Christian Living on Righteousness

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Scripture

Hebrews 13:16, Matthew 25:40, 1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 5:13, Matthew 5:16, James 2:17, James 4:17

We fixate on sins of commission far too much. We practice holiness by subtraction-don't do this, don't do that, and you're okay. The problem with that is this: you can do nothing wrong and...

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Adapted from “A Cry for Deliverance” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Dustin Ray

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Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9, 1 Corinthians 10:13, James 4:7, Matthew 6:13, Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 1:15-16, Galatians 2:20

Pastor: Heavenly Father, save me from sin! I know I am righteous only through Jesus’ righteousness, but I greatly desire to be more like him! I am your child, so help me to resist the temptation to si...

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Brother Lawrence and Trusting God in Failure

Author

Ryan Bundrick

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Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:9, Isaiah 40:29, 2 Corinthians 3:5, Hebrews 4:16, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:6-7

Brother Lawrence, a 16th-century Carmelite monk, spent his days scrubbing pots and mending shoes. Largely uneducated, he filled his free time writing letters and notes that, after his death, friends g...

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Author

Dave Harvey

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Scripture

Matthew 7:1-2, Luke 18:9-14, Romans 2:1-3, James 4:11-12, Galatians 6:1-2, 1 Peter 4:8, Titus 3:4-5

Self-righteousness is a sense of moral superiority that appoints us as prosecutor of other people’s sinfulness. We relate to others as if we are incapable of the sins they commit. Self-righteousness w...

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Adapted from a variety of scriptures

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Scripture

Isaiah 1:18, Joel 2:13, Psalm 103:8, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 51:17, James 4:10, James 4:10

Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be like wool. Rend your heart, and not...

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Gracious God, our hearts are often

Author

Laura B. Murray

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Scripture

Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 17:9-10, Matthew 5:8, Romans 7:21-23, James 4:8, Ezekiel 36:26, 1 John 3:3, Psalm 73:1, Psalm 24:3-4, Matthew 15:19-20, Romans 12:2, Psalm 139:23-24, Titus 1:15, James 1:2-8, Matthew 12:25

Gracious God, our hearts are often divided between what is good and what is evil. Not one of us is pure in heart yet we long to have a whole heart.

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Prayer of Adoration Lord—you’re

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Scripture

1 Timothy 3:16, John 1:14, 1 Timothy 1:15, 1 Peter 1:23, James 4:10, 1 John 1:9

Prayer of Adoration Lord—you’re sufficient in everything. You can create without us; save without our assistance; bring good out of evil, hope from despair and restore what we mess up. You’re soverei...

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Heavenly Father, we confess that in our pursuit

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 12:22-32, James 4:8, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Psalm 115:1, Romans 12:2

Heavenly Father, we confess that in our pursuit of good, we often miss opportunities to bring you honor and glory. We try to address our shortcomings by compensating for them, rather than by orienting...

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The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

Author

John R. W. Stott

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:5, James 4:6-10, Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11, Judges 7:

These ‘meek’ people, Jesus added, ‘shall inherit the earth’. One would have expected the opposite. One would think that ‘meek’ people get nowhere because everybody ignores them or else rides roughshod...

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We confess, loving God, that we are not

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:23-24, 1 John 1:9, Ephesians 1:7, Philippians 2:3-4, James 4:6, Romans 12:2

We confess, loving God, that we are not a society of saints, but a fellowship of sinners. We are the forgiven, who still need forgiveness. We are the redeemed, who are still being redeemed. We do not ...

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Author

Thomas Merton

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, Psalm 51:17, Romans 3:23-24, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Lamentations 3:22-23, James 4:6

But the man who is not afraid to admit everything that he sees to be wrong with himself, and yet recognizes that he may be the object of God's love precisely because of his shortcomings, can begin...

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Turning from Judgment to Compassion

Author

Gregory A. Boyd

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:5, Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 6:37-42, Romans 14:10, James 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 4:5

Even for those of us who follow Jesus on a daily basis, the reality is, our sinful nature has infiltrated our minds, and we often find ourselves, either consciously or unconsciously, judging those aro...

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Author

Brant P. Hansen

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 66:2, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 57:15, Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6

I’ve learned that Jesus is both terribly dangerous and terribly safe. For the proud, he is the biggest threat imaginable. And for the humble, he is the securest refuge.

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Author

Bryan Stevenson

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 57:15, Matthew 5:3, Matthew 5:7, 2 Corinthians 12:9, James 4:6, Micah 7:18

There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experienc...

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Tears & The Kingdom of God

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:7, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Matthew 5:4, Luke 6:21, James 4:8-10

Traditional Eastern Orthodox theology asserts that tears cleanse, renew and make way for the kingdom. When sin and the brokenness of the world give rise to godly sorrow, our hearts soften toward God a...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:7-8, 1 John 1:9, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Luke 5:32, Isaiah 1:18, Romans 5:8

We don’t come to Him as bad people trying to become good people; we come as rebels to lay down our arms.

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A Biblical Understanding of Sin

Author

Richard Plass

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:17, 1 Peter 2:25, Romans 8:7, James 4:4, Ephesians 2:1-2, Isaiah 59:2, 1 John 3:4

In the New Testament sin is not merely an individual, privatized transgression of a moral standard (sins is typically used for specific transgressions). It is far more radical than that. Sin is a mist...

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Ask, Seek, Knock

Author

Jenny Child

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 5:14, James 4:3, Matthew 13:45-46, Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 7:7-8, Romans 8:15-16, Mark 10:46-52

May we ask according to your will, not according to our desires, for you will give us what is right for us. May we seek you as the pearl of great price, not half-heartedly but with our whole being, fo...

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Kind and loving God, forgive us for our

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:18, James 4:8, Proverbs 3:5-6, 1 John 1:9, Revelation 3:15-16

Kind and loving God, forgive us for our lack of faith. You deserve our reverence, obedience, and faith, but we give You so much less. Because of our lukewarm devotion, we miss out on so much that You ...

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Gracious, almighty God, we think of

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 115:1, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Matthew 5:16, James 4:10, Proverbs 3:34, Micah 6:8, John 3:30

Gracious, almighty God, we think of John the Baptist, who was a faithful witness to you. He understood that this role was pointing people toward you and not himself. Yet we know that all too often we ...

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Author

Andrew Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:12, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 57:15, Matthew 23:12, 1 Peter 5:5-6, James 4:10, Philippians 2:3

Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am bla...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

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Scripture

Hebrews 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 7:18-19, James 4:8, Isaiah 64:6, 1 John 1:8-9, Psalm 51:2-3

It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence.

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Philippians 2:3-4, Proverbs 11:2, Luke 18:14, Isaiah 14:12-15, 1 Peter 5:5-6, James 4:6

Today I come to that part of Christian morals where they differ most sharply from all other morals. There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone loathes when he sees it in so...

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Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Faith

Scripture

James 4:4, 1 Timothy 6:17, Matthew 6:24, Isaiah 26:3-4, Psalm 37:5

All those who do not at all times trust God and do not in all their works or sufferings, life and death, trust in His favor, grace and good-will, but seek His favor in other things or in themselves, d...

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Almighty God, we take pride in our

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:24-26, Ephesians 4:1-3, Philippians 2:3-8, James 4:6, Psalm 82:3-4

Almighty God, we take pride in our self-sufficiency while we look down on the weak who cannot provide for themselves. We praise others for their efforts, yet we demand perfection from our own families...

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Author

John Chrysostom

Keywords

Healing

Scripture

Matthew 5:4, Psalm 6:6, Isaiah 1:18, Jeremiah 31:9, James 4:9-10, Joel 2:12-13, Psalm 51:17

The fire of sin is intense, but it is put out by a small amount of tears, for the tear puts out a furnace of faults, and cleans our wounds of sin.

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Author

Joshua Choonmin Kang

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Psalm 138:6, Proverbs 3:34, Matthew 11:28-29, 1 Peter 5:5-6, 2 Corinthians 12:9, James 4:6

[God’s] greatest grace is found at the lowest place

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O God, who is rich in mercy, We come

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 4:9-11, Titus 3:4-5, James 4:6, Romans 12:1-2, Psalm 51:1-2, Micah 6:8

O God, who is rich in mercy, We come before you humbled and in need of your grace. Many of us have been in the church for so long that we have forgotten how each day your mercies are new, your grace ...

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Lord of Hosts, we remember the words of

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:17

Lord of Hosts, we remember the words of your servant, James: whoever knows the good they ought to do and does not do it, sins. Oh Lord, have mercy on us. Too often we have failed to act when the world...

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Author

A.W. Pink

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:9, Luke 15:11-32, Ephesians 2:8, Genesis 32:10, James 4:10, James 4:6, Isaiah 6:1-8

Growth in grace is growth downward. It is the forming of a lower estimate of ourselves. It is a deepening realization of our nothingness. It is a heartfelt recognition that we are not worthy of the le...

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