Tag: holy life

Seek Good Not Evil

Seek Good Not Evil

The Bible exhorts us to seek good and not evil on a daily basis.  We’re encouraged to try to live at peace with others.  Let’s have a look at some of those verses:

Do you want to live and enjoy a long life?  13 Then don’t say cruel things and don’t tell lies.  14 Do good instead of evil and try to live at peace.  15 If you obey the Lord, he will watch over you and answer your prayers.  (Ps 34:12-15 CEV)

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.  (Isa 1:16-17 ESV) 

Seek good, not evil, that you may live.  Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.  (Amos 5:14 NIV)

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  (Mic 6:8 NLT)

Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  (Mt 6:33 CEB)

There is a promise to us that if we seek good and not evil, and be at peace with others, we will enjoy a long life.  Not only that, but the Lord says that He will be with us.  Another promise is that the Lord will watch over us and answer our prayers.  Wow!  Those are wonderful promises that God is giving us and notice that these are very desirable blessings.

We are also exhorted to be humble.  In other words, we should treat others with the respect that they deserve since all human beings have been made in the image of God.

Desire to see God’s kingdom and righteousness established, and when we do, every other blessing that we could ever desire will be given to us.  So today’s lesson is:  Live an upright and holy life, and reap the blessings that Jesus Christ purchased for everyone who would believe in Him.  Glory to God!

A Relationship With Jesus is Great Gain

A Relationship With Jesus is Great Gain

Once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we have begun an eternal relationship with the Lord.  Having a relationship with Jesus, our Savior, is the greatest blessing and gain (profit, benefit, advantage) anyone can ever have.  Hallelujah!

But godliness with contentment is great gain.  (1 Tim 6:6 NIV)  Living a holy life (godliness) with peace in our hearts (contentment) is a wonderful blessing.

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  (Heb 13:5)  Jesus, our living Lord, will never leave us nor reject us.  The Word instructs us to be content with such a supernatural blessing as this, as well as all of the other blessings that Jesus has purchased for us.

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.  (1 Tim 4:8)  Godliness (righteousness, holiness) is necessary and beneficial for this life as well as for all eternity.

Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble.  (Pro 15:16)  It is better to have a small amount in this life along with awe-inspired respect for our Lord, than to have what the world considers to be “great treasure” because such things are accompanied by anxieties and dangers, and temptations to turn away from our faith in our Savior.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.  (Ps 84:11)  The Lord does not deny ANY GOOD THING to His followers, His obedient ones who live in holiness. The greatest wealth that anyone can ever have is a deep and abiding relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 

Every blessing, every benefit, and every advance is a gift that flows from His loving heart.  Thank God for His blessings today, friends!

Crucify the Earthly Nature

Crucify the Earthly Nature

Today’s topic is the earthly nature of man with its passions and desires.  The Bible urges us to put to death the deeds of the body.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  (Col 3:5 NIV)

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  (Rom 8:13)

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  (Gal 5:24)

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and temporary residents in the world, to abstain from the desires of the sinful flesh, which war against your soul.  (1 Pet 2:11 EHV)

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.  (1 Cor 6:18)

Why do you think the Scriptures urge us in so many passages of the Bible to:

  • Put to death the earthly nature;
  • Put to the death the deeds of the body;
  • Crucify the flesh;
  • Abstain from desires of the sinful flesh; and to
  • Flee sexual immortality?

1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Peter 2 state very clearly the reasons why we should obey the Bible:

  • Because the desires of the flesh war against our own souls; and
  • The one who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

When we allow the lusts of the flesh to govern our actions, then we sin against our very own bodies.  How?  Because our bodies have become the temple of the Holy Spirit.  (1 Cor 6:19-20)  This type of sin is an offense to our temple and the Holy Guest living within it.   

We belong to God, and our individual bodies belong to God.  We have chosen to follow Jesus of our own, free will; it hasn’t been forced upon us. 

The Lord has sealed each believer and given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.  (2 Cor 1:22)

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  (Eph 4:30)

We are urged by the Word of God to live a righteous and holy life by the empowering grace of God.  (See Rom 12:1; 1 Pet 1:15-16)  Since the Lord has given us His gift of grace, we are enabled to live obedient, holy lives.  He has given us victory through Jesus Christ.  (1 Cor 15:57)  Let us celebrate God’s goodness and mercy!

We are called, as followers of Jesus Christ and children of God to glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits.  God bless you!

Stumble?

Stumble?

Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.  (Ps 119:165)

What does “stumble” mean as used in the Bible? 

It means:  1) to err; to slide into a crime or an error; 2) to have a moral failing; or 3) to place a blockage in someone’s way causing them to sin.

As the verse in Psalm 119 above says, when we have the peace that Jesus has given to us and we love God’s Word, then nothing has the power to cause us to sin.  Hallelujah!

My son, let them not depart from your eyes—keep sound wisdom and discretion; 22 so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck.  23 Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble. (Prov 3:21-23)

As we keep the wisdom and discretion that comes from reading and memorizing God’s Word in our hearts, those words are life itself to our souls.  They provide grace to our behavior and character; they give us strength and sure-footedness.  And they prevent us from stumbling.

He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.  (1 Joh 2:10)

When we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, we live in the light where all of our actions are open to view.  And in our actions, as we live for Christ and serve the Kingdom of God, there will be nothing for someone to see as an invitation or a cause to sin.  This is just one of the many blessings that living a holy life, committed to serving Jesus Christ gives to us.  Thank You, Lord!