Weapons of the Righteous – Being Right with the Lord

We have come to the end of the series, Weapons of the Righteous, but we need to look at the characteristics of a righteous person before we leave this series.  Psalm 37:29 states that the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. What a wonderful promise!   But, we must understand that righteousness is a prerequisite for this inheritance.  God has given us conditions to be endowed with this land. So, what does it mean to be righteous?  Let’s delve into Psalm 37 to see some of God’s definitions of a righteous person.  If we are to dwell in this land of inheritance, then we must trust in the Lord and do good to obtain this place where we are to cultivate faithfulness (v. 3).  Trusting in the Lord may be difficult when our dreams are dashed and we can’t see any good for the future, but our Abba Father encourages us to run into His arms knowing that when He throws us up in the air, He will catch us. We need to trust in His character, knowing He is a good and faithful God.  Therefore, we who are His adopted children now have His DNA running through our veins and we too will inherit His characteristics of doing good and being faithful as we walk in His paths of righteousness.

Those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land (v. 9).  A righteous person waits on the Lord and doesn’t run to man first for direction, but continually seeks and waits on the Lord.  Resting in the Lord also goes along with waiting patiently on the Lord (v.7).  When we are at rest in the Lord, our eyes are not on the storms around us, but on Christ within us.  We are not easily ruffled by annoyances, but stay in perfect peace, which goes beyond all human understanding so that when folks think that we will fall apart from the tsunamis of life, they will understand that it only built us up.  The inheritance not only goes to those who wait on the Lord, but also to the humble (v. 11).  But, can God trust us to be humbled by humiliation, losing our material possessions, friendships and even the respect of family members, while still staying right with Him?  Sometimes God allows circumstances in our life to humble us so that He can later exalt us.  Nevertheless, let us not look at exaltation through human eyes, neither the inheritance of the land.   God’s definition of inheritance is far above our understanding.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

Our inheritance is imperishable and indestructible, and it is kept in heaven for us.  There is nothing like it on earth and it is far better than we could ever ask for, or imagine.  How we spend our time on earth sets us up for this inheritance, which we will get when we are in our eternal home.  This home is where our Heavenly Father resides and it is our land by right when we are His children.

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Revelations 22:1-5

I don’t know about you, but this is without a doubt where I want to go.  However, not just anyone can reside in this majestic kingdom. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Revelations 22:14   The heirs are the ones who are arrayed in a robe of righteousness.   They are like the Son who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15).   The Son, Jesus, spoke of Himself in John 7:18 saying, He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. If we are to be righteous we cannot presumptuously speak our own words even though they might be eloquent, as we will draw people to us and away from God.  A righteous person seeks the glory of God and is sent by God to carry out His mission.  It is quite unfortunate when God searches for someone to follow His directives and find none suitable for His task and none to stand in the gap for the earthly land so that He would not destroy it (Ezekiel 22:30)  Not many of us are like Isaiah who readily said, “Here I am send me,”  after having a vision from God where he encountered His holiness and had his “unclean lips” touched with burning coal by a seraphim, which took away His guilt and then his sins were forgiven.  Thankfully, we don’t have to take the burning coal method, as Jesus did it all for us at the cross. He took away our guilt and shame and because of His shed blood, our sins are forgiven.  

By now, we should be getting a better understanding of our inheritance, knowing we cannot live our lives as we would like and still expect to be heirs to this glorious kingdom.  We need to be upright in conduct (Psalm 37:14) even when the wicked come against us.  It is better to have little and be right with God than to have an abundance and be wrong in God’s sight (Psalm 37:16).  The righteous are gracious and gives generously, therefore they will be blessed by God and inherit the eternal land (Psalm 37:21-22).  And, the Lord has promised to those who are righteous that He will not forsake them, and their children will not go begging for bread, and He will preserve them forever. 

Those who are righteous are wise, speak justly and have God’s law in their hearts (Psalm 37:30-31).  The righteous are blameless before God and will be people of peace.  And, when trouble comes, which it will, they run to the Lord.

But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them;
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him. Psalm 37:39-40

Being righteous is not easy.  Isaiah was sent to a rebellious people and God had him go naked for three years as a prophetic sign to His people.  Yet, he had a fruitful life that still impacts many greatly through his writings.  Another major prophet who had a difficult life was Ezekiel. 

And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. Ezekiel 24:15-18

What would you do if God doesn’t give you the desire of your heart, or He takes away the desire of your eyes?  God took away Ezekiel’s beloved wife and told him not to mourn for her as a prophetic act to the people around him, and Ezekiel obeyed God because he loved Him and feared Him.  He desired to serve the Lord, no matter the cost.  I must confess, I struggle with a lot of what God has “sent” me to do even though there is no comparison to what was done to Ezekiel.  

As I write this post, I feel like daggers are piercing my heart as I know that I am not where I need to be.   I am grateful though, that I am not who I used to be.  I was one of those rebellious people, but now my desire is to be right with the Lord as I delight in Him.  I know also that the pain I go through as I walk His paths of righteousness is for His name’s sake.  It is not designed to break me, but to build His kingdom, which is filled with those who need to be encouraged and loved. 

Weapons of the Righteous – Be Humble

Recently, I went in to my bank to get a new debit card as my old card was falling apart.  After being with the customer service representative for nearly an hour, he could not get through to my branch to get approval, so he went to his supervisor to get signed off on giving me the card.  However, the supervisor wouldn’t because of concerns with my income.  I am a missionary so I get donations, but that explanation was not enough even though they had my bank statement.  Normally, I would have gotten angry and felt humiliated because of the denial of a replacement card, but after going through similar situations over these past years of being a missionary, I simply expressed my thanks and calmly left.  The next morning God showed me what to do and my branch finally sent an email, so I got my card.  God worked it out and I was thankful my ego did not rise up in anger.   

I know God has allowed me to go through these circumstances to deal with my pride issue.  When I moved back to Jamaica about ten years ago, I thought I was going to conquer the media industry, but instead rejection conquered me.  In the space of two years, I had been turned down by numerous potential employers, I failed to come up with sponsors for programs I had produced, and when I finally did get a part-time job, it didn’t work out well.  I felt dejected and demoralized.  I wondered why nothing would go my way.   It was years later that I realized God couldn’t use me as He would like because my pride was getting in the way.   I now comprehend that it was His grace, mercy and love that allowed me to be rejected for whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (Matthew 23:12)   God desires to exalt me, but first I needed to be humble.

I am thankful that God has humbled me throughout the years, even though pride does have the tendency to still rear its ugly head. Nevertheless, I have come to a point in my life where I often ask God to search my heart to see if there is any wicked way in me, so that I can quickly turn from any such thought or deed.  I understand that pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18). Therefore, I have become much more diligent in checking on the motives of my heart.  

Too many of us are overly acquainted with pride, which is a sinister character who draws us into self-centeredness leading to selfishness and even self-pity.  Some may not agree that self-pity comes from the root of pride.  Well, I Googled self-pity and it means excessive, self-absorbed unhappiness over one's own troubles.  Self-pity can be quite egocentric, looking at self as being victimized.   Christ has made us victors not victims.  We are victors when we walk in humility with an outward focus to help and encourage others.   That doesn’t mean that we don’t take care of ourselves.  Jesus told us to love others as we love ourselves.  Without a doubt, He does expect us to love ourselves, but not be lovers of self.  Yes, there is a difference.   When we love ourselves we are content in who God created us to be and we are ready to share His love with the world around us without applause.   On the other hand, when we are lovers of self we are self-seeking and expect others to feed our feeling of self-importance.   Being a lover of self is sin because it is pride, and God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)   Therefore, we must clothe ourselves with humility towards each other.  Jesus was not a fan of those who were lovers of self.

But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. Matthew 23:5-7

Throughout my years in ministry, I have encountered many who have given to be seen and lauded by men.  Some go as far as pretending to give in order that their façade of philanthropy is publicized to garner praise.  Not only does the right hand know what the left hand is doing, but so does the whole body and the rest of other bodies who are willing to hear and read about such prideful acts of seeming generosity.  Jesus said, “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”  Matthew 6:2

It is much better to humble ourselves before the Lord, than for Him to humble us.   When we humble ourselves before Him, we will not do anything out of selfish ambition, but rather, we will value others above ourselves and He will lift us up.  Solomon tells us in Proverbs that the Lord detests the proud of heart and they will not go unpunished.  This can be seen throughout the Scriptures.

For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning
Against everyone who is proud and lofty
And against everyone who is lifted up,
That he may be abased. Isaiah 12:2

I would prefer not to go this route, especially when there is this great promise in Psalm 37:11 - But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.  I had meditated on this verse at one time and desired my inheritance quickly.  The version of the Bible I had read said that the meek will inherit the land.  Consequently, I set out to be meek by studying a couple books.  Meekness apparently is not a popular topic or else I would have bought more literature to ensure that I would become as meek as I could be.  I guess many persons do not understand that meekness is not weakness, but rather quiet strength.  I wanted the land, so I was trying to teach myself meekness.  Unfortunately for me, it only made me more miserable.  Why?  I was focused on self and getting what I wanted for my happiness.  

We need to be wrapped up in humility, not thinking that we are better than others, or that we know better than God as that causes outward rebellion.  Also, prideful humility may sound oxymoronic, but boasting in our humbleness can be quite popular in Christian circles.  Lest we forget, God knows our hearts.  It is quite important to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves because in our pride we cannot truly seek God as our thoughts of self do not leave room for Him.  Let us humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord, so that He will exalt us in His timing. 

Weapons of the Righteous – Cease from Anger

Some years back, I was angry with God, therefore, I told Him He was not good and I wasn’t speaking to Him anymore.  A few days later, one of my pastors gave me sound counsel.  He told me that God has big shoulders, but I needed to apologize.  I did, and I was thankful for a God who did not lash back by striking me with lightning on the spot.  Our Lord abounds with mercy and grace, and He knew the hurts of my heart.   My ire had grown because I had felt sidelined by God and I wanted Him to put me on the field to play my “significant” part.  I was frustrated about all the obstructions that kept me from succeeding in the way I would like.  However, before I had my outburst at my all-knowing God, He understood that I was not ready to do and have all I felt I should.  If I were, I would not have reacted the way I did to Him.  Undoubtedly, I am not the only one who has ever gotten angry at God, or whose anger got the best of them.   The Apostle James implored his brothers and sisters in the Lord to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1-19-20)

     

                                                                                                

Unfortunately, in the Bible there were men and women of God who were not immune to losing their temper, which resulted in them being disobedient to Him.  The illustrious leader Moses was one such individual.  It might have been righteous indignation that lead him to strike down and kill an Egyptian after he saw him beating one of His fellow Hebrews.   However, what Moses thought was a clandestine act was no secret.  The next day while trying to be a peacemaker when two Hebrew men were fighting each other, he was called out on the murder he had done the previous day.   Now afraid, he ran for his life, fleeing to the backside of the desert.  Lots of anger from all angles in this episode of the life of Moses.  Forty years later, the more mature, but still ill-tempered Moses was called by God to lead the beleaguered Israelites out of Egyptian slavery into the Promised Land.  On their long trek through the desert, the Israelites often ignited God’s fury with not only their murmuring and complaining, but also their rebellious ways.  Once, while Moses was up on Mount Sinai speaking with God, the people were down at their camp making a golden calf idol because they felt Moses was taking too long.  The anger of the Lord burned against the Israelites and He was about to destroy them when Moses intervened and urged Him not to obliterate the obstinate Israelites as the Egyptians would say that He brought the nation into the desert intending to kill them.  Furthermore, Moses reminded God of His promise to the patriarchs to make their descendants as innumerable as the stars in the heavens.  The Lord relented.  But ironically, Moses came down from the mountain and in his fury he threw the tablets of the law written by God on the ground shattering them. He then burned the golden calf and ground it to pieces, then scattered it over the water and made the people drink it.  Nothing that Moses did would have taken the Lord by surprise.  He must have known that Moses would have petitioned Him to change His mind, plus He had foreknowledge that Moses in his rage would have given this rebellious nation some well-deserved punishment. 

Wandering forty years in the desert did not make them much more acquiescent to Godly principles.  On the brink of their Promised Land, they started quarreling with Moses about him bringing them out of Egypt to die.  He once again had to seek the Lord, who told him to speak to the rock so the people could have water.  But, Moses was extremely annoyed and angry at his ungrateful country folk, so he struck the rock twice, and water came forth in abundance.  This was disobedience to God, which resulted in him not entering the Promised Land.  You may think that this punishment was harsh and that years prior God had told him to strike the rock when the Israelites were arguing with him because they again desired water.  However, at that time, Moses did as the Lord had told him to do and performed what may have been a beautiful foreshadowing of Jesus, our Rock, who while He was on the cross had His side pierced and from which water flowed.  This was also a sign that Jesus would be our Living Water.   Hence, striking the rock twice was utter disrespect, which enraged God as Moses was told to speak to the rock.   It was a different time with different directions.

Please pardon me for my lengthy discourse on Moses, but I wanted to stress the point that we, like Moses, disobey God in our anger.  And, sometimes we strike out at our Savior and Redeemer, when things aren’t going our way, which leads us to more trouble.   When we get angry at God we tend to rebel and reject His word, plummeting us into sordid acts of all sorts of evil.  In addition, our exasperation with people often lead us to want revenge, and to take things into our own hands when God has said that vengeance is His.  We need to wait on God for Him to repay, or show His mercy and grace to our transgressors, just as He has done for us.  It is essential for us to realize that we could miss out on God’s blessings when we give in to anger.

Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.

Psalm 37:8-9

On Moses’ appeal, God ceased from anger and forsook His wrath. Yet, Moses didn’t do as God did, therefore, he was cut off before he could inherit the Promised Land.  You might say Moses was not evil, but any act of disobedience to God is evil.  And, as I often tell my children, consequences for wrongdoing must be faced.    The enemy knows this, so he will orchestrate people and circumstances to cause disharmony and acrimony in our lives, thus, diverting us from God’s path.  And, as we act out in anger the ramifications could be dire.  The wise King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 19:11 that a man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.   He again penned in Ecclesiastes do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.  If this would only be followed on the Jamaican thoroughfares, where road rage is rampant as the plethora of bad drivers can be quite irksome.  I have seen meek Christians become raving mad when cut off by a reckless motorist.  Frequently, I wonder if many of them repent when they remember that they should,

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:31-32

Forgiving an offense is of utmost importance because when we are consumed by anger, bitterness and resentment will gnaw at us, wearing away our spiritual and even physical health.  Jesus told His disciples that it is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come.  He went on to instruct them to take heed, and if a brother sins rebuke him and if he repents, forgive him, even if he repents seven times for the day (Luke 17:1-4).  Let us not hold on to offenses and remember that it is God’s kindness that brings us to repentance (Romans 2:4), which leads to a revival in our souls and renewal in our bodies as we relinquish resentment and other antagonistic feelings in our lives. For these reasons, we should seek to be kind and forgiving.   On the other hand, if we hold on to anger, it opens the door for the enemy in our lives.

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:26-27

God created us.  He knows our inner being and that we will get angry.  It is a normal emotion and as we have seen before, even God gets infuriated.  Nevertheless, He also knows the negative effects of anger, therefore, He set out parameters for us.  We must not do anything to displease God when we are angry, and we must not linger in wrath, or else the devil will have access to pillage and destroy our lives.   Don’t get angry, walk in victory. 

 

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.  Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Colossians 3:8-15

When the peace of Christ rules our hearts, it will also guard our hearts and minds from anger and impatience.  Furthermore, abusive speech will not come out of the abundance of our heart.  Instead, our heart will be fertile ground for wisdom to grow and we will reap its fruit of unity.   We will take off our old selves sullied by our evil behavior in the past, and put on our new selves purified by the righteousness of Christ.   No longer will anger entrap us, but we will be free to be like our Lord, who is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and extravagant in mercy and love.