righteousness Archives

Perfect advice from Jesus

The fashion police are suggesting we add animal prints to our wardrobes this fall. The health advisors are telling us to line up for this year’s flu shots, especially if you have passed your 65th birthday. The financial advisors are suggesting a lot of things, and we know how that advice can turn out. We don’t lack advice in this world, but neither do we lack advice that is always perfect.

What is the perfect advice Jesus offered?

The Sermon on the Mount summarizes Jesus’ entire earthly ministry. Jesus left heaven to teach and make the New Covenant between God and man possible. Jesus began his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes and followed those lessons with practical advice for daily living. If every Christian lived faithfully to Jesus’ most important sermon, churches would probably need to set aside thirty minutes of every worship service just for baptisms.

Jesus made a statement in his Sermon on the Mount that might be the best advice he ever gave. He said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). I can’t think of a single lesson Jesus ever taught that isn’t covered by that one verse!

Jesus gave us that perfect direction. Now, how do we put it into practice?

Lesson 1: Seek first

What is the first thing you “seek” after you wake up? For me, it’s coffee! But once I have that first cup in my hands, I settle into my chair and consider the day. My mind naturally shifts to that day’s agenda and needs. Soon, I’m making plans, lists, and deciding how to accomplish things. Maybe the better question to consider each morning is, “What is the highest priority I should seek to remember today?”

How would our lives change if the first thing we sought each day was the sovereign word and will of our King? How would that priority lead us to seek a right relationship with him throughout our day? I have often heard someone teach “seek first” as the priority to set a time for morning devotion with God. While that is a great idea, it doesn’t really teach the verse correctly. Jesus was saying that making God King is the most important priority for our use of time all day and every day.

If you make God your sovereign King today, what will he add or take off your schedule? Who will you call, care about, or counsel because God’s Spirit chooses to work through your life to impact another? Making disciples is about offering people the opportunity to surrender their lives to a King.

What edict will your King give you to accomplish today?

Lesson 2: The kingdom of God and his righteousness

The apostle Paul wrote, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). The prophet Isaiah said, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away (Isaiah 64:6). It didn’t take Adam and Eve long to follow Satan’s suggestions, and people have been unrighteous since that day.

God gave us freedom to choose and then told us to surrender that freedom to his rule. Why would the Creator set up a system he knew would allow each person to sin and become unrighteous? God is the one and only King, yet every person will seek something or someone less than the God we are supposed to seek “first.”

God created us with the ability to choose so that we could choose to love him and others. That’s why Jesus taught his listeners to seek God as King and to seek “his righteousness.” We will never be capable of righteousness on our own, and God will never be anything less than righteous. When we seek God as our King, we will also seek his will and word for our lives because we trust his perfection.

Jesus had already told his listeners on the mountainside that day, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Jesus taught that we should seek to be right with God as much as we seek to consume food and beverage every day. I won’t be fully satisfied with my life until I seek to be right with God even more than I seek that first cup of coffee each morning.

None of us is righteous. We all seek to please others sometimes more than we seek to please God. We often trust his grace for our choices more than we choose to submit our choices to his perfect grace. He gave us his word, his Holy Spirit, and his commands. Forgive us Lord, for the many times we have considered your sovereign will as an option.

Lesson 3: God wants to add every good thing to your life.

God is our loving Father. He didn’t give us his word and will to remove our choices, and he didn’t give us his Spirit to replace our free will. Instead, God wants to be our sovereign King to guide and empower our choices. God provided us with a clear path to live with his blessings. Why do we ever choose something else? But we do.

Jesus told those on that mountainside that if they would seek God and his righteousness, “all these things” would be added to their lives. When we truly know God’s perfection, we will want to walk in his ways. That’s our best life on earth and our rewarded life in heaven.

Which choices will you make today that God can bless? Every choice you make today that honors him as your King will matter eternally, for you and likely for others as well. Those moments are the best moments in this life!

That’s what the “therefore” is there for.

After Jesus had given his listeners great advice for living as a child of God, he said, “Therefore.” What was the “therefore” there for? The answer to that question is one of the best ways to know whether you are living with God as your King today.

Jesus said, “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34).

What are you worried about today? What possible problems or concerns do you have for the months and years to come? How might those thoughts or ideas hinder you from accomplishing something God has called you to do today?

If God is your King today, then you can trust him to be your King tomorrow and every day that follows. As you seek his priorities for this day, you can trust tomorrow’s worries to his promises. Every worry and every concern serves as a reminder to bow before your King and say, “I make you King of every moment. Remove those things from my life that hinder your will and add anything that is your will to my life. I will trust your direction as the work of your love and grace.”

He is our perfect King and our holy Father. Let’s seek to enthrone him in our lives today and then do the same tomorrow. Let’s make sure we obey the perfect advice Jesus gave us first. Everything else will follow.

It’s common sense to pursue righteousness

The verse that caused Martin Luther to call the Book of James “an epistle of straw” was likely the verse that asks the question, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (James 2:14). Martin Luther was fighting the ideas that had moved the practices of his church away from the truth of the Bible. His fight would eventually lead to the beginning of the Protestant denominations.

Luther’s biggest fight was against the idea that certain “works” the church assigned people could ensure or even obligate God’s favor. The people had been taught to believe that the pope’s words were as valid as the words of Scripture. Many in Luther’s day couldn’t read, so they acted on flawed human ideas rather than the teaching of Scripture.

We face those same issues today. We all have an individual responsibility to know God’s word and will and make our choices according to what we know God has said.

When James wrote about faith and deeds, he wasn’t talking about “earning” righteousness through our works. James was teaching that a person who truly has faith will reveal their faith by their works.

How does righteousness work?

I often teach that righteousness is found in a life that is “right with God.” The most important thing we can do daily is make choices that honor God and allow him to pour his favor and blessings into our lives.

James described righteousness using this example: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:15–17). In other words, if our faith is only seen through what we say we believe, it’s less likely someone will believe what we say about our faith.

When a person is truly right with God, they will say and do the things that reveal a close relationship with God. People are drawn to God when they see him at work in the lives of his children.

James wrote, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:18–19). James was teaching his people that true believers don’t simply believe there is a God; they believe in, and on, the One true God as their King.

True believers don’t just believe the Bible has good ideas; they believe it is the foundation for all that is truth. True believers don’t just believe Jesus existed; they believe he lived and died to provide their eternal salvation.

Righteousness works when true believers live their faith in Christ and proclaim him as their Lord.

Righteousness has always been witnessed through obedience.

James then uses Abraham to further his point: “You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone” (James 2:20–24).

Abraham wasn’t found righteous because he knew God’s word; he was found righteous when he obeyed God’s word. All of us who have grown up in church, attended Sunday School and Bible study, and even read Christian blogs and articles like this can sometimes feel confident in the amount of Bible we have learned. According to James and Abraham, the righteous need to find confidence in the amount of God’s word that they have obeyed.

Who and what do you see as righteous?

It is humbling to realize that when Jesus began his earthly ministry, he didn’t choose the leaders of that day to be his disciples. He did, however, except for Judas, choose those who were righteous. They were fishermen who led their business with godly standards. Those men gave up a great deal to walk with Jesus. Some, like Matthew, a tax collector, were actually viewed as unrighteous by their peers. Matthew walked away from a lucrative job to know Jesus and learn from him.

Sometimes, we don’t see righteousness the same way God sees it. James said, “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26–26). God, in his great grace, rewards righteousness even in the lives of people whose choices were unrighteous. And all of us have made sinful choices at some point. Rahab is an excellent example of why God told us not to judge the righteousness of others.

What is righteousness that works?

Paul taught Timothy to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:11-12a). Common sense tells us that none of us will luck into righteousness. Paul quoted several lessons from the Old Testament when he said, “As it is written, there is no one righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10).

To “fight the good fight” literally means to “agonize the great agony.” We can pursue many things in this life, but Paul taught us that the good pursuit, the great “agony” of our lives, should result from running hard after righteousness.

What “works” are you busy with today that will bring God honor and glory and reveal your faith? Which works will simply use up your time rather than invest it in heaven’s treasure?

Our works don’t earn our salvation, but they sure do reveal we have been born again as a child of the King. It only makes good sense to pursue righteousness as our highest goal. If we run our best race, we will also fight the good fight. The trophy for completing that race is eternal.

Live and leave a legacy of faith

In 1988, Jim was a professor at the seminary and was asked to become the interim preacher for First Baptist Midland. He flew out each weekend to preach on Sundays.

Eventually, the kids and I traveled to Midland with him. My oldest son, Ryan, was two at the time and Craig was three months old. Each Friday, I would pack up our stuff and we would pick Jim up in Fort Worth to make the six-hour road trip to West Texas.

Our drive to Midland this past weekend brought back a lot of memories.

We talked about those earlier weekend trips with babies and realized that, to many people, it might have seemed like a crazy thing to do. But we enjoyed being together, even in the car. The speed limit was 55 mph back in those days, and I sure would have enjoyed today’s faster limits!

The first time I saw Midland I was kind of shocked. At first glance, West Texas looks like God grew weary while creating the world and decided to just leave that part of the state simple. I remember when we came over a hill and could spot the tallest buildings of Midland seemingly rising out of the barren dust.

I asked Jim, “Who would choose to live here?”

About a year later, we did.

A strong city and a strong people

Midland sits in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by land with a LOT of oil. The church we served is in the middle of town and has always been a blessing to that city. In many ways, FBC Midland is the strongest church we ever served.

The church is like the city: diverse in every way, yet unified by their faith.

It was our joy to be with people we admired thirty-six years ago and still admire today. Our friends look the same, just older. We were there to speak at a senior adult conference. Even as I was speaking, I saw the faces of people who had blessed us as a young couple and continue to bless us today. In many ways, that church helped me grow in my faith and in the right direction for ministry.

As I sit here typing today, I wonder who will say I helped them do the same.

I’m in or close to the “final quarter” of my life. As I looked at the faces of so many people I admire, I wanted to finish my life as well as they are finishing theirs.

A psalm of legacy

I used a verse from Psalm 71 in my message at the retreat. I’m sure I’ve read this psalm before, but it meant a lot to me this time. I hope you will take a moment to read the entire psalm. It is rich, especially as you consider what kind of legacy you want to live and, one day, leave.

The psalm was likely written by King Solomon for and about his dad, King David. David’s life was difficult in his latter years. His children fought him for his throne. David wasn’t perfect, but he deserved their honor rather than their prideful opposition.

David is described in Scripture as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). With all of David’s great accomplishments, he is remembered as a person who sought to know, love, and serve God.

What if each of us made King David’s legacy our goal as well?

Why was David a man after God’s own heart?

The answer could be in the words of Psalm 71. Verse 3 describes the relationship he had with the Lord: “Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress” (Psalm 71:3).

David had a kingdom that was called to serve him. Yet David’s trust was in the Lord, not his earthly power.

If we consider all the things that give us our sense of security, is God at the top of the list?

A legacy of trusting God and investing in others

As I studied the faces and the lives of so many friends in our Midland congregation, I was left with a strong impression of what I want for my own life.

They are older, wiser, and remain people who have led a consistent faith walk with their Lord. They are still the same people we knew thirty-six years ago. They blessed me then as a young pastor’s wife and they blessed me last weekend. I am grateful to God for giving my family such a strong example of faith, and I hope I will be to others what they have been for me.

In my message I used Psalm 71:18: “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”

We will all leave a legacy of some kind. Shouldn’t we consider what we want that legacy to be?

We will be remembered for who we eventually became or for who we chose to become.

David chose his legacy. He had a plan. He wanted to live a consistent faith throughout his life. In addition to being a man of faith, he wanted to help the next generation know his God as well. He wanted to “proclaim” God’s might to the next generation.

The need for wisdom

I am currently working on a project that will launch in January. Our ministry studies the culture and tries to help people respond biblically.

The internet has changed the world and that change will be even more dramatic in the days ahead. It is rare to go anywhere and not view people absorbed by their phones or other technology. We do not lack information and influence from all directions. I often say, “In a sea of information, wisdom matters.”

Wisdom is knowing what to do with what we know. Without that important step, all we have is information. We cannot know the power of God if we only “know” God has power. We have to rely on God’s power to truly understand his might. King David learned to trust God’s strength early in his life. That’s why he could face a giant with just a slingshot and stones.

David’s legacy began with his trusting submission to the power of God. His failures in life happened when he was influenced by other things. I would say the same of my own life, wouldn’t you?

Proclaim his might to the next generation

We all have a calling from God. We need to put feet to our faith and words to our wisdom. Most wisdom is born of experience, and God’s wisdom is a gift to those who will ask him for it (James 1:5–6).

We are called to invest in the coming generations. As I studied the faces of all those people who invested in a young pastor and his wife, I was filled with gratitude to them and God. I wondered who I might have become without their help. I had a LOT of growing to do when I arrived at that church, and they helped point me in the right directions.

I want to leave that legacy of faith with others, don’t you?

What would our witness to others be like if we made King David’s commitment our own? “Even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”

Let’s live to carry on the legacy we have learned from the godly people we have known.

No matter how old you are, that is a worthy goal.

Amen?

Holy sheep

Yep. I said it to get your attention.

For my whole life, I have used the letters “HS” as an abbreviation for “Holy Spirit.”

Like a lot of things in our English language, apparently those letters are now a texting term that means something VERY different!

Last week, I was speaking at our chapel service at Possum Kingdom Lake. I have a lot to do in the next two months and I had given myself several days out there to be still, think, pray, write, and prepare to teach Bible studies. I am recording four Bible studies out of Psalm 23.

I won’t title the study “Holy sheep,” but I could have!

We often associate the twenty-third psalm with a difficult time in our lives, and it is often quoted at funeral services to give comfort. It is a good psalm for those times, but it is equally important that we use it as praise for God’s care in our lives today. David actually wrote it as a praise.

The real key to the blessing of the twenty-third psalm is this: The Lord can’t be your shepherd until you admit you are a sheep. The point of the psalm is to teach you how to be a “holy sheep.” (Hence my blog title!)

Before he was a king, he was a shepherd

David was the youngest son and unable to go to war against the Philistines. That’s probably why he was in the fields, watching over the sheep. Sheep were a valuable asset to a family for food, clothing, and income. Anyone who has raised a son knows a young boy gets easily bored and looks for something to do.

David didn’t have a video game or an iPad so he challenged himself with his slingshot. David was smart. He knew if he got talented with the slingshot, he would never have to get too near to a wolf in order to chase him off.

David was very brave when he laid down Saul’s armor and just took his slingshot out there to defeat Goliath. David knew he was good at hitting what he aimed at. That said, he also knew that without God’s help to guide his aim, he would probably die. Faith + talent = success.

David had learned a lot from caring for his sheep. He knew his sheep needed a shepherd to find a green field, still waters, and the rest they needed to stay safe and healthy. David also knew that a shepherd needed daily help from the Good Shepherd along the way.

Psalm 23

Theologians believe that Psalm 23 was written as David’s praise for God’s provision and protection in his life. David was forced to run from Saul for many years. It was the Lord who had protected David from Saul and other enemies. Sometimes God protected David from himself. David’s praise in the psalm can be ours today.

The twenty-third psalm begins: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1–3).

Psalm 23 is a unique song of praise because of the word translated as my. Usually, psalms were written as corporate praise. In other words, typically the psalm would have said, “The Lord is our Shepherd.” Instead, it is written about David’s personal relationship with God. Psalm 23 describes the personal relationship God wants to have with each of his sheep so that they can live a holy life.

You and I are sheep, in need of a Shepherd. A relationship with God has always been a personal, private decision to choose God’s provision for our souls. The rest of the psalm is the praise able to be offered only by those able to say “The Lord is my shepherd.”

Our Good Shepherd

Why does God want us to consider ourselves sheep in need of a shepherd?

Like David, each of us has talents and abilities. David knew he was good at slinging stones and hitting his target. The real story of David and Goliath is the strength and trust it must have taken for David to face a giant, knowing his talent would only be successful if God used it. David understood he was a sheep so he trusted his Shepherd.

When we place our faith in God as our shepherd, we have everything we need. Contentment in life is about enjoying what we have instead of striving for something we don’t really need. “I shall not want” is the choice to be contented with all that God has provided.

God leads us to green pastures and still waters. Sheep were constantly moved around from place to place. They would eat everything and then move to a new field to do the same thing there. Sheep didn’t know which direction to wander so they had to be led. Sheep have no real way to defend themselves so they needed a shepherd with a rod and a staff. And Israel is full of wadis that could turn from a dry riverbed to a quiet stream and then to a roaring river. If their coats were wet and heavy, the sheep would easily be swept away.

Our Good Shepherd wants to guide our lives so that he can provide us the care, provision, and protection we need. But he would rather guide us along his paths of righteousness instead of calling us back from our own paths of independent, self-reliant strength.

The Shepherd’s goal

God wants us to be holy sheep. A good shepherd knew how to separate his sheep from others and keep his flock secure while he led them to their pasture. The word holy means set apart. The shepherd’s job was to guide and protect his flock.

God wants us on the path of righteousness, the path that makes us right with God, for his name’s sake. God wants us to be his sheep so that we will follow his Shepherd, Jesus Christ, all the way to heaven.

If you wonder how much God values his plan for your life, just remember the parable Jesus told about the lost sheep. Jesus would leave everything to come find you!

Can you say “the Lord is my Shepherd”?

The whole world is mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She will always be one of the most unique stories in world history. She faithfully attended chapel services, and her faith was an important part of her life.

When she passed away, I thought about what it was like for her to enter heaven’s gates. She had once said, “For me, heaven is likely to be a bit of a come-down.” She had the best this world could offer, but I bet if she could, she would say, “I was wrong about that.”

The Good Shepherd has led her to the “green pastures” of heaven and there is nothing left to want.

Can you say “the Lord is my shepherd”?

If so, just remember you are called to be a holy sheep!

Stick to his paths of righteousness and his mercies will follow you all the days of your life. You will one day live like a queen or king when you “dwell in the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ forever” (Psalm 23:6).

We don’t stay sheep forever!

What does God hate?

I considered taking another week off but knew I should write. I need to say something you are unlikely to hear or read about in the news. I don’t want to speak about the sins of the El Paso shooter.

Instead, I want to speak about the sins of the saints, myself included.

I have been floating on a cruise ship, watching the whales and the wildlife. I wish I were still enjoying the majestic beauty of Alaska, where the sun only set for a few hours before the next morning rolled around.

But, we don’t live on a cruise ship. We live in the real world.

The sin born of righteous anger

As Christians, we should view the mass shootings on Saturday with God’s perspective and be incredibly cautious to live today with his holy standards. Satan doesn’t care which side of “right” you stand on, as long as you sin where you stand.

James 1:20 is an important reminder to each of God’s children today: “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

I can testify that some of my greatest sins were born of righteous anger. All of us have a right to be enraged at evil.

The important question for all of us today is this: Is our rage producing the righteousness of God?

God hates too

Did you know that God hates?

Solomon knew that and left us with that knowledge. He wrote: “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16–19).

God hated Saturday’s news about the El Paso shooting more than we did. I cannot fathom the controlling evil filling that young man’s heart and mind. It is beyond understanding. God hated the shedding of innocent blood and the heart that devised such a wicked plan. God hates the lies and the false witness that was breathed out as a manifesto.

But there is a glaring caution in Solomon’s words for every Christian today.

God also hates the haughty eyes of those who think their sins don’t harm. God hates our lies when we say things we have no right to say.

And it is the seventh “hate” that each of us should carefully consider today. God hates it when we sow discord.

If my Facebook page looks a little like yours, there is plenty of sin born from righteous anger among the family of God.

We need to realize that God hates our sin too.

Redeeming hate

If you read this blog, you know that God wants you to love. God wants you to care. God wants you to think before you speak, type, or share. The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

But you can count on this truth: The Holy Spirit can handle your hate. He can redeem it and produce the righteousness our culture needs to witness from God’s people.

My husband, Jim, and I were talking about the shooting last Saturday and realized we had the same thoughts. We weren’t as shocked by the news as we had been in the past. It wasn’t a shooting; it was another shooting. It was disturbing to realize we weren’t surprised by the news, just saddened.

We wondered what Christians had previously crossed that boy’s path. Did they have an opportunity to reach out to an angry child but spoke words of contempt or rage instead? How many Christians had turned away from that boy in the past, with disgust or distaste, thinking they were giving that kid what his behavior deserved?

Who could have offered the grace that none of us deserve instead?

Is the next shooter your neighbor?

That “kid” lived near my part of town. Maybe I sat in a movie theater with him. Maybe I watched him act up at a mall. Maybe he saw me roll my eyes or turn my head away when he cursed or acted out. Maybe I had a chance and missed it.

Maybe I will have a chance again, with another child, tomorrow.

What does God hate?

Anger that does not produce the righteousness of God.

The cruise ship isn’t home

What are you going to do with your anger now?

That question is what led me to write this blog.

A lot of God’s people would choose to live on a cruise ship. It’s easier to sail through this life sheltered in the church and avoiding realities. But, while a cruise ship is a great place to visit, it isn’t where God has called us to live.

This world will always have evil. It always has. But, it can also be filled with God’s powerful love.

What are God’s children contributing to the culture today? Is it their righteous anger or the righteousness of God?

If God’s people won’t share the light, we are just increasing the darkness.

Again, it doesn’t matter that we stand on the side of right if we’re sinning where we stand. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to redeem our anger.

Who knows? The kid or neighbor who receives our words and attitudes of grace may be forever changed.

God would love that.