LET'S DO BETTER

Proclamation:

“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? … The one who is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear The Lord …” Psalm 15:1-5 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm was written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Here David answers the question, “Who may live with The Lord?” (Psalm 15:1)  He who is upright, righteous, and tells the truth.  He who does not slander, do wrong to, or slur his neighbor.  He who despises evil, keeps his word, and honors The Lord.  He who does not charge interest when he lends money or accept a bribe.  This person is a believer and doer of God’s Holy Word and will get to live with The Lord in heaven. (Psalm 15:2-5)

Application:

None of us does a perfect job of following The Word of God.  We all have sinned and we fall short of that goal. (Romans 3:10 and 3:23)  It also does not matter how “good” we are, we could all do better.  Part of my prayer is that The Lord would help me to sin less tomorrow than I did today, and that I would do one more thing to please Him tomorrow than I did yesterday.  The point here is to try to be more Christ-like with each passing day.  The Bible is the instruction manual for good Christian living.  Unfortunately, many of us do not read it very often, and most of us who do read it do not follow it, or we follow only parts of it.  This psalm identifies ten ways in which we could be a better Christian.  If you are already doing these things, then there is a more complete list of sins in Romans, chapter one, beginning at verse 21 and through verse 32.  Even judging others who sin is a sin. (Romans 2:1-9)  The question is, “Are you striving to be a better Christian?”  A good Christian exhibits integrity and reliability, respects the people of God and holds himself accountable for his thoughts, words, and actions.  We all have room for improvement.  Let's do better!

Encourage One Another

"For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.  Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."  1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 (NIV)

In his letter to the believers in Thessaloniki, the Apostle Paul told them to encourage, comfort, and console each other, and to build each other up.  He said that Christ died for them so that they could be saved and live together with Him.

As believers we are to love one another. (John 13:34)  We are also to help one another, to encourage, to console, and to comfort one another.  When we speak to each other, we are to build each other up and not tear each other down.  We are to correct one another, as needed, but we are to do so in love, and with kindness. (Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 29:17, and Acts 18:26)  True statements, if they are not helpful, do not need to be spoken.  Let us make it a point to practice random acts of kindness and help at least one person each day.

Not Of This World

"But He continued, 'You are from below; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world."  John 8:23 (NIV)

The Apostle John, who referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, recorded these words of Jesus as He explained to the Pharisees and the Jews in the crowd that He was going to leave, and go to a place where they could not find Him, and where they could not go.  Jesus was referring to His death and ascension to heaven.  He told them that they could not go with Him because they would die in their sins. (John 8:21)  Jesus told them that He was not like them.  He came from heaven, He was not of this world.

Jesus, The Christ, said that He was not of this world. (John 8:23)  He also said that His kingdom was not of this world. (John 18:36)  Because His spirit indwells us, (John 6:56, John 14:17, Romans 8:11, 2 Timothy 1:14, and 1 John 4:12-15), as believers, we are not of this world either. (John 15:19)  We are in this world, but we are not of this world.  We do not belong to the world, we belong to Christ.  Therefore, we should not love the world, or worldly things, and the world will not love us. (1 John 2:15)  We should not conform to the world. (Romans 12:2)  We  should love The Lord with all of our heart, mind, and soul; and we should expect that the world will hate us for doing so. (Deuteronomy 13:3 and John 15:18)  We are not of this world.