Posts Tagged: doing the next right thing

“God’s Love and Chasing Righteousness”

On August 26, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,

but he loves him who pursues righteousness.” (Proverbs 15:9, English Standard Version)

Apparently, God doesn’t just love those who are righteous. God loves those who merely chase righteousness.

Okay. But what is righteousness, anyway?

First, let me clear away some mental debris. Righteousness isn’t being right in an argument or proving that you are right and someone else is wrong (which is, in some ways, even more fun than being right yourself). Righteousness is not only about doing the next right thing. Righteousness includes doing the next right thing, but it is not simply that.

Righteousness, in both the Old and New Testaments, is about being in a right relationship with God and with other people. It certainly includes what we do, but also embraces our attitude, feelings, thoughts, and words.

And, of course, none of us gets this relationship thing right all of the time. After listening to Proverbs 15:9 on my smart phone, I listened to an Andy Stanley Your Move podcast. He pointed out that we are all hot messes. Since Proverbs 15:9 and God’s love for those who pursue righteousness was still simmering in my mind, I put Andy Stanley in the mix as well. (Don’t worry! No real live Andy’s were harmed in the production of this post!) Here is what came out of the oven.

We are all a mess, but if we at least are pursuing right relationships with God, others, and ourselves, we can count on a God who loves us. You don’t have to catch righteousness; you need to pursue it.

Care to join me in the Chase today?

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“The Lordship of Jesus: Doing the Next Right Thing when it’s Dark”

On December 28, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

So, I was listening to a talk by Andy Stanley.  It was the first in a series titled “You’re Not the Boss of Me: How to Say No to the Emotions that Compete for Control.”  It isn’t the first time I’ve listened to this series, but it’s the first time I heard something that is incredibly important.

Toward the end of his talk, Andy said something like the following: “Christians already have a boss, and he’s a good one.”  The issue of saying no to competing emotional voices that emanate from my own heart, or from the devil, or from the world (or from wherever) is the issue of saying a consistent “Yes!” to the LORD Jesus Christ.

But, how do I do that?  I called my sponsor to do my daily report, and asked him that question.  My sponsor is a fellow recovering addict, and is also a brother in Christ.  He is also intensely practical, and doesn’t put up with any over-intellectualizing crap from me.

“I know the answer to this one!” he said.  “Just keep doing the next right thing!” he continued.

Now, I should have seen this coming.  He tells me this all the time.  Sometimes, he just abbreviates it: JKDTNRT.

Apparently Google was listening in on our conversation (a scary thought), because right after we ended our conversation, the Google Girl came on with “Just keep doing the next right thing.  Here you go!”

And there was a “Frozen 2” song by Kristen Bell.

“I’ve seen dark before
But not like this
This is cold
This is empty
This is numb
The life I knew is over
The lights are out
Hello, darkness
I’m ready to succumb

[Verse 2: Anna]
I follow you around
I always have
But you’ve gone to a place I cannot find
This grief has a gravity
It pulls me down
But a tiny voice whispers in my mind
“You are lost, hope is gone
But you must go on
And do the next right thing”

[Verse 3: Anna]
Can there be a day beyond this night?
I don’t know anymore what is true
I can’t find my direction, I’m all alone
The only star that guided me was you
How to rise from the floor
When it’s not you I’m rising for?
Just do the next right thing
Take a step, step again
It is all that I can to do
The next right thing


[Bridge: Anna]
I won’t look too far ahead
It’s too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath
This next step
This next choice is one that I can make

[Verse 4: Anna]
So I’ll walk through this night
Stumbling blindly toward the light
And do the next right thing
And with the dawn, what comes then
When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again?
Then I’ll make the choice
To hear that voice
And do the next right thing.”

That’s a pretty good description of sane living, if you ask me.  For me, as a Christ-follower, it is also a pretty good description of living under the lordship of Christ.

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“The Purpose of Life versus Purpose within Life”

On April 27, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“A Prayer in Spring” (Robert Frost)

“Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.”

I’ve decided that I don’t know the purpose of my life.  I’ve also discovered that this does not matter.

Perhaps I should explain—at least to myself.

If I try to think of the overarching purpose of my life, it just gives me despair and a headache.  I can’t figure out my life purpose.  I’m not saying that some people can’t figure this out.  I’m not saying that you can’t.  I’m just confessing that I can’t.  That doesn’t mean that my life is purposeless.  It does mean that I can’t figure out what the heck it is.

However, what I can do is to find purpose within life—within the daily tasks, the daily relationships, the daily things that happen.  It doesn’t matter how mundane the tasks, how frayed the relationships, how bad the things that happen.  I find that my purpose within life is to be grateful for the good stuff, and grateful for the lessons I learn through the bad stuff.

Looked at from another angle, my purpose within life is to (as my sponsor never tires in reminding me) to “just keep doing the next right thing.”  Do I always know what the next right thing is?  No.  But I know what it is more often than I care to let on, and more often than I actually do the next right thing.

Take today, for an example.  It is a beautiful, spring day.  This afternoon, it will be summer, with a high in the mid eighties.  I have six yards of mulch to put down (or as much of it as I can).  Then, hopefully, I will be able to teach Hebrew.  Also, I had several good phone calls with twelve-step friends this morning.  I talked to my wife on the phone, and told her how grateful and happy I am that we share the same last name.  I sang silly songs to my mother-in-law over the phone, and told her how much I love her and am thankful for her.  Right now, I am writing this little post for tomorrow.  I also mailed some thank-you cards to folks who made my birthday great fun.

Meaning within life is easy to discover.  I just have to have open eyes, an open heart, an open mind, and the willingness to keep doing the next right thing.  Purpose within life is low-hanging fruit.  No ladders required!

Enjoy your day!  Care to join me for some fruit?

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