GOD’S STANDARDS OF LIVING!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2024.

SUBJECT: GOD’S STANDARDS OF LIVING!

Memory verse: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6 vs 8.)

READ: Psalm 15 vs 1 - 5:

15:1: LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

15:2: He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.

15:3: He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against a friend;

15:4: In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the LORD; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 

15:5: He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

INTIMATION:

God demands that His people will be morally upright, Though we live in a morally bankrupt society, a world whose standards and morals are eroding, our standard of living should not come from our evil society but from God. The standards of living prescribed by God is His will for His people. As we grow in our relationship with our Redeemer, we develop a desire to live by His standards. The depth of our eternal relationship with Him can often be measured by the way we reflect His standards in our daily activities. 

Whoever lives by God’s standard is qualified to stand in His presence. In the passage we read today, the psalmist gives us the standards to serve as a measuring scale to determine how we are doing. It defines the character of those who could stand in the presence of God. These include those who walks uprightly; those with righteous behavior of life. The righteous commit themselves to the fear of the Lord, their defense is the Lord. Their sustenance is guaranteed because they live under the protection of the Lord. Those who are truly righteous deal justly with others. They are mindful of their integrity, and deal honestly with God and others. 

Words are powerful, and how we use them reflect our relationship with God. Perhaps nothing identifies Christians as their ability to control their speech, to speak the truth at all times, and do not speak hypocritically. Making up or spreading false reports is strictly forbidden by God. Gossip, slander, and false witnessing would undermine families, strain relationship, neighborhood cooperation, and make chaos of the justice system. Destructive gossip still causes problems. Even if you do not initiate a lie, you become responsible if you pass it along. Don’t circulate rumors, squelch them.refusing to slander another person. 

A committed Christian does not backbite; does not speak behind the back of someone in order to destroy his or her reputation. He or she does that which is good in response to faith, and does not take pleasure in looking on evil or committing evil. Love for God and others should rule their lives. In loving their neighbors as themselves they should not work against them nor slander them. They should be disgusted with those who do wickedly, and align themselves with those who do good. They should be committed to their words even when it may be to their own detriment. They should strive to always do that which is right and fair to their neighbors. 

A committed Christian should not take or give bribe, despises extortion, and should not listen to violence. It is obvious that what corrupts justice most is the act of persuading the judges’s favor through a gift. A bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous. When a society has resorted to bribes in its justice system, it has become a corrupt society in which there is no real integrity. Christians should hold their heads high in integrity.

God demands the the poor and powerless amongst us should be well treated and given the chance to restore their fortunes. Christians should reflect God’s concern for the poor by giving and by helping those less fortunate than ourselves, helping them by lending money without interest, and thus not taking advantage of them when they have fallen into hard times. God is not against charging interests on loans for business purposes, as long as it isn’t exorbitant (Proverbs 28 vs 8). He is against charging interests on friendly loans to the needy, especially among the community of believers (Leviticus 25 vs 35 - 37). 

Some people are so obsessed with money that they will change their God-given standards and lifestyle to get it. If money is a controlling force in your life, it must be curbed, or it will harm others and destroy your relationship with God. It is impossible to focus one’s life on service to the Master in heaven, and at the same time make material things the master of one’s life. If one’s focus is on the things of this world, then he or she cannot give himself or herself to God in a way that God demands of His children. 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to live by Your standards; to love You and others with all my heart, and doing good works, that I may earn Your approval and in eternity with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!