Proverbs 20:11

It is by his deeds that a lad distinguishes himself If his conduct is pure and right.

It is true that we cannot save ourselves by doing enough righteous deeds. No matter what we do, we cannot do anything to atone for the sins we have previously committed. It is only through God’s mercy, and us meeting the conditions he provides in order to accept that mercy. But in no way do we earn righteousness.

So why are our deeds important? Well the Proverbs author has one aspect of their importance. Our actions can be a litmus test for us. What is our spiritual temperature? If our actions are in direct violation of what God has commanded, then we know that are hearts are not with Him. When we act in unrighteousness then our faith is lacking.

While we should not judge ourselves based solely on our actions, righteous actions can be a sign of our heart. In Galatians 5, the fruits of the Spirit are listed. If we have an inward change, then our outward actions will follow. Our actions can and should be a sign of an inward change. The speak to our dedication and love to the Lord.

It is by his deeds that a lad distinguishes himself If his conduct is pure and right.

Romans 6:22

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

     Being a slave to sin is wretched. The grasp that it has on us is so incredibly strong. We answer to it, and it controls us. Many times the hold is so strong that we do not even think that we have the ability to break free. Indeed it would be near impossible to without the help of God. Those who have been enslaved to sin know that it can be all consuming so that all your thoughts and your actions are geared toward sin.

     As frustrating as that can be for a Christian, it is also important for us to see and understand the power of slavery to sin. The reason is that it is parallel to our slavery to righteousness, and how we should respond to. In Romans 6, Paul compares and contrasts slavery to sin and slavery to righteousness. As Christians it is our responsibility to leave our slavery to sin and instead be slaves to righteousness. To see how consuming sinfulness can be allows us to see how consuming righteousness should be in our Christian life.

     Whereas before all our thoughts or actions were geared to sinfulness, now our thoughts and actions should focus on rightouesness. As slaves to sin, it was hard to refuse temptation. We had to pry ourselves away from sin with no small effort of will, determination, and discipline. Now we should have to pry ourselves away from righteousness if we want to sin. Righteousness should be so ingrained in us that we have to really be trying if we are to go away from it. While it is not easy to get to this point, we must strive to be slaves of rightesouness in deed as well as word.

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

     Movies enter us into a fantasy land. They allow us to see and interact with another persons life. We come to know them  and might even consider them to be our friends depending on how we relate to them. One of the most fascinating aspects of watching a movie is to see how the characters change. As a critic once said, we go to the movies in order to see people change. Many movies center on the character whose life has gone to peices because of bad decisions he has made. We cannot wait to see him find redemption, and as we which him do acts of goodness that were once foreign to him, our hearts are moved.

     One of the great aspects, then, about movies is that it is a reminder that people can and do change. It is easy to forget that in our everyday lives. We even use expressions that suggest that some people are beyond change. “Oh that’s just so-and-so,” we say at their inappropriate behavior. No sense in trying to change them, because it just will not happen. While that may be true about other people at times, we can never forget that we always possess the ability to change in ourselves.

     Changing is a matter of the mind. If we have the will and the determination, along with the help of our Lord, we will find that we can truly change even the most ingrained habits. It is not easy, nor should we expect over night success in all cases. But we can be assured that we can change. Paul would not tell the Romans to change if it were not possible. As hard as it may be, do not forget the incredibly power of change within you.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Philippians 2:4

do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

     People, by their very nature, are self-centered. One statistic says that ninety percent of our thoughts relate back to our own lives. This makes sense, really, as everything that happens and everything we percieve is often times looked at with the idea of how it affects us. Not only do we have to deal with our own thoughts, but also our emotions. It makes sense that as we learn things they impact us on an emotional level as well as intellectual. This makes things personal and it can easily gravitate the focus back to us.

     Because it is so easy for us to think about ourselves, we must always be on guard with self-centered behavior. This is different than selfishness. Selfishness wants what it wants and it does not matter how it affects other people. While sometimes we can fall prey to selfishness, it is often his little brother (self-centeredness) that we must guard against. It is not that we do not care about others. It is just that we have not taken the time to think about them.

     As Christians we have to be weary of this. It is not wrong for us to think about how things affect us or to pay attention to our emotions. It is in fact wise and righteous to do so, but only to a certain extent. Paul here urges the Philippians that they need to have a new paradigm. Instead of only thinking about how things affect them, they need to be diligent to think about how it will also affect others. After examing ourselves, we need to look outside at others. How are they? What do they need? How can I help them spiritually? When we start asking how we can help them, rather than just focus on how they can help us or our needs, we start down the path to true love.

do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Isaiah 40:31

Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

The Christian walk is hard. It is not a sprint, but a marathon. When we first become a Christian, we start out on fire and excited to do the work of the Lord. We feel like we can do anything. And then discouragement starts to creep in. It could be from anywhere. Things start falling apart in the church around us. A role model that we looked up to deserts the faith. We fall back into past sins, allowing them to entangle us. When these things happen in our lives, it is easy for us to be discouraged.

What we need to do instead of allowing ourselves to be discouraged is return to the Lord. He needs to be our focus. If we think about Him and His greatness, we will gain new strength. We need to be diligent in following His word, no matter how hard it is. When we focus on God, rather than on ourselves or on others, it is much easier to be positive. We gain our strength, not by outside circumstance, but instead on our relationship with our Father.

Also, it helps to read a few verses before where it talks about the fact that the Lord does not grow tired or weary. This can be of great help to us, because God wants us to cast our burdens on Him. With other people, we might be afraid to turn everything over to them, but with God, we know we can because He can handle it. Giving God your burden is like lifting weights with a spotter. When we cannot do it anymore, we can leave it in His hands. In doing so, it becomes far easier for us to walk our Christian walk. If we will only wait upon Him, He can give us His strength to rely upon.

Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

Revelation 19:15

From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

In Revelation 19, we see a picture of Jesus that is many times forgotten. Many today want to label Jesus as an all-accepting Savior. Jesus would never judge anybody! He was too loving to do such a thing. In fact, those who would say that some practice is sinful are often times branded as being un-Christ like. Yet the picture in Revelation 19, which is clearly of Christ, shows a strong and powerful warrior. He brings judgment to the nations, He rules over them. A sword protrudes from His mouth so that he may cut those down who oppose Him! This is quite a different image of Jesus than what most people want you to see today.

This view of Jesus has two important applications for us today. The first is that it means we need to make sure that we have indeed done what the Lord wants us to do for remission of sins. If we fail to do so, then we will be judged. All those who will not come to Christ as He has put forth will incur His wrath. When looking at the image given in Revelation 19, we can know that we desperately want to avoid His wrath.

The second thing it teaches us is how important our work as Christians is. This is not a hobby. Jesus is here portrayed as a warrior, leading others into battle. Those who are following Him into battle are His saints. We are in a war right here and right now. We sometimes want to treat our Christian life like it is something we can pick up and lay down. This is not so. We must constantly be alert and on guard, for the battle is all around us.

From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty

Hebrews 4:11

Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

     People today are so tired. The walk around in a continually sleep deprived state. People push themselves so hard that sometimes their bodies rebel against the pace. At times there body falls asleep in small doses as they do daily tasks, even ones as important as driving! We can not wait to accoplish all of the days tasks so that we can go to sleep. We look forward to our vacation from work all year long. We work our whole lives, hoping to retire so that maybe we can get rest then. Yet this life never offers enough rest for us. We still wear down, still get tired.

      The Lord promises us a resting place after this life. This is what Heaven is for us. It is our “vacation” or our “retirement”. It is a place where we can rest from our labors. The hardships of this life will be behind us. The struggles and temptations that we face in this life will no longer haunt us as they did before.  The strife and the tears that we have here will no longer have dominion in our lives. Looking back to the garden, we will no longer have to “till the ground” in order to provide for ourselves. All our needs will be supplied by the Lord.

    This all should be motivation for us to be faithful servants. We need to push forward. As with a workout, we have to overcome the times when we become weary and push on. We cannot give up or lose hope. All the work that we do right now will be worth it in the end. As the farmer works now for proceeds later, we too must work for a future result. When we hear from our Lord, “Well done good and faithful servant,” we will be able to lay aside our tools of service and dwell in peace with our Lord forever.

 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

 Ephesians 4:1

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

     As I was standing around at a shopping center, there was a lady who passed by me repeatedly. As she continued to pass by, and odd thing happened. The first time she came by, we both intentionally avoided eye contact. Yet after the third time, we felt content making eye contact, and maybe even a quick nod. After a fifth pass, we were comfortable enough with one another to smile. Just by getting used to one another’s presence we were able to become comfortable with one another.

     What caused this change of events? Why did we go from ignoring one another to showing good cheer to one another? It was familiarity. The more familiar we were with one another, the more comfortable we were with eye contact. We were no longer really strangers. A rapport (however slight) was built up. This actually happens with many things in our lives. The more familiar we get with something, the more comfortable we are with it. Since this lady and I, because of the things we were doing, were forced to become familiar, we were able to break down that wall.

     This has a very important spiritual application. Often times it is difficult for us to try new things. Yet when we become Christians, our lives are full of new experiences. We now are required to walk a life we are not at all used to. These do not stop soon after conversion, but instead, we are forced to change repeatedly throughour our Christian walk. Each time we do, it feels uncomfortable. Think about how uncomfortable it was or can be to start a consistent prayer routine or to make yourself be social with other members at church. It can be weird for us to sit down and open our Bible to study, or for us to refrain from habits that we have built up over the years. However, if we can just force ourselves to get through those first few awkward exchanges, we will bring a smile to the tasks that the Lord has required of us. 

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Psalm 51:14

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

     In Psalm 51, David is tore up by the sin that he has committed. After living in a partial sense of denial, David comes face to face with his sin when Nathan preaches to him. Seeing how greatly he has sinned against the Lord, David laments to the Lord in this prayer. He makes not pretense at righteousness or even self-justification. Instead he just plainly admits that he is the one who is in sin. He even goes so far to say that when the Lord brings jdugment against Him, it is the Lord that is just.

     After coming completely clean about his own sin, David then asks the Lord for forgiveness. He asks that the Lord make Him to become completely clean. Here David shows his confidence in the Lord. While still showing humility, he tells the Lord that his desire is to be cleansed. He is not commanding the Lord to do so much as he has a full expectation of the Lord doing so. There is no doubt in his mind that if he comes before the Lord with a penitent heart that the Lord will indeed forgive him.

     Knowing that the Lord will forgive him, he also states what he will do in response. Earlier in the Psalm, he states that his bones were crushed. Yet with forgiveness his spirit will be uplifted. Rather than just being content with the fact that the Lord has forgiven him and that he feels better, he goes and proclaims the Lord’s greatness. He wants to share how the Lord has been so merciful to Him. When we find ourselves in sin, no matter how great or small it may be, we need to go to the Lord with confidence that he will forgive us. We then use that certainty of our redemption as motivation to tell all those around us how great a God we serve.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

2 Timothy 2:22

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

     I went over to my cousin’s house to play one of the newer more popular gaming systems. One of the games we would play was dodgeball. In the game, if you catch a ball, you get to bring a teammate back into the game. Obviously catching the ball is top priority if you find that you only have one guy left. However, there are times when this startegy is not always the best. A good opponent, if they have more than one person to your last guy, will time their throws to come at the exact same time, so that you can not catch it. Instead you will be out. In such a scenario, it is better to dodge than to put yourself in a situation that will cause you to go out.

     As Christians we need to have that same mindset in our spiritual walk. There are situations that can be too difficutl for us to handle. Sometimes it is tempting for us to push through anyway. We hope that we can handle such a situation, thinking that it might give us some advantage to do so. Other times we might not be exactly sure, but, being overconfident, we push ourselves to the outer most of our boundaries. Yet this can often times be a mistake.

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

      If there is ever a situation that we are not sure if we are strong enough to handle, we must be smart about it. We must flee, saving ourselves to fight another day. There is no shame in knowing our limits or playing it on the safe side. We always need to put ourselves in a position to succeed. The Lord creates a way for us to escape any temptation (1 Cor. 10:13). When we find that way of escape we must not walk out, but flee as quickly as possible.

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.