Faith Examination

2 Corinthians 13:5-10 ⁵ Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you[b]; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. ⁶ As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority. ⁷ We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. ⁸ For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. ⁹ We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature. ¹⁰ I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down.
Have you ever been around people who call themselves Christians but you can't really tell it by how they live?  Well, I have, and apparently, Paul was dealing with a few in the Corinthian church and he was doing a "proof text" of their lives to make sure they were who they were saying they were.  In other words, actions were not matching the lifestyle as proof that Jesus was anywhere near them or in them.
I believe a little reminder for each of us is necessary to reaffirm and reform our faith is moving in the right direction by doing a "heart-check" like the one Paul was calling them to do.  In verse 5 Paul says "examine yourself to see if your faith is genuine."  Here is a good rule of thumb in the faith thing.  If you consistently ignore and reject following the basic teachings of Christ, then you might have a problem.  That problem would be an unchanged life because you really don't know Christ.  I have served in local churches for forty years and sometimes I get the impression a person might not even know Christ because they exhibit the opposite of how a follower of Jesus should live.  And the confusing part is "they don't want to change."
The Apostle Paul had to deal with this throughout his ministry and especially in the church at Corinth.  The people who were trying to run everything in the Corinthian church were "ruining" everything and their supposed power was actually killing all that the believers had done in establishing a fellowship there.  Power in a church, like chairing a committee or being voted on some committee is a great responsibility, but in a politically run nation, our default is to think "we" are powerful, when in reality our power is not even a part of it.  It is about following the promptings of the Lord and spending extra time in prayer to ask God what to do in a situation.  Those. who do this can and should be leaders, but anything less should disqualify a person wanting a position of leadership.  We call these people "servant leaders."
If you are being asked to be in a position of leadership in a church you should take the time to examine yourself and make for sure of your motivations and keep your self pure in your motives about being in leadership.  A good example of this attitude is what a person serving as a deacon should be thinking when trying to become that kind of servant leader.  My ordination counsel quizzed me at length and I remember one Godly man I highly respected telling me to examine myself before committing to the ordination process.  I really took that to heart and have remembered all these years since.  I pass this wisdom from that man to all who are considering any kind of leadership in the church and follow that wisdom by saying "souls are dependent on that kind of commitment."  The "participation trophy " that is given out because you attended is not good enough when looking to lead.  You have to be committed to the Lord in a very strong, passionate commitment.
Look in the mirror.  Is Jesus in there anywhere?  Time to get that right and then you are ready for God placing you in leadership, but not until that is made right!!
The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren

Take it our Leave It

The Idiom "Take It or Leave It" means to accept or reject unconditionally.  It is a "final" thing we say and yes, we do.  In today's Christianity, we see a whole bunch of waffling among the fold.  We hear a message for God's Word about total commitment and we may even Amen the message and affirm the messenger, but then we have to live.  The waffling that follows is an indication that we think we are empowered (by ourselves) to accept or reject living for Jesus.  We take the phrase "free will" and use it to justify our lack of commitment to following Jesus with "all" our lives.   The wide swings from totally committed to marginally committed keep us in a tissy as we try to live out our faith, and our lack of consistent growth in God's Word begins to show a glaring lack of total commitment to our Lord.
Keep in mind, commitment is not optional, it is to be exceptional.  In other words, the believer's commitment to The Way is a prerequisite for sanctification and sanctification feeds the necessity to follow through with that commitment.  Which makes the phrase "I Can Take It or Leave it" not even a reality in the believer's vocabulary.  But, sometimes we attempt to make it a real thing to compensate for our lack of true faith.  This true faith is a faith that works, and a faith that grows as we learn to "walk with God."  Let me explain.....Ephesians 2:8-9 says ⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  So we cannot work our way into heaven, but when we receive Jesus by faith and receive God's grace a transformation takes place.  Paul wrote about this transformation in Romans 12:² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  
That word from Paul is definitely and word for "taking it", not "leaving it."  The transformation changes our way of thinking and aligns us with what God wants and that is usually different than what we want because His perspective is from a different vantage point, Him being God and all.  So when we surrender our life to Jesus, then Jesus takes over and we are consistently being challenged and changed during this process.  This process is definitely all "taking it."  In fact, the only "leaving it" that happens in a Christian's life is leaving the worldly way of thinking behind.  Look what Paul wrote the church at Ephesians about this very subject.  Ephesians 2:

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. ² You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.  He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. ³ All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.  ⁴ But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, ⁵ that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) ⁶ For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. ⁷ So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

The end conclusion shown to us by God's Word is "Take it all."   Give your life totally over to God and immerse yourself in serving Him and Him alone.  You cannot reject serving Him after you accepted His grace.  It doesn't work that way and you need to read His Word to see all of that come to life.  Psalm 119:11 says I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  To make it simple here is the formula.

Accept Jesus=Read His Word=Follow Jesus=Grow in your faith=Serve Jesus

That is a very natural progression of "taking it."  Keep on taking it and you will see life as never before.
The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren

What Is Your Shoe Size?

So, I have been buying shoes for many years and during those years I never even questioned what my foot size was, so I would always choose my last size, which is size 9.  I have been buying and wearing size 9 shoes for many, many years and never once put my foot on a shoe sizing tool to measure my feet again.  I wear a size 9!!  Why change?  I remember buying a pair of work boots a few years back and I kept thinking when putting them on "These are the most difficult boots I have ever tried to get on my feet."  I thought "I will just break them in and it will get easier.  It didn't!
So a couple of months ago I went to a local store to buy a fairly expensive pair of shoes and the guy said: "Do you want me to measure for your proper size?"  To which I said "No.  I am a steady size 9."  But then good sense took over and I told him to go ahead and measure my foot. To my surprise, I found out I now wear a size 10 shoe!!   A SIZE 10!!  A full size larger than what I have been wearing for over 30 years!!  It was a shocker for me and now I order size 10's when buying shoes and they fit so much better.  Boy, was I stupid for not measuring my foot to see if my foot had grown anymore?
All of that little scenario really caught me off guard and taught me a valuable lesson about staying current in my walk with the Lord.  In 2 Peter 3:18 Peter writes ¹⁸ Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  A very important word in this verse says it all, and the word is MUST!!
Must (def) - be commanded to.  In the Christian life, we make so many of the firm commands of God optional in our thinking.  But in reality, they are not optional but commanded for us to do.  Here is a scenario of what happens to a believer not growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
1. They will stay away from letting God's Word penetrate their inner spirit and thus ignore how the teaching wants to grow them in the Lord.
2. They will strike out against anyone who is living a spirit-filled life because it reveals how much they are not growing in the Lord.
3. They will follow empty worldly philosophies about life and their reasoning will be distorted when it comes to Spiritual matters.
4. They will never grow in their relationship with God and they won't see how large their lack of Biblical reasoning has become.
5.  They will make the excuse "this is the way we have always done it" their battle cry.
Just like me not realizing my foot had grown to a size 10 many will live their life content with an undersized faith that needs to expand to face the rigors of life.  They will resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit to update their walk (sizing) and move on to a better, deeper walk with God.  They will continue to let their outer man control their inner man and continue to walk in an undersized faith relationship with God who continues to reach out to them to resize and update.  Thus, they are out of touch with God and out of touch with the reality that we MUST grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Time to resize and get on with life.  God wants you to try on a bigger shoe...

The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren

Flourish

Flourish (def) - grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.
There was a pianist who played for a church where I led worship.  She was the main pianist for the worship service and also played parts for the choir to learn songs.  The first time I led a choir practice she played the parts on a particular song that I thought was very difficult, but she just breezed through the whole thing without a thought.  When she got through playing the difficult part exactly right I had to stop.  I just looked over at her and she sat there like nothing great had happened.  I went on with the choir rehearsal, but continued thinking "how good is this lady?"
Weeks later our instrumentalists were working on a particular song that had a really cool, but tough, groove in it.  I noticed that the pianist was stiff and not feeling the rhythm of the whole thing, so I turned to her and said: "Just let go and play from your heart."  She looked a little perturbed and began to really make the song come alive with her added accents and the whole group began to pick up the groove and it began to sound "really" good.  After that rehearsal, I went over and talked with the lady and asked her why she was so stiff at the beginning of the song?  She replied, "My mother has always told me not to "show off" when playing the piano, so that is in the back of my mind when I play.  WHAT?  I couldn't believe my ears!!  Her mother never realized just what she was doing by restricting this pianist, her daughter, from "flourishing" with the talent that God had given her.  The pianist had played with that burden for years and sadly, it had become her lifestyle when using her talent.
Over the period of the next few weeks, I was able to get her to come out of her shell and begin to play what she felt and her playing was amazing!!   That talent was never able to flourish because of words her mother said to her as a child.  I was thankful God showed me her need and I was able to encourage her to not only be a pianist but be an awesome pianist.  I could really tell that she could be that way the first time I heard her play.
Do you flourish in your life?  Have you opened up your life to flourishing with the God-given abilities He has placed in your hands?  What is holding you back?  Who is holding you back?  Has someone in your life made themselves your "humble filter?"  You know, they keep holding you back and use the term humble to justify them keeping you from flourishing.  May in never be so for believers in Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul knew about being encouraged by his friend Barnabas.  Barnabas had a good hold on how important it was to encourage.  When Barnabas became a Christian he sold his land and gave the money to the Jerusalem Apostles.  He brought Saul back to Antioch to help with the church in that city.  Barnabas also calmed the fears of the believers at Jerusalem about Saul.  Barnabas had unshakeable confidence in God and was a constant source of encouragement for Saul and was pivotal in the continued growth of Saul and thus the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Barnabas encouraged and Saul flourished!!!
Paul wrote in the letter to the church at Philippi that the attitude of Christ is full of encouragement and unity and love.  Philippians 2: Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? ² Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. ³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. ⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.  
There is encouragement from belonging to Christ and that attitude blows up the "humble filter" used by so many people.  That humble filter is rooted in jealousy and pride and the use of it is a dangerous weapon of destruction for those God is wanting to go to a whole new level.  People who use that filter usually have some other motive when using it and many times they don't even know they are being used by the evil one and not God.   You could bet that Saul would have plenty of criticism and naysayers in his travels, so Barnabas was who God put in his life to offset those people.
Who is holding you back?  Or who are you holding back?  I went to the movie Ford vs. Ferrari and in once particular scene the driver, Ken Miles is beating Ferrari in a Ford sponsored vehicle.  Ken is realizing the victory they had fought so hard for by hard work, and yes, great ability in driving.  On his last lap, he is asked to slow down and let two other Ford cars pull up beside him so they could do a photo op with all three Ford cars finishing one, two, three.  As fate would have it, they were so close at the end that the judges gave the race to another Ford driver who wouldn't have even been close to Ken had he not slowed down to let the "team" finish together.  Ken sacrificed the crowning moment of his abilities to placate those who supplied the money to build the car and he got second!!!  My wife and I both cried "foul" and it was unfair but no different than those who would keep you from flourishing for the Lord with the talent He has given to you to use to the max!   Our fellowship together in the Spirit has definite characteristics and one of those characteristics is encouragement, and the end result of encouragement is agreement, which is another result of the attitude of Christ.  There are two more vital results of this attitude that Paul mentions and they are found in verse 2.  Those two results are love and working together.
Sometimes those who God is using and taking to a new level of service forget that humility is a huge part of them using their talent properly.  In other words, they should never forget to give praise and glory to God by using their talent for Him and giving Him thanks for that talent.  The focus is always on God and not on the person with the talent.  Our world has a natural tendency to lift up man, but for a believer, that tendency is always to give Glory to God.  I always love to hear someone give glory to God after a great accomplishment and see that they truly know God is the source of their ability.  So, God has to be the focus for the use of the talent and that is the true "humble filter."  God's filter is better than our filter because filter still allows us to flourish and man's filter always holds us back.
Keep flourishing and keep encouraging others to flourish also and see what God can do when we are united together in love as we serve the supplier of our talents and gifts.  Verse 4 in the above scripture says a lot.   ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  Be a source of encouragement for someone today and watch that person flourish for Christ.
The Pilgrimage continues...
David Warren

Living in the Reality of Jesus

  1 John 2:1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. ² He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. ³ And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.⁴ If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. ⁵ But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. ⁶ Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
The reality of a person who is a born again believer in Jesus Christ is much different than the reality of a person who isn't a believer.  I can hear you now saying, "No Duh!"  And you are right in saying that because it is a given that we pursue a deeper walk with God that involves living in the righteousness He has given us through death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.  In 1 John chapter 2, John is very clear that he is writing these words so we will not sin and then he says a very pivotal word for all of us who know Christ.  The word is BUT.  A person who is pursuing a deeper walk with God will almost miss the word BUT,  and the reason for them missing it is Jesus.  When we live in the reality of Jesus and our relationship with Him is ever-growing and ever-deepening, it changes our "approach" to life itself.  We begin to see the radical change the righteousness of God makes on our daily walk and that change is accompanied by a pure heart and a heart for service.  We are different as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  There it is "the change."  When we step into the reality of a relationship with Jesus Christ we are changed at the core of our being.  When God was looking for a king who would replace Saul, He was drawn to David because He was a man after God's own heart.  1 Samuel 13:¹⁴ But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”  
When we live in the reality of Jesus it changes our heart to get in line with the heart and way and will of Him and His way of thinking and living.  Praise God!!  That is a reality I can handle.....most of the time.  The natural man is still trying to reestablish territory in my life and we are constantly pushing that man away from controlling anything in our life.  When I begin to feel the natural man trying to take over I pray to God and ask Him to give me a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit and He always comes through.... of course.  1 Corinthians 2: ¹⁴ But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.  Living in the reality of Jesus pulls us into a life that is constantly growing, even through tough times and how we respond to these tough times can either help us grow or fall away. Since we are Spiritual-minded and Spirit guided people we are capable of handling the old nature that used to be us.  We handle it by turning to Jesus every time...Did you get that word?  EVERY time!!!
¹⁴ But people who aren’t spiritual[a] can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. If you are struggling to grow in the Lord and the old life is beating up on your new life in Christ, you need to immerse yourself in the "reality of Jesus."  Begin by getting your relationship current with God.  Psalm 51:10 says it all.  Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Then live out of that forgiveness and see how much more real Jesus is to you and then you will see what it means to live in The Reality of Jesus.
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren

Focus, Focus, Focus

Proverbs 4:²⁵ Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. ²⁶ Mark out a straight path for your feet;  stay on the safe path. ²⁷ Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.
There is a lot in scripture about paths and direction and keeping our eyes focused on Jesus isn't there?  But we live in a world where ADD or attention deficit disorder is widespread and very prevalent in most people.  I have never gotten a diagnosis about whether I am ADD or not, but I'm pretty sure I have many of the symptoms of the disorder.  If I am talking on the phone with someone and trying to get information from them and my wife tries telling me something I freak out and become angry because my brain goes into crisis mode and I can't keep track of either conversation.  I also get distracted very easily if I don't keep my focus on the task at hand and I can be led off on some tangent and forget what I was doing originally.
If you have ever seen the movie UP, you can relate to this picture and except for the black nose and long ears, this is a true picture of me at times.  I will be doing some task and someone will interrupt me in the middle of it and I will not say Squirrel, but it truly happens.  I get distracted.  And from my heart, I want to state "I do not like getting distracted."  In fact, it gets me angry and frustrated and I become a very "ramped up" individual.  So, I do whatever I can to keep from getting distracted.  As I write this blog in my office I can hear other staff members from my church out in the hallway making noise and I have to concentrate to shut out the noise so I can clearly keep my mind on what I am doing.  I guess I want to hear what they are saying and still keep writing this blog when what they are saying is not the important thing.   So it comes back to priorities.  In Proverbs  4 the scripture reads  Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you.  Our focus needs to be on what is ahead of us and that way we won't get caught off guard when we need to make a decision that could impact our lives.  In Hebrews 12:1-2 it says, Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.  The writer there gives a "point of reference" for us and that point is Jesus.  Jesus is not someone we ask to tag along for when we need Him.  Jesus is our point of reference in all decisions we make and this is how He directs our path and keeps us focused on what He wants.  How do we keep focused on Jesus?  By drawing closer to Him in every area of our lives.  James 4:8 says ⁸ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty, is divided between God and the world.   We cannot keep having these "squirrel" distractions or we will become frustrated with the ups and downs of our lives.  We must make a plan for focusing, which brings us back to our scripture in Proverbs 4:26 where it says ²⁶ Mark out a straight path for your feet;  stay on the safe path. Why is this necessary?  Because the path that Jesus blazed for us by defeating death, hell, and the grave was a defining mark He set before those who would come to Him.  In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says ¹³ “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. ¹⁴ But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.  The word only pretty well sums up the importance of the path before us.  We come to Jesus through a narrow gate and we live for Jesus on a very straight path that is focused on Jesus and His ways and that way is also called the "safe" path.
There is a very unsafe path that leads to evil and a person that follows that path and gets distracted from the right path will end up where they should not be.  The reason this happens is we get "sidetracked" and the focus that should be solely on Jesus is divided between the "world" and God!!  Danger Will Robinson, DANGER!!  The warnings in God's Word are not just words put on a sheet of paper, but they are the guidelines for living the focused life.  Focused on Jesus that is.  That focus begins when we accept Jesus and continues as we "walk with God" and learn of His ways and live them.  The end result of that life is a life that is constantly growing in their relationship with the God of the universe.  That life is a life of purpose and direction.....God's direction.  It is not rocket science and it should not surprise us that God is the best direction we can follow.  The following story is a vivid reminder that Christians sometimes cannot see the forest for the trees and miss the great truth that God is our only true compass and He is constantly showing us where to go and what to do if we will just consult Him.
A man on a flight across America in 1976 rose from his seat, drew a gun and took the stewardess hostage. "Take me to Detroit," he said. "We're already going to Detroit," she replied. "Oh...good," he said and sat down again.
So sit down and follow God's Word cause He already has a plan mapped out for you and it is called God's will.
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren

A Psalm for Today

Psalm 101:¹ I will sing of your love and justice, Lord. I will praise you with songs.² I will be careful to live a blameless life— when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. ³ I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar.  I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them. ⁴ I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil. ⁵ I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.  I will not endure conceit and pride.  ⁶ I will search for faithful people to be my companions.  Only those who are above reproach will be allowed to serve me.⁷ I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house,  and liars will not stay in my presence. ⁸ My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked and free the city of the Lord from their grip.
We have become so weak in our direction of righteousness that we have polluted the very righteousness we have which is from God.  When we accept Jesus Christ and experience life-change all bets are off on living for the world because the controlling factor in our life is no longer the world, but Christ.  We just cannot help it.  We want to live like God's Word commands us to live.  Don't we?  Maybe not......  Well, we should, according to the standard David was speaking about in Psalm 101.  That standard has been hedged on by all of us at some juncture or another.  What would it take to have a "change of attitude" about living a blameless life?  This "blameless" life is not a life to put us into a position to say to each other "I am more Godly than you are."  It is a life of purity that is based on not only the integrity of Jesus but also a life that is at its core totally surrendered to Jesus in every area and attitude of our being.  It is the "big kahuna!"  Of course, you have seen and know what the "big kahuna" is in scripture.  Well then let me esplain...    The big kahuna is my term for the "sold out", with no reservation and holdbacks when it comes to living for Jesus.  At every level, at every ounce of our being Jesus is Lord.  Psalm 101 is just another attempt by God's Word to lead us to that kind of life commitment.  But, it is not for the faint of heart.   This is the life that Jesus tried grooming his apostles to live, and they had a hard time understanding, just like we do today.
I mean from the first verse David lays it out.  The impressive thing for me is that being the musician he was, he grafted praise songs into the equation and then after that David "throws down" the gauntlet and specifically calls out the "blameless life" and asks when God will come and help him.  David had a desire to live this life but He knew he needed God's help and being a king wanted to set the tone for leadership beginning with himself.  This means so much because this Psalm was written after his sin with Bathsheba and you can see the wisdom God showed him in the midst of all of that to not go back to looking at the wrong things.  Verses 3 and 4 I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar.  I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them ⁴ I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.  David further emphasizes he will lead a life of integrity in his own home and part of that is not slandering neighbors which fall line with God's command to love your neighbors as yourself (Mark 12:31). 
David doesn't stop with what he won't do but continues with what he will pursue.  In verse 6 he writes I will search for faithful people to be my companions.  In modern-day Christianity, the continued need for accountability is at its highest and that shows we need each other to continue to keep on track in our Christian life.  That lines up with Proverbs 27:¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.  Of course, cynical closed-minded people will say about David "He needed that before he got on that rooftop and saw Bathsheba and then pursued her."  Excuse me Captain Obvious those statements try to bring the standard down and use the label "we are only human" as a basis for not doing what is being laid out here and thus kill the pursuit.  But, remember David was a "man after God's own heart" and he couldn't do anything else but do what it would take to continue that pursuit.  For those who know Jesus, we also cannot help but pursue the life God wants us to live and that pursuit is driven by the fact that the Holy Spirit is the one driving this life, not us.  
This Psalm is a standard for a king who was ruling God's people and David was that king and he knew that these characteristics were supremely necessary for him or anyone in leadership.  He had learned from his mistakes and this was the outflow of that learning process. For the modern-day believer, this laundry list of what it takes to pursue Godliness is a wake-up call and a tall order, if we try to do it on our own.  But unlike David we have the Spirit of God to direct our steps in every situation and the Holy Spirit is at our beckoned call when it comes to living this blameless life, otherwise known as the Christ-like life.   Here is how Paul wrote it to the church at Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. ² For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.³ God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. ⁴ Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— ⁵ not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. ⁶ Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. ⁷ God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. ⁸ Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
May we be people who try to find ways to be “more” like God and not “less” like God.  That pursuit is the heart of Psalm 101 and I believe it should be a “wake up” call for a generation that is waffling in their pursuit of Godliness.  Paul could see it, so can we.  Begin today and see what great things God will show you.
The Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren

No Other Hope

1 John 5:13-14 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
The confidence we have as believers is all found in one person, Jesus Christ.  So, if you are a believer you have a source for the hope that does not fear, does not waver, does not fade, and does not fall away.  John wrote in the verses above to believers in the name of Jesus Christ.  When we accepted Christ we became a believer.  A believer in what?   First of all, that our sins are forgiven and the penalty for sin, which is death, has been defeated at every turn.  How did you come to Jesus?  Did you come on His terms or on your terms?  Here is an example of someone's sins being forgiven in Luke 7: 44 “That’s right,” Jesus said. ⁴⁴ Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.⁴⁵ You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. ⁴⁷ “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only a little love.” ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” ⁵⁰ And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  Second, we believe in the resurrection.  So, those who die will live again and spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. John 11:²⁵ Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. ²⁶ Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”  We must ask ourselves what he asked Martha.  Do you believe this, believer?  That belief will shore up the weakest faith and give us an undying hope in the life we live now on this earth.  Third, Jesus is the only way to heaven.  John 14:⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”  This is the, put your faith where your mouth is, scripture for all "believers."  We must come to grips with the only option in a world that is only satisfied with many options in their lives.  Jesus Christ is the only hope we have and He is our "best" hope.  We are so "me" oriented that when someone says this is your only option, we freak!!!  Everything is watered down to please the desires of those who long for many options and those options are easier than someone just giving one option.  Well, the only option for true hope is found in one person Jesus Christ, and Him ALONE!!  End of story!!  Now Acts 4:12 makes so much more sense where it says, ² There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”  No one else but Jesus and Him alone!!  You can have this hope, but you must surrender to Him and give Him your heart and He will take care of the rest....hope included.
Romans 15^:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Come to Him today and ask Him to come into your heart and believe by faith and you will be saved.  Saved from eternity in hell to eternal HOPE now and forever.
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren