The starting point to living a righteous life is our faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and having faith that God is with us helping us to mature and live righteously everyday.

There is great reward to living righteously

Verse 19: As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.

A righteous person’s life blesses the next generation 

Verse 21: Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.

The wicked at times may get extra help to accomplish their evil. However, God not only delivers the righteous person, but he also delivers his descendants from a gang of wicked people.

This was clearly shown in the life of Joseph. When his own brothers out of jealousy ganged up against him, he continued to live righteously.  While for many years it appeared that the brothers were successful, God was unfolding a beautiful plan for Joseph and his descendants. Additionally,  Joseph’s life continues to inspire the people of God to stay true to Him and keep doing what is right.

As believers, it’s so important to think about what kind of inheritance we are leaving for the next generation. Many people, may focus on monetary inheritance, but leaving a legacy of righteous life is far more pricey and valuable for our descendants than any worldly treasure.

A righteous person’s desires are aligned with God’s desires

Verse 23: The desire of the righteous is only good,?But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

Since a righteous person has allowed God to deal with their lust (See Proverbs 11:6), their desires are pleasing to the Lord. On the other hand, a wicked person’s desire only produces destruction because it is based on their own fleshly desires and lust.

Righteous living is only possible through faith

but the just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4b

The word “just” is the same as the word “righteous” in Proverbs 11.

Definition: just, righteous (in conduct and character, righteous (as justified and vindicated by God)

Are you continually pursuing to live more righteously than you did the day before?

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. Proverbs 24:23 (KJV)

The Bible is full of scriptures that command us to honor our parents, submit to those in authority, and respect our spouses. However, there is one place that the Bible teaches us not to be respecter of people, and that’s when we are in the seat of judgment. This is when the Lord desires for us not to allow any level of relationship, position, affection, or preference to taint our judgment in a given situation. That means if two parties have come to us for a verdict in a given situation, we need to put ourselves in a completely neutral position regardless of how much personal honor or loyalty we have for either party.

To be impartial in a given situation, we make it our aim to have a clear mind and a pure heart in order to hear and receive what both parties are going to share. This allows us to be fair in hearing all the facts. It gives us the opportunity to draw a just conclusion based on what has been presented to us not based on the strength of our relationship with one of the parties.

Impartiality also applies to any prejudice in our hearts towards others of a different race, ethnicity, color, size, socio-economic status, educational level, career and so on. We need to be vigilant not to bring our biases to the table when we are judging a situation because that will cloud the truth and can lead us into wrong conclusion.

My husband has seen variety of individuals including educated people, pastors, and Christian kids who for one reason or another have gotten into trouble with the law. We can’t assume because of someone’s status that they are less likely to sin or be at fault. Sin is no respecter of people because the devil will try to bait anyone who gives him the open door. Some of the recent top dollar white-collar crimes have been committed by those who were educated and were in high positions professionally.

God gave Solomon great wisdom to judge people rightly. When two prostitutes came to him each claiming that the live baby was theirs but the dead baby was the other one’s, Solomon stayed neutral (See 1Kings 3:16-28). His challenge was that he had one person’s word against another. He didn’t come with his preconceived notion as to who was right or looked more truthful; God gave Him holy counsel on how to resolve the issue.

Sometimes we feel more confident and secure if we already have some preconceived notion about a given situation, but our security should be solely in the Lord. We can let him lead the situation and give us insight as to how to judge and resolve the situation as we go through the process and depend on Him moment by moment.

Praise God that we don’t have to depend on prejudice or preference because God gives us discernment to draw a Godly and fair judgment. As we hear Him, we will judge. (See John 5:30).

“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. Deuteronomy 25:13

When I was growing up in Iran, the grocery stores were similar to the farmer’s market stands of nowadays. Every store owner had his goods out in the open, and had a scale that he would use to weigh the meat, vegetables, or the fruit. The scales were the ancient kind that you had to put a standard weight to one side and put the item to the other side. When the two sides balanced then you knew how much the item weighed. Sometimes the measuring weight were just various sizes of stones!

Everyone made the assumption that the owner’s weights were accurate, and that they were the correct heaviness. For example, a 1 pound weight should be exactly 16 ounces. If the owner decided to have a weight that only weighed 14 ounces but used it as a 1 pound weight, he could cheat people out of 2 ounces every time he sold something. 2 ounces may not be enough for the customer to notice, but they are still cheated out of 2 ounces of their desired goods. On the other hand, the owner could decide to use accurate weights when his family and friends came to purchase goods because He wants to treat his own people right.

When we have a different standard of treatment of people based on our own personal preference or bias, we are using differing weights. For example, one person may call us and ask for our help, and we can find a few excuses not to get inconvenienced. However if our friend or our boss asked us for a favor, we can’t respond fast enough to help them out. We may even change our plans to accommodate the need. The person that we gave the excuse to, may or may not notice the difference of treatment, but we know and the Lord knows that we have differing weights!

The partial treatment could be in variety of areas. We may be quick to encourage and edify the abilities and gifting of our friends or those in visible positions. On the other hand, we are indifferent to the people who are not our friends or are not popular. The sad news is that the Lord may have shown us the ability of that quiet /unknown person, so we can be the only voice of encouragement in their life.

Unfortunately, partiality is all around us, and it is something we have to fight against in ourselves. We are not even immune to it in the body of Christ. Actually it is more hurtful when we, the people of God, operate in partiality. Let’s examine ourselves and see if we have differing weights in our bag!

Walking requires two people to be at the same pace

It can be very frustrating to walk with someone who is either walking faster than you or walking much slower than you. When both people are walking at the same pace, it makes the experience a much more enjoyable process.

The Lord has a certain pace of walk for us. If we walk at His pace, we will not be faced with frustration or  disillusionment. Some with Type A personalities want to hurry God and make Him move faster. The thinking is if we walk fast enough, God will just have to catch up and bless our good works. Soon we find out we can’t hear God because he is not being pressured to go at our pace. He is standing behind waiting for us to slow down.

There are others who want to walk a lot slower than God. They will try to remind God of their past spiritual hurts and find excuses to slow down or even stop. The Lord knows what we are capable of, and He can heal and mend every wound should it be necessary. If the Lord is leading us at a certain pace, He knows we have the capacity and the ability to do it with His help. We just have make sure the Lord is asking us to go at a certain pace and not people’s pressure.

I have been in both camps at different times, and I have experienced frustration and disillusionment when I have tried to walk faster or slower than Him. Walking with God is a process that we continually have to adjust our speed and go at God’s pace.

Walking together requires going in the same direction

We will not be walking together long if we don’t go in the same direction. God is the leader, and sometimes He will choose rough paths for us to walk on. This is where we may complain and whine about the terrain and wonder why He had to choose this path.

Trusting God is an important element in walking with God. It’s like going on a long hike with someone who leads the group on tricky and unlabeled trails. The leader must be trusted otherwise we can be arguing about what turn to take at every juncture. This will cause frustration, getting lost, or going in circles.

We were on a camping trip with some friends a few years ago and decided to go hiking in the forest. Everything was great until we came to a major “Y” on the road and a decision had to be made as to which way to go. Our group leader suggested left and a couple of people disagreed and thought taking the right path is the correct way. We went in circles twice before they realized that the leader was right all along. By then, I was not happy to be on those trails anymore and started murmuring like the Israelites in the desert because I was hot and thirsty!

Life is a long journey. Walking with God will be more pleasurable if we can enjoy the process of walking, stay at his pace, and trust His leading in our lives. When we do these things, we will get to enjoy the company of the Lord more, treasure our loved ones, listen to the birds, watch the butterflies, and smell the flowers along the way rather than being focused on getting to a destination.

For comments, please email me at Karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:24

This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9

Enoch walked with God, and Noah walked with God. Adam seemed that he missed his walking appointment with God! God came to walk in the cool of the day, and Adam was hiding because he had sinned.

God enjoys walking with us. Walking involves spending time together and being in close proximity to each other. It allows two people to talk and hear each other’s hearts on various matters of life.

Walking with someone I love, fills me with joy and energizes me. Whenever I finish my walk with my friends or with my husband, I feel full. I am rejuvenated, recharged, and I can get back to the tasks and chores with enthusiasm and energy. Walking with God gives me that pleasure even in a greater measure because He knows me better than I know myself, and He is in tune with my burdens.

Definition: To walk (according to dictionary.com):

to advance or travel on foot at a moderate speed or pace; proceed by steps; 

to move about or travel on foot for exercise or pleasure, 

move by advancing the feet alternately so that there is always one foot on the ground in bipedal locomotion

Walking with God is a steady slow process. The focus is not necessarily getting to a destination while one has that in mind, but it is also enjoying the company of the one we walk with and spending time together.

Some Characteristics of Walking with God:

-Walking is one step at a time movement where one foot is on the ground and the other one is lifted to advance and move one step forward.

This is important for all spiritual people. Some people can get so spiritual that they are in danger of not being grounded. If we are walking with God, one foot will be on the ground at all times and we would be willing to see the reality of where we are at.

For those who like to be very much grounded, we need to take one foot off the ground and move it forward. That’s the step of faith. It is required for us to take them if we are going to advance in our spiritual walk with God.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22

Do you remember when you were a child and you had that favorite shirt that you didn’t want to let go of? Your Mom bought it for you when you were 5 years old, and now you are 8 years old and still want to wear it. The arms are tight and you can hardly put it on. The sleeves are short and look 3/4 length of what they were previously. The shirt is short, and it doesn’t even cover your waistline anymore, but you are adamant in wearing it. Your Mom tries to tell you that it doesn’t look good on you anymore, but you still envision yourself looking great and getting complements wearing that shirt. The reality is:” It’s over. It’s time to let it go and have a respectable funeral for that shirt and start wearing your appropriate size outfit!”

Some of the things we hold on to spiritually are just like the shirt in the above example. They worked fine for a season, but it’s time to let them go and take on the new things God desires for us. This will allow us to continue to grow up and not stay stuck in how we saw ourselves or how others perceived us in the past.

The longer we have walked with God, the greater challenge we have in not remaining as an old wineskin but to stay new, fresh, and flexible with the work of God in and around us.

What are the areas that cause us to operate as an old wineskin?

–Fear will cause us to avoid change and try to control things instead of trusting God.

–Tradition makes us be so comfortable to doing things a certain way, that we are not open to change.

–Pride creates a mindset that we only want to receive from certain people, but others don’t have much to offer us.

-We have a certain reputation  that we enjoy among people, and  we don’t want anything to affect that perception.

-Attending church for a long time, can make us think we are more mature than we really are.  As result we are offended by anything that challenges our thinking or mindset.

Some of the characteristics of fresh or new wineskins are:

–Being teachable. We are willing to receive and change. The teaching doesn’t have to come from a certain people to be valid and good.

–Staying flexible. We are willing to shift our mindset about things.

–Growing without much resistance. To be right with God is more important than to be right in our stance.

–Not being afraid of something new because we haven’t seen or experienced it before. God is always on the move. He can do what He wants to, and He is not bound by our experiences to operate in a certain way.

–Continuing to receive revelation through the word of God and His spirit. Getting fresh insight and revelation from the Lord is a necessity to staying fresh as a new wineskin.

–Staying free from tradition and fear of man. We need to focus on God’s move and work in the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit should override any other voice in our lives otherwise we have limited God’s voice only to what is acceptable to us or those around us.

What kind of wineskins are we today? Do we struggle with change? Do we find plenty of excuses not to face change? Or do we embrace change and growth in the Lord regardless of the source of change?

 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” Mark 2:21-22

In Mark chapter 2, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and the disciples of John explaining the kingdom of God and the change that was required. The people were used to behavior modification and were programmed into following rules and tradition. They were wondering why Jesus’ disciples were not fasting. There was nothing wrong with fasting, but there was no need for Jesus’ disciples to fast while the bridegroom was with them.

The problem with religion and just following the rules is that one can follow them out of rote and tradition without really thinking about the reason the Lord asks us to obey Him. We need to understand the significance of those rules and traditions and be sensitive to how the Lord wants to apply them in our lives.

Jesus shared a couple of parables in order to explain the change. In one of his parables, He described how you couldn’t sow an unshrunk cloth to an old garment or the new piece will pull away from the old.

My Mom used make quilts, which were a collection of different fabrics patchworked together in a beautiful and colorful design. Since the fabrics were extra pieces of cloth from various articles of clothing, she had to ensure that they were all similar in thickness and were washed and preshrunk prior to using them. If some were relatively new and never washed before, the new fabric could pull away from the rest of the quilt making the quilt look sloppy and poorly sown.

When we live our new life in Christ with old mentality, there is a pulling in us that continues to go on because the flesh is at war with the Spirit. In order for us not to have those struggles, we must continue to let go of worldly and fleshly mentality and only permit those things that are washed and sanctified by the blood to enter in. This allows us to have peace and unity within, and it prevents us from continually wrestling with the Spirit because of our carnal desires.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.”   “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’” Mark 1:2-3

The above scripture is a prophecy concerning John the Baptist which was prophesied in Isaiah 40:3 and in Malachi 3:1. John the Baptist came to point forward to the one who was to come. He did not dress or eat like an average person of his day. His goal wasn’t to conform and be popular, but to do the will of God. He spent much time in the wilderness preaching repentance and baptizing people.

Every one of us have been given the ministry of pointing people to Jesus. John the Baptist pointed forward to the coming Messiah. We point to the past, present, and the future. We point back to the work of the Messiah on the cross. We preach about present reality of Jesus living in our hearts and declare that the work on the cross can transform us today. Finally, we point people to the future when the Lion of Judah comes back for His bride taking us to be with Him for eternity.

John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming Savior, and in the process he was imprisoned and beheaded for speaking truth.  Preparing the way for the people can be a rocky road. The rocks are strongholds of unbelief, tradition, fear, & pride that cause people to stumble upon the name of Jesus. Preparing the way many times will be difficult, unappreciated, and can cause persecution. It will require great faith, patience, and perseverance to stay faithful to the call of God.  This can be true when ministering to believers as well as unbelievers.

John the Baptist’s life teaches us lessons on how to proclaim Jesus:

–John had an intensity and focus about his assignment. Fitting in with the crowd was not his focus or his goal.

-He knew the boundary of his ministry. He had a limited message of repentance. He didn’t overextend himself beyond what was assigned to him.

-When he became known for a period of time, he stayed true to the mission and kept pointing people to Jesus. He knew that this wasn’t about him.

-He stayed humble in his relationship to Jesus.

-He was willing to move into the shadows when Jesus came to the forefront.

Every true believer of Jesus Christ will be used by God to point people to Jesus Christ. Are we willing to be the ones who remove the rocks out of the way? Can we be patient with rocky people and/or circumstances? Do we know the boundary of our assignment? Are we going to faithfully point people to Jesus and not to ourselves or anyone else? Are we willing to be in the spotlight for a season and then move into the shadows?

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

God has given us the power to agree with one another. It is His desire for us to join His work and cooperate with others to accomplish His tasks on the earth. However, not every agreement is a good agreement neither does it fulfill God’s desire. A good agreement is one that is based on truth and the character of individuals. 

Definition of “agreed” (G3982) according to Strong’s Concordance is: to persuade, i.e. to induce one by words to believe, to make friends of, to win one’s favor, gain one’s good will, or to seek to win one, strive to please one, to tranquilize, to believe: to have faith: in a thing to believe, to listen to, obey, yield to, comply with to trust, have confidence.

Based on the above definition, it is clear that we can come into agreement with someone based on having confidence in them. We can yield to one another based on truth which is a good agreement.

Nehemiah brought together a group of weary and distressed people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. This man was a trustworthy man who had no self-interest. His desire was to help his fellow citizens to rebuild their city and to rebuild their lives. 

So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work. Nehemiah 2:18b

Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was a good work which was directed through prayer and fasting. Nehemiah asked each family to rebuild a portion of the wall by working shoulder to shoulder to complete the entire wall around Jerusalem. While Nehemiah’s work had adversaries, he continued to stay on task and not be shaken by the enemies. They finished this project  in a short period of time despite opposition because God was with them; the Lord continued to give them strength and wisdom on how to accomplish the task. A good, Godly agreement produced life and good fruit.

Jesus called his disciples to come together who had varied personalities and issues. However, after walking with Jesus for over three years, they took on God’s vision instead of their own ideas and agendas. They became more united in purpose because they came under the agreement of Jesus and what He had been teaching them for three years.Through the unity and agreement with Jesus and the Holy Spirit  the disciples together changed history and the world forever. This was a life-giving agreement that continues to produce eternal fruit in those who believe it.

The power of agreement is unquestionable, and that’s why we have to be cautious about our agreement with other people. Our focus and desire should be to bring glory to God and allow God to produce good fruit through the agreement.

Some of the points to consider before we come into agreement with others:

-How well do we know the person’s character?

-Do they have a personal problem/issue that motivates them to take a certain position?

-Are our discussions/conversations with them full of back-biting, speculations, and gossip rather than being honorable, loving, & kind towards others?

-Do we have our own issues of hurt and insecurity that motivates us to be in agreement with those who identify with our pain?

-Do we have fear of losing a relationship if we don’t agree with a person or a group of people?

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.