Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living for Tuesday, 30 May 2017 - WordAction of The Nazarene Publishing House at The Global Church of the Nazarene in Kansas city, Missouri, United States "Scrambling For Righteousness" by Duane Brush - Proverbs 11:19-31Proverbs 11:19 Genuine righteousness leads to life, but the pursuer of evil goes to his own death.20 The crooked-hearted are an abomination to Adonai,
but those sincere in their ways are his delight.
21 Depend on it: the evil will not go unpunished;
but the offspring of the righteous will escape.
22 Like a gold ring in the snout of a pig
is a beautiful woman who lacks good sense.
is a beautiful woman who lacks good sense.
23 The righteous desire only good,
but what the wicked hope for brings wrath.
but what the wicked hope for brings wrath.
24 Some give freely and still get richer,
while others are stingy but grow still poorer.
25 The person who blesses others will prosper;
he who satisfies others will be satisfied himself.
26 The people will curse him who withholds grain;
but if he sells it, blessings will be on his head.
while others are stingy but grow still poorer.
25 The person who blesses others will prosper;
he who satisfies others will be satisfied himself.
26 The people will curse him who withholds grain;
but if he sells it, blessings will be on his head.
27 He who strives for good obtains favor,
but he who searches for evil — it comes to him!
but he who searches for evil — it comes to him!
28 He who trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like sprouting leaves.
but the righteous will flourish like sprouting leaves.
29 Those who trouble their families inherit the wind,
and the fool becomes slave to the wise.
and the fool becomes slave to the wise.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and he who is wise wins souls.
31 If the righteous are paid what they deserve here on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!
and he who is wise wins souls.
31 If the righteous are paid what they deserve here on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!
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We who live where good food and clean water are both available and affordable know little of real hunger and thirst. We see videos of people without these necessities due to war or famine scrambling over one another to catch bags of rice or bottles of water tossed from an aid truck. The scene seems undignified. “Why don’t they just line up and take their turn. Somebody could get killed in that melee,” we may think. We think this way because we have no idea what real hunger and thirst are all about. There is no room for dignity in starvation or severe dehydration.
When awakened to our true spiritual condition by the Holy Spirit we fully comprehend our desperate plight and acknowledge our inability to satisfy that need by ourselves. When it comes to righteousness we are all beggars. Righteousness is something we receive, a gift from the hand of God’s infinite grace. For those who will lay aside their self-sufficient delusions and by faith humble themselves–fullness awaits.
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We who live where good food and clean water are both available and affordable know little of real hunger and thirst. We see videos of people without these necessities due to war or famine scrambling over one another to catch bags of rice or bottles of water tossed from an aid truck. The scene seems undignified. “Why don’t they just line up and take their turn. Somebody could get killed in that melee,” we may think. We think this way because we have no idea what real hunger and thirst are all about. There is no room for dignity in starvation or severe dehydration.
When awakened to our true spiritual condition by the Holy Spirit we fully comprehend our desperate plight and acknowledge our inability to satisfy that need by ourselves. When it comes to righteousness we are all beggars. Righteousness is something we receive, a gift from the hand of God’s infinite grace. For those who will lay aside their self-sufficient delusions and by faith humble themselves–fullness awaits.
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