LOVE, AN EXPRESSION OF A PURE HEART (PART 2)

It gives me great joy to write once again on this Love topic; I can remember several times I tried to put up something on this but, it seemed not to be coming fort; finally I have something to present to us.

          I am trusting on the Holy Spirit to direct this study as we go further on this topic.

          Love has been defined in so many ways and this definition has consequently resulted in the overall abuse of the term Love; what love means to Mr. A is different to what Mr. B sees love as, Mrs. A sees love entirely different from what Mr. A&B takes love to be; while Mrs B will believe that love is not in existence.

          Miss B on the other hand thinks of love in an extreme manner thus perverted while Master A will rather call it plessure. People of different tribes and cultures views love in different ways and thus classify love in accordance to their culture. These have given a rise in my heart to examine once again what exactly is love.

In carrying out this assignment questions has developed in my heart. This question includes:

·         Is Love super-cultural?

·         Should love been seen as the same everywhere no matter the tribe or culture?

·         What is exactly love?

         Love is super-cultural and thus should be seen in the same way in any culture or tribe but to understand the super-culturality of love and its exact meaning, we consider various things that love has been likened to that it is not.

         Love is not when you have sex, so many people have been made to believe that love is sex; this believe has equally made them to say things like this:

a.   I love you and you love me so let us  have sex

b.   Love without sex is no love

c.    If you truly love me then you should not even wait for me to ask for sex before you give it to me talk more of rejecting when I eventually asked.

d.   Sex is made for two people who are in love

         None of the above statement is true; sex is not something you get when you are in ‘love’ neither is it what you use to seal love. Sex is not just made for two people who are in love but two people who are in love and have been legally married. Sex has never been permitted outside of the fore walls of marriage.

The reason why so many people in the world live a life of sex outside marriage is simply because they do not know what love is which is as a result of their impure heart.

         Love is not when you give alms to people, 1 Cor. 13:3 talk of alms giving without love; this equally means that one can actually give alms without loving. Alms giving is not conjugate to love.

         It is not also love when you chose to be punished for someone else’s offence for the person to be set free.

         Love flows from a heart (thoughts, motive, emotions, and feelings) that is pure this is because love itself is pure. The reason why alms and costly sacrifice like paying the price for someone else’s offence will be considered not love is the motive (heart).

         Back then in high school, I and my colleagues do render help to our female colleagues, the reason for this help is not because we love them or because we want to really help, but simply because we wanted to be nice so that we can easily be considered for what will call love relationship although I have always been unlucky then.  We actually did help these young ladies but not with a pure motive (heart) thus cannot be said to be love.

          Several times, you have done similar things like giving a young lady standing on the road side a lift after which you collect her contact and start calling for a date. You have given a good and edifying advice to a young lady just to draw her close to yourself in other to have a test of her.

         Love is the state of a pure heart (thoughts, motive, emotions, and feelings); a pure heart (thoughts, motive, emotions, and feelings) is a heart (thoughts, motive, emotions, and feelings) that has being sanctified with the word of God, a heart (thoughts, motive, emotions, and feelings) that is willed to the will of God. Thus a heart (thoughts, motive, emotions, and feelings) that does whatever he do with a good purpose and intentions which is willed to the purpose of God. A heart that is ever ready to do the uncomfortable just because it makes the Holy Spirit confortable.

         Love is what you display when your heart (thoughts, motive, emotions, and feelings) has accommodated the word of God and is being directed by the Holy Spirit who can only be present in a life that has accepted Jesus Christ as His Lord and saviour. Such hearts will render help to people not for any selfish purpose but to extend the love which God has given them.

LOVE HYMN

Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up.

It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful.

It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.^{1 Corinthians 13:4-8}

Remember, God is Love therefore Love is the presence of God in your Heart (thoughts, motive, emotions, and feelings). If you do not have God in you, you cannot say that you truly love.

Till next time we meet, I remain your Pastor and Friend

Onwujiuba Izuchukwu

Whatsapp: 2348160678400;

BBM: 58BDDAB6

Email zukas234@... (yahoo or hotmail or gmail or rocketmail).com

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LOVE, AN EXPRESSION OF A PURE HEART

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. ^{1 Tim 1:5-7 NIV}

Lately we have being considering the heart and its components, trying to understand what the Holy Bible has to say concerning the Heart; one of the important lesson we have learnt so far is that the Holy Bible makes use of the Heart mostly in a figurative term which by implication speaks of one’s thoughts, feelings, emotions (in general the mind). We also discovered that the heart is the centre of action in a man’s life therefore is the primary aspect of his life that God demands worship from.

It is still on this lesson that we discovered that the Heart is sick and badly corrupt but can be remedied by the Presence of the mind of Christ, which can be made possible through complete obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit who will only come into a Heart that has acknowledged Jesus Christ as His Lord and Saviour.

Today, we want to consider more deeply the Characteristics of a Heart that is pure; to do this, we will review the expressions of a pure Heart.

Paul’s first letter to Timothy 1:5 – 7 says, ‘the goal of this command is love’; in our last lesson, we considered THE HEART AS THE CENTRE OF TRUE WORSHIP. We talked so much about the worship that comes from the heart but we failed to point out a very valid truth about worship which is;

1.   Worship is an expression of Love.

2.   Worship is an expression of one’s theology.

This is to say that your reverence for God will be based on what you know about God thus good theology produces good worship while bad theology produces a sick worship. Rev. Gary Bredain said that ‘what a man really knows about God determines the life he will live’; in other words, worship is our response of obedience to the love that God has first shown to us, meaning that when we don’t know this God who has shown us love, when we do not know His precepts, His ways, we cannot actually obey them in worship.

The reason why the government of the world approved Gay Marriage and other inhuman activities is because they do not know God nor His acts of Love neither do they know His precepts or His ways. They obey the person they know which is the devil and thus their worship is to the devil. John 8:42, 44

Paul was instructing Timothy from the chapter one verse one of his first letter to him to make sure that he maintain on teaching the core message of the scripture; not deviating from the truth.

Paul concludes his advice to Timothy by saying that this I have said to you is a command; by implication, it is something you must do. He added by saying that it is also a command that has a goal, an aim which is to love God; furthermore  this love is not a love that is verbally uttered alone, neither is it a love without effect but a love that will and must flow from a Pure Heart.

Paul's Usage of the word ‘Pure’ means, clean heart, a heart without deceit, a heart without defects, and a heart that has not been compelled to love God by circumstances.

So many people render worship to God because of so many reasons such as,

·         Worshiping God because of what they will gain from Him

·         Worshiping God because it is a must for every member of their family to do so.

·         Worshiping God because I was born in a Christian home.

·         Worshiping God because if I don’t I will go to Hell

·         Worshiping God because I want to go to heaven

These and so many other reasons are often in our minds when we render worship to God, but here Paul says, you have to let this people know fully, what God has done for then; you have to let them appreciate his work of grace on the cross so that when they will worship God, they will do so from their Heart, they will do so with Love.

       Questions for you today, for what reason do you worship God? Do you worship Him because you have known about how much He first loved you and you want to reciprocate that love or is there something else in your heart that is your reason for reverencing God.

       Loving God means obeying His command; it should be noted as well that in His command, He desires that you love your neighbour; your love for God will be incomplete if there is no love for your neighbour.

        In our next discussion, we will continue on this topic but will digress to discovering what love is, until then may our Heart (emotions, feelings, thoughts and will) love God for who He is and for what he has done.

I remain your Pastor and Friend

Onwujiuba Izuchukwu

Whatsapp: 08160678400

BBM: 58BDDAB6

Email zukas234@... (yahoo or hotmail or gmail or rocketmail).com

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THE HEART, THE CENTRE OF TRUE WORSHIP

^{Matthew 5:8} The pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God

The gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded by St. Matthew amongst the other three Gospels uniquely has this portion of Jesus’s message on the mount to himself; additionally, the Gospel as recorded by St. Luke is the only gospel that shares the message of our Lord Jesus which was termed the beatitude. It is interesting to note that the whole message of the beatitude is centred on this singular unique verse of the Gospel as recorded by St. Matthew thus it is important to remember at this time our last lesson on THE HEART, THE ENGINE OF YOUR LIFE as the lesson drawn from that lesson will greatly assist in this present study.

One thing I did not mention about the heart in the last lesson which is very important that I draw our attention to this today is in the Greek usage of the term Heart; the Greek word  “καρδία kardia” apart from been usage to express the thoughts and feelings of the mind figuratively, it is also  analogically used to express the middle, centre, midpoint, core, axis and so on. Thus the heart is visualized as the centre of a man’s deeds.

It will be important to note that there is not any action that has ever been carried out by any man that has not yet been conceived in the heart before then; hence the heart is the warehouse of a man’s thoughts and deeds which subsequently forms his being/personality.

It is this very centre of thoughts that God looks at and demands that a man that must worship Him in truthfulness must be a man who has allowed his worship for God to flow from this very important aspect of his life called the heart.

Several potions of the Bible has talked about the heart in so many ways, the book of ^{Jer. 17:9} says that, ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ^ESV while the NASU translation of this same scripture preferred to use the term ‘bad’. One may want to know why the Bible referred to the heart of man as sick and bad? We will reveal the reason as we proceed on this lesson.

it has been discovered that the selected scriptures of today has one thing in come apart from the fact that they all address the issue of the heart, it is also important to note that they all contains a question either directly or indirectly?

Looking at the text, ^{Psalm 15:1-2} the question directly asked is, ‘LORD, who may be a guest in your home? ​​​​​​Who may live on your holy hill?’ ^NET

Similarly, ^{Ps 24:3} ​​​​​​​asks, ‘Who is allowed to ascend the mountain of the LORD? ​​​​​​Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?’ ^NET

Consequently, ^{Ps 119:9a} ​​​​​​​asks, ‘How can a young person maintain a pure life?^NET ​​​​​​

Indirectly, Matthew 5:8 asked a singular question that brings to bare the main message of the above scriptures which is, ‘Who is qualified to see God’?

The primary reason for worship is for God’s people to present themselves as a living sacrifice unto God, been made holy and accepted by God so that they can share a part with Him (God) now and subsequently in heaven.

It is also important to note that the only hindrance to this purpose or reason for worship is the heart of man, on the same hand; it is also the part that determines ones stand with God.

The following questions will aid our understanding of this lesson:

1.   Why is the heart considered to be sick? Jer. 17:9

2.   What does it mean to acknowledge the truth in your heart? Ps 15:2

3.   What does it mean to have a pure heart? Ps 24:4a

4.   How can a one wash away evil from his heart make His heart pure? Jer. 4:14; Ps 119:11a

WHY IS THE HEART CONSIDERED TO BE SICK? JER 17:9

A synonymous question which will aid in understanding the reason why the heart is considered to be sick is this; what does it mean to be sick? The word ‘sick’ means to be suffering from a disease or illness; it is a state of being out of the normal.

God considered the heart to be sick because when he created man, he was whole but from the moment he failed in the garden Genesis 3, his heart (thoughts and feelings) went out of the normal and became sick; sick in the sense that the original heart God gave man became influenced by a virus (SIN) which has made him to function abnormally out of the will of God. Furthermore this speaks of the level of corruption that has crept into the heart of man by the reason of the fall. The effect of this corrupted thought and feelings (the heart) amounted Cain jealousy over his brother Abel which made him to slay Him, it also resulted in the continuous thought of evil that was found in the heart of man which made God to repent  creating man. Genesis 6:5-6.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRUTH IN YOUR HEART? PS 15:2

Due to the fall of man in the garden, the thoughts of man, his feelings and desires which are the constitute of his heart became corrupt and completely wicked, thus man became inconsistent in heart. 

The implication of this is:

·         Man can speak a lie easily while hiding the truth in his heart.

·         Man can speak the truth but in his heart, has an evil intention

The second seems to be the most rampart yet unchecked in the community today, Abraham was a man called by God for his purpose but he was a man guilty of this same reoccurring issue in the life of many Christians today. 

Abraham had Sarah as his sister and also as his wife; Abimelech was a King who desired to have Sarah, Abraham on the other was supposed to reveal the relationship between him and the King but instead, he preferred to tell the king the truth of Sarah been his sister in other to cover the truth of her been his wife; even though Abraham was saying the truth but was not truthful in his heart.

So many times, we say the truth over an issue with an intention to cover up another essential truth that may implicate us or favour a person that we are not in good terms with.

Can you remember the last time you slandered your colleague in the office because you want to paint his image black so as be preferred over him even though the things you said about him was the truth but right deep in your heart, your motive for revealing such a truth at that very time is not truthful.

God demands from his people to acknowledge the truth in their heart, men who will stand and speak the truth not with a deceitful mind.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A PURE HEART? PS 24:4A

To have a pure heart is to have a heart that is sincerely true, a heart in which no deceit will be found; A heart that will consist of a pure thought, desire, and feelings; a heart that will be in consistence with the mind of God, and with what the truth that the mouth utters.

HOW CAN A ONE WASH AWAY EVIL FROM HIS HEART MAKE HIS HEART PURE? JER. 4:14; PS 119:11A

In the book of Jeremiah God asked the people of Israel to wash away evil from their hearts, but the book Psalm asked a singular question which is how can one make his way pure; in other words, how can a man cleanse his heart pure, relating this to the question asked by Jeremiah should be how can a man wash away evil from his heart. The psalmist said by hiding the word of God in his heart.

Two things are involved here;

·         The heart

·         The word

For the heart to be pure it must become the dwelling of the word, for the thoughts, feelings, and desire to be pure, the heart must be the dwelling of the word.

          It will be very important to note that the Gospel as recorded by John 1:1 declares that the word of God Himself is Jesus Christ. This is to say that until Jesus Christ is dwelling in the thought of men, desires of men, feelings of men, they will always remain evil.

          The reason why a man can easily settle for Lesbianism and Homosexuality is because his conscience is sick and lacks the presence of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit who alone has the power to heal man’s heart and restore it to the original purpose of God.

I plead today with you my audience to search your heart and make sure that you have received Jesus into your heart and allow His word to search your heart and eradicate every thoughts and inclinations that raises himself against Gods knowledge.

May God bless you as you keep your heart holy for His dwelling.

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I remain your Pastor and Friend

Izuchukwu Onwujiuba

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THE HEART, THE ENGINE OF YOUR LIFE

The heart is the organ that supplies blood and oxygen to all parts of the body. It is about the size of a clenched fist, weighs about 10.5 ounces and is shaped like a cone. The heart is located in the chest cavity just posterior to the breastbone, between the lungs and superior to the diaphragm. The heart is surrounded by a fluid filled sac called the pericardium. Blood is pumped away from the heart through arteries and returns to the heart through veins. The major artery of the body is the aorta and the major veins of the body are the vena cavae.

The heart is not just one of the most important organs that constitutes human life but is also the most important aspect of human life that should be handled with absolute carefulness and watchfulness; biologically, life starts when the heart starts to beat and ends when it stops beating.

The heart therefore is the representation of who a person is; various times in the Bible, God spoke of the heart. In Gen. 6:5, God regarded the heart of man as an extreme wicked member of the human body which habors or conceives evil thoughts, Gen 8:21 gives another perspective of what God says the heart is; God declared that from childhood, the heart has always been over-clouded with negative/evil inclinations.

The friends of Job on the other hand in Job 15:16 refer to the heart as that which drinks up evil like water while Prov. 6:18 regard the heart as being capable of devising evil scheme. Jeremiah in Jer. 17:9 says that the heart is more deceitful than anything else, incurably bad and hard to understand.

Jesus Christ speaking of the heart in the book of Mark 7:21-23 said:

For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. All these evils come from within and defile a person.”

From all indications, it is clear that the Bible holds a uniform understanding of what the heart is. However, the very big question that should be considered this moment as we proceed on this study is:

v  What is the Biblical interpretation of the Heart?

That is to say, when the Bible makes mention of the heart, what exactly do he mean? In the whole of the Bible, the word heart was used about 830 times with the Old Testament recording 725 counts and the New Testament 105.

In the Old Testament, the Bible made use of two Hebrew words  לֵב (leb) and לֵבָב (lebab).

Lebab לֵבָב translated as heart in the English Bible, refers to the heart (as the most interior organ) i.e. the heart of an animal which can be human as the case may be, but the frequent usage of the word heart in the Old Testament is the word, Leb לֵב.

Leb לֵב also translated as heart in the English Bible is an offshoot of the root word Lebab לֵבָב which refers to the heart in a figurative sense, thus used very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; it was also regarded as the centre of anything (anything can also mean everything).

In the New Testament, the Greek word used for heart is καρδία (kardia), hope you know that the Old Testament was written in the Hebrew language, while the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, (oops I should not be saying this).

καρδία (kardia), used in several places in the New Testament has been translated as heart but was used in a figurative sense as well thus, the New Testament when talking about the heart, refers to the thoughts or feelings (mind) habored by one.

Now from the above, we realize that the Old and New Testament hold the same view on what the heart is and thus when they make mention of the heart, they refer to the Feelings, will, intellects and the thoughts of the mind; it speaks of the intentions or motives that runs through your mind.

LET US TRY AND APPLY THIS UNDERSTANDING TO THE TEXTS THAT WE HAVE ABOVE:

^{Jer. 17:9} The heart (Feelings, will, intellects, thoughts of the mind intentions or motives that runs through your mind) is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable — who can understand it…

^{Mark 7:21-23} For from within, out of the human heart (Feelings, will, intellects, thoughts of the mind intentions or motives that runs through your mind), come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. All these evils come from within and defile a person.”

We understand that the human heart as centre of life is also the centre of the existence of thoughts which in its capacity forms the character of any a person.

Who you are is a reflection of whatever is going on in your mind; this explains why God concentrates on the heart.

The heart contains your real Identity and therefore demands to always be put right before God.

In our next study, we will use this understanding to examine what this passage of the Scripture is saying:

Psalm 15:2 …The one who lives honestly, practices righteousness, and acknowledges the truth in his heart

Ps 24:4a He who has clean hands and a pure heart

Ps 119:11a I have hidden your word in my heart

Jer 4:14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved

Ps 14:3 He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue

I remain your Pastor and Friend

Izuchukwu Onwujiuba

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Exposition on Psalm 15

Ps 14 informs us that there were two groups in Israel: the “workers of iniquity” and “the generation of the righteous” (vv. 4-5). The former group forsook the law, but the latter group was a believing remnant that kept faith alive in the nation of Israel (Mal 3:16-18). Today, the church is that “righteous generation,” citizens of that heavenly Zion (Heb 12:19-25), that ought to make a difference in this world (Phil 2:12-16). Ps 10 and 12 focus on those who are not acceptable to the Lord while Ps 15 describes those who are acceptable and are invited to dwell in His tabernacle. David may have written this psalm after his second — and successful — attempt to bring the ark of the covenant to Mt. Zion (2 Sam 6) where it was housed in a tent.

The rabbis taught that there were 613 commandments for the Jewish people to obey if they wanted to be righteous, but this psalm brings that number down to eleven. Isa 33:15-16 gives six requirements, and Mic 6:8 lists three. Hab 2:4 names but one — faith — for faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to have your sins forgiven and be welcomed into the Lord’s presence (John 14:6; Rom 1:7; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38). The psalm says nothing about offering sacrifices, for spiritual Israelites knew that it was their personal faith that brought them salvation (Mark 12:28-34). It’s important to note that Ps 15 is not a prescription for being saved but a description of how saved people ought to live if they want to please God and fellowship with Him. The list contains both positive and negative qualities, and these qualities must be present in all of life at all times. Believers who would fellowship intimately with God must follow David’s example and meet three personal requirements.

SEEKING GOD’S PRESENCE (V. 1)

After his men captured Mt. Zion, David made it the site of his residence and of the sanctuary of God, and Jerusalem became “the city of David” (2 Sam 5:1-16). The tabernacle, the throne, and the “holy hill” belonged together (see 24:3-6; 2:6; 3:4; 43:3). To the believer today, Mt. Zion speaks of the heavenly city where God’s people will dwell forever (Heb 12:19-25). David asked this question because he loved the house of the Lord (26:8; 27:3-5; 65:4) and desired in his heart to know God better and fellowship with Him in a deeper way. The priests could come and go in the house of the Lord, but David, though he was king, had to keep his distance. “Abide” means “to sojourn as a stranger,” while “dwell” suggests a permanent residential status, but here the verbs are probably synonymous. Knowing about eastern hospitality, David wanted to enjoy the benefits of being a resident in God’s house — enjoying God’s fellowship, God’s protection, and God’s provision. The word “dwell” in the Hebrew is shakan and gives us the word shekineh, referring to the presence (dwelling) of God’s glory in the sanctuary (Ex 25:8; see also 29:46; 1 Chron 22:19; Ps 20:2; 78:69; 150:1). David’s great desire was to be with God in heaven and dwell in His house forever (23:6; 61:4), for God is our eternal home (90:1). Believers today can enjoy intimate fellowship with God through Jesus Christ (John 14:19-31; Heb 10:19-25).

OBEYING GOD’S PRECEPTS (VV. 2-5 A).

Three basic areas of life are named in verse 2 — blameless character, righteous conduct, and truthful conversation — and then these are applied specifically and practically in verses 3-5 a. If we are right in these basic virtues, we will “work them out” in every area of life and be obedient to the Lord. Walk, work, and speak are present participles, indicating that the dedicated believer is constantly obeying the Lord and seeking to please Him.

INTEGRITY — BLAMELESS CHARACTER (VV. 2 A, 4 A, 4 B).

What we are largely determines what we do and say, so the first emphasis is on godly character. (See Isa 33:14-16; 58:1-12; Jer 7:1-7; Ezek 18:5-9; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8; Matt 5:1-16.) “Blameless” doesn’t mean “sinless,” for nobody on earth is sin-less. Blameless has to do with soundness of character, integrity; complete loyalty to God. Noah was blameless (Gen 6:9), and the Lord admonished Abraham to be blameless (Gen 17:1), that is, devoted wholly to the Lord. (See 18:13,23-25; 101:2,6; Deut 18:9-13; Luke 16:13.) People with integrity will honor others who have integrity and who fear the Lord (15:4; 119:63). They will not be deceived by the flatterers (12:2-3) or enticed by the sinful (1:1). When godly people endorse the words and deeds of the ungodly, there is confusion in the church. “Like a muddied fountain and a polluted spring is a righteous man... who compromises his integrity before the wicked” (Prov 25:26, AMP).

 HONESTY — RIGHTEOUS CONDUCT (VV. 2 B, 5 A, 5 B).

People who “work righteousness” are honest in their own dealings and concerned that justice be done in the land. In the ancient Jewish monarchy, there wasn’t much the average citizen could do about crooked judges or extortion (Eccl 3:16-17; 4:1-3), but in today’s democracies, each qualified citizen at least has a vote. Someone defined “politics” as “the conduct of public affairs for private advantage,” and too often that is true. In verse 5, David applied the principle of honesty to two areas: asking for exorbitant interest and accepting bribes. Both were “sins in good standing” in the days of the divided kingdom, and the prophets preached against both sins (Isa 1:23; 5:23; 10:2; Ezek 22:12; Amos 5:11-12). The Jews were not permitted to charge other Jews interest (Ex 22:25; 23:7-8; Lev 25:35-38; Deut 23:20), and judges were warned not to accept bribes (Ex 23:8; Deut 10:17-18; 27:25; 2 Chron 19:5-7). There can be no justice in a society where money tells the court what is right or wrong.

SINCERITY — TRUTHFUL CONVERSATION (VV. 2 C, 3-4 C).

Truth is the cement that holds society together. If people can get away with lies, then every promise, agreement, oath, pledge, and contract is immediately destroyed. The false witness turns a trial into a travesty and causes the innocent to suffer. But we must speak truth in love (Eph 4:15) and use truth as a tool to build relationships as well as a weapon to fight deception. When truth is in the heart, then the lips will not speak lies, spread gossip (Lev 19:16), or attack the innocent. People with truthful hearts will keep their vows and promises (Deut 23:22-24; Eccl 5:1-5). People of integrity don’t have to use oaths to strengthen their words. A simple yes or no carries all the weight that’s needed (Matt 5:33-37). More trouble is caused in families, neighborhoods, offices, and churches by gossip and lies and the people who keep them in circulation than by any other means. The Lord wants truth in our innermost being (51:6), and He wants us to love the truth and protect it.

The Lord is blameless in what He is (1 John 1:6), righteous in what He does (Ezra 9:15), and truthful in what He says (1 Sam 15:29), and He wants His guests to have the same characteristics.

Psalms 15:2-5

TRUSTING GOD’S PROMISE (V. 5 C)

“He who does these things will never be shaken” (NASB). This means that the godly described in this psalm have security and stability in life and don’t have to be afraid of earthquakes or eviction notices. “Moved” comes from a Hebrew word that refers to a violent shaking (46:3-4; 82:5; 93:1; 96:10; Isa 24:18-20). God’s promise to the godly is that they are firmly grounded on His covenant promises and need not fear. “He who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17, NKJV). In these last days, God is shaking things so that the true will remain and the false will be exposed (Heb 12:18-29). Jesus closed the Sermon on the Mount with a parable about two builders (Matt 5:24-27) whose structures (lives) were tested by the judgment storm, and only one stood strong. It was the life built by the person who did the will of God. The godly life that our Lord discussed in the Sermon on the Mount parallels the characteristics of the godly person described in Ps 15, and in both places, the promise is given: “You shall never be moved.”

I remain your Pastor and Friend

Izuchukwu Onwujiuba

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