Shall never be moved.[Matthew 7 v24-27 ]

Psalm 15 has stressed the importance of being morally upright, and ends with these words,/He that doeth these things shall never be moved/ First of all let us learn that our lives must correspond with with our profession,it is by our fruits, that we gave evidence of being a true Christian.Religion without righteousness is a sham and a shame,in Isaiah 1 God through His servant reproached the people for  their sacrifices ,because they acting wickedly, and challenged them to/ cease to do evil, learn to do good,seek justice, correct oppression,bring justice to the fatherless,to plead the widows cause[1v 16 -17 ].When Lord Shafesbury sought to bring reforms to the cruel working conditions that children suffered,a number of the bishops opposed them.Spurgeon rightly points out it is those who do these things ,not just hear these things,we are yes to be hearers of the word of God, but we are to be doers also. Our Saviour finished His sermon on the mount,by saying,/ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,/ the result would be that when the storms of life came,they would be like a house built upon a rock,that would stand firm[ Matthew 7 v 24-27 ]as the Psalmist declares,he that doeth these things,shall never be moved.
A  prayer...../Dear God help us to not only be hearers of Your word, but also doers in Jesus name Amen/

Taking bribes. [ Proverbs 14v 31-34 ]

Psalm 15 v5/ nor taketh reward against the innocent /This is to do with taking bribes, it is not something we experience much in this country, at least not that we know of, but in many places it is common practice. Here it is stressing taking bribes against the innocent,we see this in the book of Esther were the wicked Haman,promised the king money, as a bribe to have the Jews destroyed.[3 v9]It must be difficult for people who live in countries were taking bribes is practiced,Paul was held captive because he would not pay a bribe [Acts 24 v26 ] It appears that during America,s period of prohibition ,many police,judges,were taking bribes,it a dreadful thing in any nation that it is allowed to go on.I was watching a TVprogramn on dear ladies were trapped in the sex trade ,and the police let it go on,becaused they were being bribed. Plumer writes/ The dreadful corruption sometimes manifested in courts is no novelty v5,Eccle v8. Yet the doom of corrupt judges and jurors, dying without repenrance, will be dreadful. ]Isa 5v 23,24 ].
A prayer...../Dear God we ask for mercy upon the poor and afflicted upon those who are affected by the unjust practice of taking bribes in Jesus name Amen /

Usury. [ 1 Timothy 6 v10 ]

Psalm 15 v 5/ He that putteth not out his money to usury/The word usury is a practice of loaning out money at an exorbitan rates.Crudence in his concordance writes,/The Hebrews were plainly commanded in Ex 22v25,not to recieve interest,from any who borrowed for necessity,as in the case in Neh5 .v5/7/Also they were commanded  to free all Hebrew slaves and cancel every debt every 50 years [Leviticus 25],Dickson says God calleth for moderation,the situation in so many countries at this present time is about debt, many people borrowed without thinking, but also the bankers did not take into consideration that many people were going to suffer ,all they saw was the profit. Then there are loan sharks, these need to rooted out as they take advantage, mainly of the poorest in our society.The whole point of lending should not be to take advantage of someone, but rather to help that person through a difficulty, the one who lends should me motivated by love,for people, and not a love for money .
A   prayer....../ Dear God help those who are in debt, help us to be always motivated by a  love for people, to always show a kind and generous spirit to those in need, in Jesus name, Amen ./

Keeping our word [2 Corinthians 1 v 17-19 ]

Psalm15v 4/He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not/what we are being taught here is very simple,the importance of keeping our word even though it may cost us. One of the most obivious examples of this is to be found in the book of Judges, a man called Jephthah, a judge,made a vow that if God would give victory over the enemies of Israel, he would offer whatever came out of his house to meet him, he would offer  it up as a burnt offering.,[Judges 11v 30-31]It is obvious that God did not,agree with human sacrifice [Jeremiah19 v5],grant it, he did command Abraham to offer up Isaac up as sacrifice [Genesis22],but this was never carried out.  But Jephthah give his word, and it does appear that he meant human sacrifice, he did have the victory over Israels enemies,and as he returned home the first one to meet him was his only child,his daughter.Some people seek to argue that Jephthah did not offer his daughter as a sacrifice, but it seems he did,in this he was following what many of the nations surrounding Israel did[ cp 2 Kings3 v27 ].Jephthah was wrong in offering his daugther as an offering to God,he should never have made such a rash vow,but we do admire his moral principal of keeping his word. God will never call any of us to offer any of our children as burnt offerings,but He demands that we be people of our word even though it may cost us.
A  prayer..../Dear God help us not to make vows that our contrary to Your word ,but help us to be people of our word, even though it may cost us in Jesus name ,Amen /

Honour them.[ Romans 12 v10 ]

Psalm 15 v 4/but who honours those who fear the Lord/there are two things highlighted in these words  ,honour and the fear of the Lord,honour those who fear the Lord.The fear of the Lord is a very important truth for us to grasp,in Romans 3 v18,one the characteristics of the unsaved is, they do not fear the Lord.They manifest this by a complete disregard of God,so they sin,they live as if God does not exsist, verses 10ff of Romans 3 spells it out.They fall back on the thought that God is love ,which He is of course,but the Bible that tells us that God is love, also tells us that God is holy,and unless we are in Christ we  will be judged eternally in hell.[ Matthew 10 v28 ] If we are a true Christian we are walking in the fear of the Lord, that means,we say no to sin,in whatever guise it comes,we refrain from unrigtheousness ,but we also seek to manifest a life that is kind and loving. We are exhorted to honour such, as opposed to the world who honour anyone who takes their fancy,anyone who captivates them, like a Hitler,or a Stalin,or an actor,consider one is not put on the honours list because they honour the Lord. But one day they will be honoured by their Lord[ Matthew 25 v34],so let us who know the Lord honour our godly parents,pastors, and all those who live and walk in the fear of the Lord.
A prayer.../Dear God grant us a right attitude, help us walk in Your fear today, and to honour all who do likewise,  in Jesus name . Amen /

Seeing things aright [ Matthew 25 v31ff ]

Psalm 15 v4 /In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honours those who fear the Lord/What I believe is being taught here is ,to look at things aright,and to honour those who are godly. In  Isaiah 5 v20, we read /Woe to those who call evil good and good evil/ ,people often have a distorted veiw of life, there were many who wept at the death of Stalin,and there are many who still admire Hitler'.In the entertainment industry the thieves and robbers are often depicted as heroes,and in many places in the world the godly are despised and persecuted. We should see things as they are,our Saviour saw people as they were sinners,and spoke of a day in which,the godly and ungodly would be judged.[Matthew 25v31ff] W Plumer wrote the following as to our attitude,/The feelings of the righteous towards the wicked is not that proud, haughty, malignant contempt, which marks the behaviour of the wicked towards the children of God. It is just,true,benevolent. It is the abhorrence of his character, not his person /. As to the wicked, we must never forget ,what the apostle points out,/And such were some of you [1 Corinthians 6 v11]/,after all, we are as Christians saved by grace,it is the grace of God that has saved us,and keeps us,and so in seeing things as they are,we should see clearly man as he trully is,a sinner who needs a Saviour. We should pray and encourage those who are  suffering for righteousness sake,and there are so many who are suffering, who are being treated as filth,being destitude,afflicted,tormented,of whom the world is not worthy[Henrews 11v37-38 ]
A  prayer.../ Dear God in this world of distorted veiws and values, help us to see things aright in Jesus name Amen /

Wounded by a friend.[ John 13 v 18 ]

Psalm 15v 3./ or speak evil of their friends [nlt]/,the question is why would a so called friend speak evil of their friend?In Psalm 41v 9,we read the folowing,/Even my close friend in whom I trusted,who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me/.These words were fulfilled in Judas Isariot who betrayesd the Lord for 30 pieces of silver[John 13 v 18]. A Friend who slanders or hurts you is not worthy of the name friend,I remember many years ago being told of one I respected, how he slandered me,I felt so hurt. Yet as I look back on my own life I have listened and been influenced by what others have told me about others. Many people have been destroyed by what so called friends have said about them. William  Penn said../Believe nothing against another, but on good authority,nor report what may hurt another, unless it be a greater hurt to another to conceal it/.In the movie Braveheart, William Wallace is shattered to descover that his prince Robert the Bruce was one of those seeking to kill him,he was the last person Wallace thought would have done this.  Consider how our Saviour must have felt when Judas betrayed Him, such wounds by a friend are not faithful, but rather disgraceful.
A  prayer..../ Dear God grant us the grace,to refrain from saying anything about another,or listening to slanderous reports about another, in Jesus name Amen /