Exodus 23:7-8

Keep far away from a false charge or action, and do not condemn to death the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the guilty.  You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the testimony and the cause of righteous.  

This world doesn’t understand the justice or fairness of God and its commandments.  God is clear in His word that we are to be just and fair to everyone.  However, sin and the flesh will pervert the cause of justice.  Righteousness and sin will never be able to exist together and have the people thrive.  

Deuteronomy 11:1

Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His precepts, and His commandments (it is your obligation to Him).

When that decision is made to love God, it is easy to want to keep His commandments.  This is made easier when we realize all that God has done to save us from being condemned in sin.  Keeping the commandments of God was never intended to be a burden but a way to keep us safe from the lusts of this world.  

Proverbs 15:1

A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath, but harsh and painful and careless words stir up anger. 

How we speak to each other is important because we can cause an adverse reaction from others.  Have you ever noticed when someone is in a bad mood and needs a spark to make them angry?  The person may already have a negative internal dialogue, and when more negative words are spoken to, it gets worse.  A gentle response can put out the fire before it burns out of control.

Jeremiah 23:31-32

Hear this, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their (own deceitful) tongues and say, “Thus says the Lord.” Hear this, I am against those who have prophesied false and made-up dreams,” says the Lord, “and have told them and have made My people err and go astray by their lies and reckless boasting.

As followers of God, it is our job to rightly discern the word from whoever preaches or writes about the word.  We are to be well versed in the Bible to recognize the error in the doctrine that isn’t according to the word.  God doesn’t want us to go astray and be led down the wrong path.  He does, however, want us to be wise so we can’t be deceived.

1 Corinthians 15:54

And when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal put on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, “Death is swallowed up in victory (vanquished forever). (Is 25:8)

Jesus’s most significant victory on our behalf is to redeem us from eternal death.  Our salvation through Jesus freed us and transformed us into the immortal.  Our lives are more than this earth, and we will spend eternity learning from and living with God in heaven.  

1 Corinthians 10:14

Therefore, my beloved, run (keep far, far away) from (any sort of) idolatry (and that includes loving anything more than God, or participating in anything that leads to sin that enslaves the soul).

Paul sets up a mindset that we should have when it comes to dealing with sin.  Having an action in our minds to run away from sin when it presents itself doesn’t give us time to think about the sin.  We get into trouble when we rationalize the sin before us and think it over before deciding to turn away. We don’t want to let the seed of sin have time to get planted.

Romans 8:4

So that the (righteousness and just) requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not live our lives in the ways of the flesh (guided by worldliness and sinful nature), but (live our lives) in the ways of the Spirit (guided by His power).

Listening to and being guided by the Holy Spirit is the best way to avoid sin’s pitfalls and defeat the obstacles.  The flesh will talk to us and try to take us down the wrong path, but we don’t have to listen.  The Holy Spirit is our helper as we turn away from the flesh and let ourselves be guided by the Spirit.

Romans 1:7

(I am writing) to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called to be saints (God’s people) and set apart for a sanctified life, (that is set apart for God and His purpose): Grace to you and peace (inner calm and spiritual well-being) from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  

God wants us to be calm on the inside to be productive for Him on the outside.  We are God’s people set apart and sanctified for His purpose on earth.  The stronger the foundation that we build on the word of God, the more stable we will be.  No matter the storm out foundation in God’s word should mean we are operating if faith and peace.

Luke 10:41-42

But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part (that which is to her advantage), which will not be taken from her.  

Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to the word.  Martha is working, worried and anxious, and not listening to the word coming from Jesus.  The word of Jesus takes away our fears and anxieties, had Martha put aside her troubles and listened to Jesus, her burdens could have easily been lifted.  Our circumstances can change when we make better choices.

John 4:14

But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again.  But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water (satisfying his thirst for God) welling up (continually flowing, bubbling within him) to eternal life.  

Have you ever talked to someone who doesn’t know Jesus, and they feel dissatisfied on the inside and don’t know why?  They don’t understand the soul and its connection to God.  They may seek to find what they are missing in many ways but always seem to come up short.  The only thing that will ever satisfy is the living waters of Jesus.