{"id":1135,"date":"2023-01-02T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2023-06-29T05:24:22","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T05:24:22","slug":"god-loves-the-righteous-and-curses-the-wicked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/?p=1135","title":{"rendered":"God Loves the Righteous and Curses the Wicked"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\"><strong>Proverbs 3:31-34<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\"><em>\u201c\u2026The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Though He scoffs at the scoffers, yet He gives grace to the afflicted&#8230;\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\">Many people doubt the LORD\u2019s way because they think that God blesses the wicked instead of the righteous. Or perhaps we become envious of these people despite their unlawful actions. You might be thinking and asking, \u201cwhy is it that they are more prosperous than me, do I need to do what they do to gain what they have?\u201d This is a wrong perspective on God\u2019s way and maybe a subtle sign of our self-righteousness and centeredness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\">This parental instruction says, <em>\u201cDo not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways. For the devious are an abomination to the LORD; but He is intimate with the upright\u201d <\/em>(vv.31-32). This is a universal truth, regardless of our social status in life, Yahweh our LORD will never be pleased with the wicked and will always be delighted with the righteous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\">They may be rich and strong because they have the power and money, but that is only for a temporary moment. It is true still that what they have in life and their life itself is not theirs but God\u2019s. The grace of God is common for all people, because of sin, many people become greedier resulting in amassing wealth and power for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\">But take heart holy ones, because every abominable person will be judged by the LORD according to their deeds. They are already cursed. Only repentance and faith in Christ will save them. And for us saints, remember that God is intimate with the righteous man. He always gives grace to the afflicted and follows His will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\">One thing is for sure, we may not become rich or have power, but the Lord will not forget us. He will sustain us according to His kindness and mercy. We will live for His glory in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\">Being satisfied with God is glorifying God. With this kind of spiritual maturity, you will not become envious anymore, because our treasure is God Himself. Contentment is the key. Being obedient will not guarantee fame and fortune but guarantees glory for God and life for us in Christ Jesus. What matters is not fortune, or fame in life but our spiritual standing before God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\">May the Holy Spirit convict us daily to always seek God, His goodness, and treasure Him more than treasures on earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:20px\">Do you still envy the wicked and famous? Come to God and be transformed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Proverbs 3:31-34 \u201c\u2026The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotional"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Logo-7_Devotion_Purging-Word_Title-Cover_1200-x-628-copy.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1135"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1324,"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions\/1324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purgingword.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}