Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 13:44
The theme over and over of the Lords teachings is about righteousness, and how the human heart does not seek righteousness so it is evil. It may seek things for other people which makes you a co-dependent and you believe you are not selfish, and the world sides with you. But does God side with you?
The short is no. God always sides with righteousness.
One of our owners here in our condo development always says to me “I am on your side.” To which I tell her don’t be on my side, be on the side of righteousness. If I am ever wrong, you should not side with me because you like me more than the other owners or other people. In our religious beliefs, we side with people who believe the same or similar as us. So we give special treatment to those in our church over other people. And the bible does say to do this, however it is also one of those verses we take out of context. Because when Paul wrote this, his main theme was always in play, which is the ones he referred to were righteous and not following the flesh. Over and over he made it clear to get rid of the people who were not following the Spirit and brining in bad doctrine and sin. Yet today we ignore the parts of Paul’s teachings which tell us clearly we are to avoid people who do not live in righteousness and seek to do good with those who seek and practice righteousness. In this current world it is very difficult because I find it hard to find people who are truly seeking to live a righteous life, the vast majority instead seek a god who allows them to live in unrighteousness and accept their sin as OK. That god exist and his name is satan, and if you follow that doctrine you also will end up in the place where it is OK to practice lawlessness and unrighteousness, but you won’t like spending eternity in that place.
Back to what the Lord showed me yesterday, about how the human heart is evil and deceitful above all things. And to add to the story because of what happened yesterday with one of our owners and my wife. She told my wife “your husband is cheap.” To which my wife simply replied, “we have been married 14 years and I kno0w who my husband is and isn’t.”
Now the flesh part of me does not like what she said. And I find it completely untrue. However if I let the feelings rein in me, then I am as unrighteous as she was, so I let it go. A short version of an example. What I promised them when they signed up was a condo of 2,000 sq ft for around $75,000 less than what the going price is for other developments and a condo size in them around 1,200 sq ft. They also have a garage, where the others maybe covered parking. Not only the garage but I made it so they could directly enter their condo from the garage and added on significant amount of construction to do so. We also gave them a deck which was not in the cards, I replaced a few things in their unit which were not my responsibility like over $2,000 worth of glass windows because they somehow got scratched. He wanted a pool, so I put one in for them. And a few other things. My good guess is I spent at least $25,000 on things which were not part of our initial written agreement, yet I am cheap.
The Lord reminded me of the old saying “you can please some of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time.” I always add “so you might as well do your works to please God all the time.” This is what God expects, and in doing so you might or might not please other people, some are never happy no matter what you do for them. And this goes back to the heart of men being evil. Although it is not evil to the extent of killing someone, God hates a ungrateful person who always complains.
In proverbs 6:16-19 it says “These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
Note none of these mentions sin, and the reason why is because these are the root cause to sin, allowing these into your heart. This person practices some of these traits, as do some of the others in our development. One of which practices basically all of them. Including threating to have me killed. Imagine the judgment of this man when he meets the Lord and Judge Yeshua? Yet if you talk with him and ask him he would tell you he is a good guy, as would all of them. But again in the eyes of God you are not, never can be seen as good until and unless you repent of our evil he shows you, he shows what is in your heart. Then repent and turn from it, don’t do it anymore.
In me he showed me many things in my heart which I saw as good. Or the ones I knew were evil, but never repented of because I could always eat the bread at church and do confession so I did not really need to repent and turn from them because of my religious upbringing and beliefs. I had that proud look, I lied from time to time, my feet ran to evil works. In other words my works were not of God and not worthy of God. But by his grace, when I really got down on my knees seeking him. I found him, and like Isaiah said in 6:5 “`So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
Isiah never saw his unclean lips as a problem until he “saw the King, the Lord of host.” Then he knew the problem and repented and did it no more. And so it is with us in the flesh, we believe in a god who does not care about our unclean lips or whatever else is wrong in us, so we ignore the workings of the Holy Spirit who’s job it is to show these things to us. Believing we are OK with God the way we are, and many even calling the Holy Spirit and evil Spirit if they feel convicted. The devil will never convict you of sin and unrighteousness, he wants you that way so why would he convict you so you repent? He will and probably has convicted you of being unworthy, which you are, and making it like you have no chance of being good with God. But that is a lie, anyone and everyone can repent and come to righteousness in the Lord.
One other thing kind of related the Lord showed me this morning, which is how he took my career as a broker from me, and how devastated I was at the time, having a poor little old me attitude about it. In an instant he showed me how I thought it was the worst thing ever, a waste (like Judas said when pouring out the perfume instead of selling it for money). I could not understand why and of what use the knowledge I gained would be for.
But now I see it all as gain, I realize if I was still a broker I would still have that proud look and still be in my unrighteous sin. I would not have come to know the Lord, and still be broke spending more than I made. Still living in Iowa and not having my son and daughters. I look at the life I live now and am amazed as I live in the Lord. He has given me above what I ever expected in my life, and the knowledge gained from my years as a broker are extremely valuable in my dealings especially with what is happening with the US and dollar, and living here in Mexico and getting rid of dollars for pesos, and knowing why. I also can advise others as to what I see, now what they do with it is up to them, but I am helping. And if it only helps us, it is worth it all.
But mostly I see it all as one of the biggest blessings ever in my life. That short term problem turns out to be enormous in the ways of living a good life in Yeshua. With getting the everything else part because I first was seeking God and his Kingdom and righteousness.
That is the point, seek him and his righteousness, then no matter what happens because many things which we consider evil or bad will happen, count them as blessings instead of complaining. And watch what God does to you and your life.
Instead of doing this we seek a god who is OK with our unrighteousness, and accepts us the way we are. And as said that god exist, his name is satan or the devil. In your religious doctrine which one do you follow?