Tag Archives: righteousness

Walking into the Woods (A Word to the Wise)

01 Wednesday Jun 2016

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The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul (Proverbs 16:17, NKJV). Jesus said that He is the way, the truth and the life. No man can go to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). This means that if a person desires heaven, then he must listen and obey Jesus. The Scripture speaks, “though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:8-9, ASV). We all travel on a highway through life; it is the desire of many to arrive at a destination that is restful and pleasant. The thoughtful person even desires that place to be heaven. But it won’t be heaven if he/she does not listen to Jesus and obey. The reason for this is simple: The Lord gave directions as to how to get there, but if a person hears nothing of those directions, then no possibility of arrival exists. Even if one did listen, but then changed her mind about listening further, the result will be straying from the less traveled path the Lord walked on, and into the woods where one’s vision is shortened, potentially with a branch (beam) stuck in the eye (or eyes). RT

 

Something Better (Word to the Wise)

12 Tuesday Apr 2016

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Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right (Proverbs 16:8, NKJV). If there is a steady bit of counsel, I will give young people it is this: as you grow older the regrets become more pronounced; minimize your regrets early on. We will all have regrets, even the most-saintly among us. That is just the way it is. We can do something about minimizing our regrets, even if we got a late start in life. This proverb illustrates what one can do. righteousness needs to be understood in relation to the Lord, not in relation to how a man judges it. For certain, man will judge whether or not you are righteous, but if you are making certain you are applying the Lord’s standard to your life, then whatever it is that man evaluates will matter little to you. Remember the counsel the apostle Paul gave to the Corinthians? He knew they were judging him; he only wanted them to measure him by the Lord’s standard (1 Corinthians 4:1-5). That is to be our approach also. Paul had regrets, but he had something even greater – and that was hope. RT

 

Steps Directed

09 Wednesday Dec 2015

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Psalm 37:23-24—The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand (NKJV).

Are your steps directed in the Lord’s way? It might be that you will answer, “I surely hope so!” That answer does not have to be with that tinge of doubt; rather, one’s answer can be, “For certain they are!” The difference between the two is this: with the first reply, one simply speaks of a desire, but no certainty. With the latter, that desire is actually a certainty. Certainty is not arrogant. Look at the passage and see if there is any arrogance within the words. A person who is devoted to the Lord knows well the failings of life, and he knows well his (her) own failings especially. Because there is an awareness of human frailties, it is all the more important to trust in One who has no failings. With this trust the life directed is directed by the steps the Lord walked and not one’s own. The NLT (New Living Translation) gives a good sense of what is said, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every details of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”

The steps you take in life direct you toward a destination. It is up to you to determine the destination that you desire to arrive at. If the destination we seek to arrive at is with the Lord, then it is His way of righteousness that compels us to alter our thinking from our own, to the Lord’s (Galatians 2:20). On the other hand, if the direction is our own making, then the direction we have chosen is with the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), and it can be no other way. Choose wisely, then, for the choice made is a destination’s journey (cf. Luke 13:22). RT

Romans 10 Summary

18 Wednesday Nov 2015

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Paul explains that physical Israel (the nation) was not (is not) saved because the approach taken was not of God’s doing, but of their own (cf. 9:30-10:3). This fulfills the words of Jeremiah 10:23 when the Lord’s prophet declared that it is not in man that walks to properly direct his own steps in the direction of God. Paul then illustrates from Scripture how it was that Israel failed to understand. One can attain righteousness under the authority of the Law of Moses if God was near to one’s heart. God, however, was not near to the heart when there existed a willful failure of understanding. When God was near to one’s heart, the Law’s purpose was much clearer (1:16; cf. Deuteronomy 10:12-13). This spiritual approach brought one to Jesus. God’s preachers, even going back to the days of Isaiah, preached His good news of justification by faith (1:16). Yet many of those who heard did not obey because the word they heard was not mixed with faith (10:17; cf. Heb. 4:2). Thus, the problem was not God, and neither was it the message God’s preachers proclaimed. It was with those who heard and, in this case, it was the nation of Israel.  RT

 

A righteous nation (A Word to the Wise)

24 Friday Apr 2015

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Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34, NKJV). “Righteousness” is only properly understood in relation to the Lord’s holy will. To Israel, a theocracy, God’s will obeyed resulted in the Lord’s direct blessings on them (cf. Deut. 4:6-8). Consequently, “righteousness” is NOT to be understood as virtuous actions apart from the Lord express will. Many in our country today are doing “right” by their neighbors, but that is not the righteousness that is in view by either the proverb, or the Lord. The spiritual and moral corruption in people (including ourselves) brings much reproach upon the land. The USA is not a theocracy, but we can still do what is right because of who God is. Because we are not doing what is right, theocracy or not, the Lord’s reproach is on us. RT