God's Right-ness

Psalm 145:7b

And joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

God's righteousness involves His justice as well as His mercy and grace. It is right-ness in everything He does, because He is love! Because He loves His creation, "He has compassion on all He has made" (v.9). He "opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing," which means that He causes the seasons to grow the food for all the creatures He has made, for this is right. It is often man's rule over his fellow beings that results in famine. We rejoice in God's goodness and righteousness, because when we know His ways and think His positive thoughts (see Philippians 4:8), then we will love Him and our fellow man, and be glad that God is such a good God who does everything righteously. We will rejoice in what is right, and sing the songs that praise His right-ness, His perfection.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Jealousy Versus Envy

Exodus 34:14

Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Moses was about to allow the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, and God makes this startling statement. We tend to see jealousy as a negative, even sinful trait. But it is envy that is wrong. Envy is lusting after what belongs to another. However, jealousy has been called a fear of losing what belongs to me. All worship rightfully belongs to God, and He knows that whenever we allow anything else to take first place in our lives, it is to our detriment. So He is jealous to have us for Himself; He will not share us with any other. Only He can give us what we need, no other. He knows how vulnerable we all are to think that we know better, or that something of this world can meet our needs. But He is our all-in-all, the only One who is to come first in all our thoughts, our attitudes and our decisions.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Workplace Attitudes

Ephesians 6:5-9

Slaves, -- Today that would be employees.

obey your earthly masters -- your boss

with respect and fear, -- considering the authority God has given them over you

with sincerity of heart, -- with integrity

just as you would obey Christ. -- how you would treat Jesus if He were your boss.

Obey them not only to win their favor -- Do not "brown-nose" or suck up to them

when their eye is on you, -- when they're watching

but like slaves of Christ, -- Jesus is really your boss

doing the will of God -- everything you know you should be doing, not slacking off

from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, -- put your whole self, all your energy into it

as if you were serving the Lord, not men, -- Your Boss really is Jesus, beyond and above your manager at work

because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, -- Remember the Judgement Seat of Christ (Romans 12:10, II Corinthians 5:10)

whether he is slave or free. -- It doesn't matter if your're working as an employee at a business or if you are the owner of the business working for yourself, we are all accountable.

And masters, -- Employers, managers, bosses of any kind

treat your slaves -- your employees, those who work under you

in the same way. -- Have the same attitude of mind in dealing with employees, customers, suppliers, whoever you do business with, as though Jesus was working for you, buying from you, or supplying what you need.

Do not threaten them, -- Don't be harsh, because God is gentle with us

since you know that He who is both their Master and yours -- Jesus is Lord, Boss over all of us

is in Heaven, -- He's up there, watching

and there is no favoritism with Him. -- It doesn't matter if He placed you high or low on the "ladder," you are still and always accountable to Him. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

A Lifestyle Of Adherence To The Law

Ezra 7:10

For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

Ezra had chosen to live a lifestyle of devotion to the Lord by studying to know what the Law says, and to observe and practice in his life the lifestyle of adherence to the Law of the Lord. And he also had compassion for his fellow Israelites in teaching them how to follow the concepts of the Law so they also would live lives that could be acceptable to God to bless them with His goodness.

When we live our lives in accordance to how God designed this Earth to work by cooperating with the regulations and decrees He has given us, then the result will be that things will go well for us, and we will be blessed by God in this world, as well as inherit eternal life in His Kingdom.

We don't need to be born into a family of priests like Ezra was to be able to study God's Word for ourselves; each one of His children has His Holy Spirit living in us to teach us an accurate understanding of what He has written in the Bible. When we approach Bible study with the attitude of drawing out what is there, rather than trying to find validation of our own ideas, then His Spirit will guide us into His Truth. And the Truth will set us free from the erroneous and deceitful philosophies of the world.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Puzzle Pieces

Hebrews 11:39-40

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

All the Old Testament saints were parts of God's Plan of the Ages. But they weren't the whole picture, just a part of it. We also are parts of the whole, and only with all of us together can we see how glorious God's Plan is for us. We still don't have the complete picture, but like a puzzle, the pieces that are in place are showing how the rest of the pieces will look; and God has given us that picture, in His prophets, the teachings of Jesus, and in the Epistles and Revelation. I've read the "end of the story" and I can see enough of the picture to fill in a lot of the pieces not accomplished yet. 

Father, dear, help us to to be Your hands, Your feet and Your voice, to further along Your Plan, to do, to say, to be where You would have us be, do and say. May Your workers toil in Your fields to reap Your crop, Your fruits of Righteousness and find all Your lost sheep, to carry them into the safety of Your fold. And may Your will be done on this Earth, the same as it is done in Heaven.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Same Respect For All Persons Before The Law

Exodus 12:49

The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.

God gave this stipulation to Moses and Aaron even before they left Egypt to go to the Promised Land. It has always been the Law for God's people Israel, and it continues to be the Law in Israel today, even for those who are Arab and Palestinian who live in Israel among the Jews. The same laws apply to everyone. That is a real wonder, that even today the Israelis have the same respect for all persons, regardless of pedigree, even knowing that there are enemies among them.

Thank you, Father, for Your faithfulness to Your promises, that You are keeping Israel in Your hand, protecting and preserving them for That Day!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Mending Family Relationships

I John 4:19-21

We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother (or sister), he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother (sister), whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother (sister).

The concept of "family" is to include all differences, accepting one another as we are, whether we agree or not. We may disagree on many issues, and we will offend each other from time to time; but we are to voice our complaints in a loving way within the family, without blaming or criticism. We are to love one another unconditionally, no matter what it costs us, as God loves us. We can do that by talking out our differences and being willing to come to some kind of agreement.

My dear Father, please teach us how to live in our Earthly families as we will live in Your Heavenly family, in the love with which You love us. Help us to accept each family member, recognizing the good and admirable in each other's personalities and characters, and reaching out compassionately to one another expecting eventual reconciliation of the differences that have built walls between us. Show us how we can demolish those walls, one stone at a time.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!