Excuses

Anytime you excuse/rationalize your sin, you commit an act of gospel irrationality - why work to excuse what Christ has already forgiven?  Paul Tripp (from Twitter)

Wealth and Reputation

Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. (1 Ch 29:12 ESV)

Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth... (Dt 8:17,18 ESV)

Observations:

1. Wealth, if one has it, is from God.  Let one never suppose that what one has monetarily and/or materially is deserved or of one's own doing. 

2. Power, if one has it, is from God.  Let one never suppose that the position one has is deserved or because of one's intrinsic greatness.

3. Reputation is from God. He is the provider and protector of what others think of us. Seek not to protect one's own reputation but entreat God as your protector to act when one is wrongly accused. (This does not mean to not act justly when it is in our power to do so).

4. One's wealth, power and reputation are not indicators of one's position with God.


See 1 Samuel 2:7 also.

Steadfast Love

I have been praying through the Psalms and have noticed with great joy the frequency with which God's love for his people is described as steadfast. Steadfast to me implies a love that remains in spite of the behavior of it's object. It is a love that is dependent upon the person doing the loving entirely. It is loyal, enduring, and persistent. In the Psalms God is described as loving his people with a steadfast love in 123 different verses! The Hebrew word for this is hesed. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible describes hesed in this way:  


For this strong, unselfish love the OT usually employed another word, almost untranslatable, hesed, rendered sometimes “loyalty” (2 Sm 22:26 RSV), more often “steadfast love” (Gn 39:21) or “kindness.”
The connotation of this significant word is clear in Hosea 2:19, 20: “I will betroth you for ever … in righteousness … justice … steadfast love … faithfulness”; in Job 6:14, 15, where kindness is compared with treachery; and in 1 Samuel 20:8, which speaks of covenanted kindness. This unshakable, steadfast love of God is contrasted with the unpredictable, capricious moods of heathen deities. Hesed is not an emotional response to beauty, merit, or kindness, but a moral attitude dedicated to another’s good, whether or not that other is lovable, worthy, or responsive (see Dt 7:7–9).1


What an amazing thing to realize that God's love for me is steadfast!

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, 
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him
Ps 103:11 (ESV)

1 Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (1357). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House.