Gospel is proclaimed, which brings him joy.  Verse 20 is followed by his much more famous declaration that to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 31:3-4; 8-9

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“Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings.  It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink. . .Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Do you want to live like a king?  Who doesn’t?  And yet, what exactly does it mean to live like a king?  Most cultures certainly have an answer to that question.  It means getting to be wealthy.  It mean getting to have whatever–or whomever–you want.  It means getting to do whatever you want.  It means getting to go to neat places and meet amazing people.  It means getting to live like…well…a king. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Revelation 9:20-21

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“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is the real key of this chapter and, really, one of the main themes of the entire record.  There appear to be two goals of the various acts of cataclysmic judgments described in Revelation.  One goal is the punishment of sin.  God has been patient long enough and now it is time for judgment.  It is time to let people see and experience the full weight of their sin.  Just like with the nation of Israel in the days leading up to and during the conquest of Jerusalem and the exile, the time for the whole world has come up and sin is finally being judged on a large scale. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 120:2

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“Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

The psalmist is almost certainly talking about the lying lips and deceitful tongue of another person here, but if you’ll indulge me for a minute, let’s run in a slightly different direction.  You have perhaps prayed for God to deliver you from the trouble caused by another person, but how about the trouble caused by…you? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 3:13

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“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Battling sin is a task for today.  We live in a world of doing the hard stuff later and the fun stuff now.  Battling sin isn’t fun.  It’s hard.  It’s dangerous.  It brings guarantees of success, yes, but also of pain.  And yet it is a task we cannot put off until tomorrow.  We must tackle it today. Read the rest…