To Be or Not To Be: Righteous
Psalms 34:7-19 7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
I love these verses. I have talked often about the pathway of holiness. You see, in Psalm 14, Psalm 53 and Romans 3:10 we are told none is righteous, no not one. None except Jesus, that is.
Remember, Isaiah 64:6 says our righteousness is as filthy rags. This means we have no right standing before God apart from Jesus. So how do we clothe ourselves in righteousness? It is a daily choice to follow Jesus. The pathway of holiness is the way we achieve this choice.
Ps 34:11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
May we return to fearing God, seeking God, speaking good, and declaring that Jesus is Lord, now and forever.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
He Brought Me Out
Psalms 40:2-10 (ASV) 2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay;
And he set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:
Many shall see it, and fear,
And shall trust in Jehovah.
4 Blessed is the man that maketh Jehovah his trust,
And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works which thou hast done,
And thy thoughts which are to us-ward:
They cannot be set in order unto thee;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering thou hast no delight in;
Mine ears hast thou opened:
Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I am come;
In the roll of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do thy will, O my God;
Yea, thy law is within my heart.
9 I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly;
Lo, I will not refrain my lips,
O Jehovah, thou knowest.
10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart;
I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation;
I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great assembly.
Psalms 107:13-15 (NRSV) 13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
14 he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
Isn’t it odd how life takes its twists and turns? We plan, we save our money, we try to do the right things, yet the control we have over our own circumstances is sometimes tenuous at best.
David was well aware of the difficulties life throws our way. He knew where to turn when he was in despair, and he knew how to reach God in prayer. If we can learn nothing else, we must gain the understanding that God is our very present help in time of need—in good times and in troubled times we should praise the Lord.
What does praise in the time of discouragement accomplish? First, we take our focus off ourselves and turn it to God. There are no circumstances so great that God is overwhelmed. Secondly, when we praise God even in times of trouble, we are declaring our faith for all to see. What a great witness to sing with true joy even in the storm. Finally, we are lifted up by the mighty hand of God.
I am closing today with another hymn of the church.
He Brought Me Out
4. I’ll sing of His wonderful mercy to me,
I’ll praise Him till all men His goodness shall see;
I’ll sing of salvation at home and abroad,
Till many shall hear the truth and trust in God.
Refrain:
He brought me out of the miry clay,
He set my feet on the Rock to stay;
He puts a song in my soul today,
A song of praise, hallelujah!
May we share today the deliverance of God, giving hope to the hopeless and peace to the those in conflict.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We Must Believe
Hebrews 11:6-9 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise
Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Faith and hope-are they two sides of the same coin or are they completely different entities? When I think of the Old Testament saints, I am amazed by the faith they displayed. If we need to see to believe then we do not have faith, for by faith we believe in the unseen and hope in the impossible.
Faith, a strong belief or trust, when paired with hope, a confident expectation, is what keeps us going when we are tempted to give up. I know of no one whose life has been untouched by disappointment or disease. But God, in His mercy, gives us the ability to face whatever comes our way.
May we let our faith and hope grow and continue to grow, so that we can accomplish God’s will.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Live in Peace
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (NIV) 12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
Peace—inner calm, tranquility, absence of conflict.
Oh, how I love Paul’s words to the Thessalonians. Everything in these few verses provides us with a blueprint for living with and caring for others. Encourage, help, be patient with, do not pay back wrong but strive to do what is good. I have found that looking for good in others brings out the good in me. When I seek to see people through the eyes of Christ, I do not see their flaws, but I see people loved by God and therefore worthy of my love.
For years, I interpreted verse 18 to mean give thanks in spite of everything. That must be what he meant, right? No, when we are believers, Christ followers, we not only see life differently, we live differently. When we can begin to give thanks for adverse circumstances, then we are engaging in Kingdom living here on this earth.
May we today and every day rejoice always, stay in an attitude of prayer, and give thanks, for this is the will of God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalms 62:5-8
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Did you know how helpful it is to read the Word out loud? It is particularly important to speak the word as it relates to prayers or, perhaps using certain scripture as affirmations of our faith.
I love reading and studying God’s Word, and sharing my thoughts with others is such a blessing. It is my hope to encourage all to seek after the One who came to set the captives free, to model the love Jesus showed to even those who hated Him, and to choose kindness as our first response.
I do not write these devotionals because I have all the answers, but because I, like you, want nothing more than to find comfort in knowing my Lord and Savior more intimately, and to be transformed by His grace.
Take the name of Jesus with you and share Him with all you meet.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Tree
We put up a tree each Christmas,
And for years I didn’t know why.
The tree I related with Jesus
Was the one on which He died.
But then the answer came from Heaven,
Not a whisper, more like a sigh;
We put up a tree at Christmas
To celebrate new life in Christ.
The tree is always an evergreen
For this new life will never die.
And the joy is everlasting
And won’t fade as time goes by.
The treetop points towards Heaven,
Where Jesus sits upon the throne,
And the branches reach out to praise Him
Who claimed us as His own.
We dress the tree with ornaments and lights,
But neither of these is for show.
The ornaments are the fruits of the Spirit,
And each year, the fruits continue to grow.
The lights have a special meaning,
But it’s one all people should know.
They mean that Jesus is the light of the world,
And, oh, how that light still glows.
So when you put your tree up this Christmas,
Don’t forget the customs of the past.
But take time to celebrate Jesus,
So that your Christmas spirit will last
Far beyond the Christmas holidays,
And well into the New Year, too.
Take time to celebrate Jesus,
In return, you’ll find a brand new you.
2008 Carol J. Grace All Rights Reserved
Seeking Holiness 