The Lord's Righteousness

Psalm 4 (NKJV)

1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

2 How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? Selah

3 But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him.

4 Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah

5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.

6 There are many who say, "Who will show us any good?" LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.

7 You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.

8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

When we call upon God, we do so on the basis of His righteousness. He is merciful and hears our prayers when we trust in Him. God sets apart for His use those who seek to live godly lives. The world looks in vain to find good because they love things without eternal value and are led by lies. God alone is good.  He lifts up His light upon those who are His own; He puts gladness in our hearts and makes us dwell in safety.

Meditate within your heart on God’s goodness and righteousness; your soul will find peace.

Thursday Devotional - Chasing After the Wind of Explanations

Thank you to Matt Brumage and Renae Phelps for writing the last couple Thursday devotionals while I was on vacation!

Back to Ecclesiastes…

We often seek out explanations, whether it’s in the news, with our kids or our co-workers. In fact, three-year-olds are great at asking “why” about everything! I’m glad my kids aren’t in that phase anymore! They still ask “why” a lot, but not over and over.

How much do you and I ask God “why” over and over? He wants us to know Him and ask Him questions, but there are going to be things we won’t ever be able to understand this side of Heaven. Even the wisest man, Solomon, had many questions for God that he didn’t get answered.

Ecclesiastes 8:14 and 16-17    ¹⁴ There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless…¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— ¹⁷ then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.

No one can comprehend or explain all God has done. We are assured that in the end, though, it will go best for the God-fearing.

Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 ¹² Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. ¹³ Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

We can pray and ask and study the Bible to understand what God enables us to understand. We can stop the repetitive “whys” and accept that we aren’t going to get answers for everything. God wouldn’t be God if we could fully understand Him!

Alice

Your body is a temple

I Corinthians 19-20

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

The content of these verses is talking about fleeing from sexual immorality.  While this is something that I feel the world does not take very serious any more, it is not the only thing that we need to remember with our bodies being a temple of the Holy Spirit. 

One area that I feel the world, including many Christians, don’t think about with regards to treating our bodies as temples is with drinking.  Drinking seems to be very acceptable any more.  While I’m not condemning having a drink, we need to understand what is good for our bodies and what is not.  Does it benefit your body?  If not, what is the purpose? 

Many people these days want to fit in with those around them.  To the point that we have redefined our standards on what is acceptable and really come to accept anything.  This is not what we have been called to do as Christians though.  We need to remember that we have been set apart.  Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  We are not our own, Christ paid the ultimate price for us therefore we are to honor God with our bodies.