Tag: Righteousness

Categories
#spiritualintelligence

The Words of Our Elders: Billy Graham

We have not yet learned that a man is more powerful on his knees than behind the most powerful weapons that can be developed.

We have not learned that a nation is more powerful when it unites in earnest prayer to God than when its resources are channeled into defensive weapons.

We have not discovered that the answer to our problems can be through contact with God…

What a glorious thing it would be if millions of us would avail ourselves of the greatest privilege this side of Heaven!

~ Billy Graham

The words of our elders, are words of wisdom.

Categories
#spiritualintelligence

The Words of Our Elders: Aurelius Augustinus (354-430 CE)

It is not the being seen of men that is wrong, but doing these things for the purpose of being seen of men. The problem with the hypocrite is his motivation. He does not want to be holy; he only wants to seem to be holy. He is more concerned with his reputation for righteousness than about actually becoming righteous. The approbation of men matters more to him than the approval of God. ~ Aurelius Augustinus

The words of our elders, are words of wisdom!

Categories
#spiritualintelligence

Spiritual Intelligence: This Is Our God!

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Good morning friends. Allow me to introduce God to you. His nicknames; sun and shield! I guess these metaphors provide narratives for God’s role or intervention at that particular point in the psalmist’s pilgrimage. These metaphors are visual aids that provide tangibility and relativity to an intangible, yet omniscient and omnipotent being.

I could spend the rest of eternity analysing why the psalmist might have chosen these particular objects as metaphors, but for this morning’s thought let’s concentrate on their wider, and hopefully close with the thrust of these verses from the psalm.

The prophet Malachi describes Christ as the Sun of Righteousness . In one of his prophetic journals, he penned these words:

But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.

Like Lego blocks, these two verses can easily be interlocked. They both provide the same narrative on our role as believers, and God’s commitment to His covenant in honour of our faithfulness. To strengthen this argument, consider these extracts from each set of verses; “those that walk uprightly”, and “you who fear my name”. They point to one and the same thing, they point to how the believer is doing life in the light of God’s word and revealed commandments.

With this in mind, let’s consider another psalm, one that incorporates the use of the object shield.

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah. But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

By allowing the scriptures to do the interpretation, we are never far out from the truth. So we see here that the focus was likely that of the sun’s cleansing and healing attributes for his frail and weary body, while the shield’s was likely to be His protection from our adversary’s assaults. The “sun” invigorates our being, while the “shield” protects our being; as a result, we can put all our trust in the almighty, knowing He has both the external and internal factors of our lives under absolute control, even though we might not necessarily feel that way most times. Therefore, we can continue in faith as expressed through; worship, praise and thanksgiving to our God!

20140618-065733-25053825.jpg

ISBN 13 (Paperback): 9781496975379
ISBN 13 (Hardbound): 9781496975386

~ Sabali