Psalms 101:1-4 ESV
“I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will make music.
I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will know nothing of evil.”
Being People of Discernment
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be people of
integrity. We are to keep our eyes and ears and minds away from what is wicked
and perverse and immoral. And we are to be filling our minds with what is holy,
righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, and honest, instead.
Exceptions might be that we should keep up with what is
going on in the world so that we are aware of the times in which we live, and
so we can pray. And so we may see or hear or read some things that could be
lies and which may contain pictures of violence or things faked in the news and
on social media, but these are not things we should dwell on or entertain or
seek after. And we do need to use discretion and learn when to shut it off, too,
so that we don’t end up filling our minds with what is pure garbage.
In other words, we don’t need to view immorality so that we
know how bad immorality is. We need to keep our minds pure. But we should keep
a pulse on what is going on in the world, or at least on what our leaders are
saying is going on in the world, which is not necessarily the same thing. And
we need to do so prayerfully asking the Lord to guide us in what is truth and
to make us aware of what is not truth so that we don’t end up buying into the
lies thinking we are believing truth, for anything these days can be faked.
I tend to be drawn more toward people who come across as
independent thinkers, when it comes to what is going on in the world. I like
people who engage good common sense and who ask questions and who do not just
buy into a story because “so and so” said it is true. For we should not just
believe whatever we hear, for liars abound, and charlatans and wolves in sheep’s
clothing do exist and they are everywhere – in the government, the news, the
church, sports, entertainment, and the medical field, etc.
But even those who come across as independent thinkers are
not necessarily telling the truth, either. So, no matter who says what, and this
goes for preachers, too, we should test everything we see and read and hear in
prayer and in the study of the Scriptures (in context). And I have said this
before, but even if a famous, well-loved and well-admired pastor or Christian
book author says it, it doesn’t mean it is the truth. So test everything
because even the ones we may think are the most godly could be lying.
And with regard to spiritual matters, let the Scriptures and
the Holy Spirit be your primary source for truth and test all else. But even
test certain interpretations of the Scriptures which may have been what you
were always taught for you may have been taught wrong. I was taught some things
wrong that I had to relearn. And I discovered most of them when I began reading
the Scriptures book by book in context and not just accepting man’s interpretation
of select Scriptures taught outside of their context.
Walking with Integrity
Anyway, what is standing out to me in this passage of
Scripture today is how we need to be people who test whatever we hear or read
or think we see, for anything can be faked and many things are, and anything can
be manipulated and twisted and altered to say what is not the truth. So, if we
are not going to set anything before our eyes that is worthless, well we would
have to not watch the news at all or be on social media, so we need to be
selective and we need to be discerning spiritually and pray it all through.
But obviously we should not be reading and viewing and
listening to what we know is immoral and full of the filth of this world and
that is filling our minds with what is contrary to God and to his holiness and
righteousness. And even if we like a certain author or speaker or newscaster or
talk show host because we feel as though he/she is telling us the truth, if
that person uses vulgarity, or if he/she promotes what is immoral, well we need
to turn him/her off. We have to make a commitment to not take in what is filth.
And then we need to walk with integrity – with honesty and
with purity of heart and mind and with faithfulness. We need to be people who
are trustworthy. We need to be people who others can trust, for there don’t
seem to be many people who are trustworthy these days. We should not give
anything wicked or immoral or perverse any place in our lives at all. We are to
know nothing of evil by personal experience (in the present). But we are to be
people who walk with Jesus in holiness and in righteousness.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn
15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1
Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col
3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn
2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27;
Rev 22:14-15]
He
Gives Purpose
An
Original Work / June 9, 2012
“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper to you
My will for your life and future.
Give all of your life and heart to
Follow Me always.”
Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and Master.
He died for your sins so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your life and
He gives purpose and direction.
He gives meaning to your life,
So follow Him today.
“I love you so much I gave My life for
You to walk in My ways,
Living for Me each day as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you of your
Sins now and always.”
No comments:
Post a Comment