God expects His people to avoid unholy practices (i.e., divination, observing of times, witchcraft, wizardry, necromancing) that ensnare the world.
Any honest person, however, would have to confess that God hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
The salutations given by one saint to another are to be given through prayer having both the word of God and the will of God in mind.
Do you want God's respect? The Lord said, “to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
God calls people into different works. In the midst of this diversity, a common thread unites all the work—men ought to do all they do to the glory of God.
The world is driven by self-preservation and self-promotion. Individually, the natural man is guided by self-serving motives. This should not be true of saints.
Often the best way to expose one’s motives involves asking and answering the question “Why?” This question may resurface at the judgment seat of Christ.
How would making your motive match the Lord's motive change how you approach the Christian life (from witnessing to praying to Bible reading and so on)?
The Bible likens jealousy to a weapon. Lives are spared when this weapon rests in the bosom of someone with righteous motives. Yet, when the foolish wield this weapon, jealousy leads to destructive outcomes. The very thing that the Lord possesses to protect His people, His land, and His name, can push the ungodly men into an uncontrollable rage. God’s jealousy protects the righteous and consumes the guilty. Yet, the jealousy of an unrighteous man has consumed the lives of many innocent people. The Bible states that “jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame” (Song of Solomon 8:6). Misplaced jealousy is a most dangerous weapon.
God is a jealous God, yet that jealousy is only manifested when men provoke the Lord because of their unfaithfulness. Men can provoke the Lord through various means, but ultimately, they all unite in the fact that they place something or someone else ahead of the Lord. The Lord does not want the leftovers of man’s time, love, money, and strength (Malachi 1:7-9). Instead, He wants the first and greatest of man’s possessions. Anything less is idolatrous and offensive to the God who gave man everything he has. Each man must make a daily evaluation of his life to insure that he is doing nothing to provoke the Lord to jealousy.
