Month: December 2024

weekly words of encouragement

Thirst For Righteousness – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” Matt. 5:6 (ESV). God is pleased when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. This isn’t just judicial righteousness that we receive when we first believe; it is also lived righteousness, that is, living a godly life, a life that is truly good. And this is something that Jesus wants us to passionately pursue, that we would actually thirst for righteousness. He hopes we realize that we are parched and dry because we do not have the water of God’s righteousness. Remember, this passage is at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in which he describes a way of life that is far beyond natural human living. And the encouragement is that if we adopt this thirst for righteousness, then God will satisfy us; he will wine and dine us with his goodness so that Continue Reading →

discipleship model

Are You Modeling Jesus?

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“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” Phil. 3:17 (NIV). At first this statement by Paul might seem too audacious. Why would he tell the Philippians to imitate him instead of telling them to imitate Christ? He does talk about imitating Christ in other places so why would he direct the Philippians to focus on Paul? Is he being prideful? Is he too focused on himself? Is he misleading the Philippians? I don’t think he has any of these faults. He was modeling Jesus. I think Paul understood the power and importance of modeling Jesus for spiritual growth. It is easy for us to say that we aren’t the one that others should look to for an example. But really, if we are saying that Jesus changes lives and Continue Reading →