Tag Archives: Justice

I Just Love This Passage

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Today’s reading is one of my favorite readings. I say that a lot about a lot of different passages, but this is really one of my favorites.

Listen to what it says in Luke 18:2-7:

He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, “Give me justice against my adversary.” For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, “Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

widow2Man, what a great passage. First, I just love the description of the judge in this passage. It says he feared neither God, nor respected man. That’s a pretty bad dude. I mean, he didn’t like God or people.

But being a judge, he had the power to grant requests and make judgements.

So, this widow comes to him over and over and over and over and over, and eventually she wore him down and he gave her the request she sought.

And Jesus said – let your prayers be like that! Just wear God out. Keep praying and praying and praying and praying.

Because He is not an unjust judge. It’s not that He is just. It’s that He IS just. Justice is God. God is the perfect holy and just God.

He will take care of His people. So, if even an unjust wicked judge will grant the persistent requests of someone, how much more will a perfect God grant ours.

Today, don’t give up. Keep praying. Keep praying. Keep praying. And pray some more. Don’t give up. Don’t quit. Give it to Him.

And He will answer your prayer in the way that it needs to be answered.

Don’t give up today. Jesus has told us to keep at it.

I just love this passage. Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Keep at it.

And God will hear it. And He will honor it. He has promised.

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Going through the Motions of Religion

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Normally I reflect upon some daily suggested scriptures that can be found in our weekly Salt and Light bulletin at Asbury.  Today, though, in my own personal devotional time, I read a verse from Matthew 23 that really resonated with me. I wanted to talk a litte about it. Sorry for going off the board!

In Matthew 23, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees. They were the religious teachers of His day. They were the ones that thought the law and were the authorities for most people on what the law required and how a person of faith was supposed to live.

They wanted the people to keep and live by the law, because they were afraid. They remember what happened in the past when the people didn’t keep the law. We see in the Old Testament God say – if you keep the law, you will be blessed and have this land. If you don’t keep it, you will lose it.

The people didn’t keep it. They did their own thing and went their own way. And because of that, they lost the land. So, the leaders associated it, keeping law = land. Breaking law = losing land.

So, they were going to keep the law. And they added to the law their own laws as safeguards. They were’t going to take any chances.

So, when Jesus comes and does things they perceive as breaking law, like healing on the Sabbath, they go crazy. No! You can’t do that! No! Stop it! The reason they go so agree is because they were afraid. They had misplaced keeping the law for the point of faith.

And we see Jesus correct them today. Listen to what He says in Matthew 23:23-24:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

He said that they had kept parts of the law, but had missed the weightier and more important parts. Justice. Mercy. Faithfulness.

They had “right actions.” But they hadn’t given God their hearts. They were going through the motions of religion. But they had missed the point of it all.

Today, God doesn’t just want you act religious. He wants control of your heart. Because if He has your heart, He will have your actions.

Today, don’t worry about being religious. Worry about giving Him your everything. And if He has your all in all, He will have you actions. Today, don’t worry about going through the motions of religion. Today, make sure you are giving Him the faith of your heart!

And when He has that, you will have all you need!