#Righteous Judgment

[etakeh]

Or in your bathtub, judging your (my) new hair color.

I’m in ur sink, questioning ur decor choices. Photo from my collection, ca. 1960s.

[pearlsforthesoul]

JUDGING EACH OTHER (righteously)

We forget that if we see an error or wrong being committed, something out of line, perhaps unfair or even harmful, we have the ability & the right to call it out, expose it & address it. Called righteous judgment, we have to do so. Wrongness anywhere & in anybody gets a turn to rear its head, but must answer to the right way, which we are stewards of. Fail to speak up, get involved, take a stand…

[nathan-r-dooley]

Psalm 75 | God Will Judge with Equity

A Psalm of Asaph. A Song to the Tune of “Do Not Destroy.” “We give thanks to You, God, we give thanks,For Your name is near;People declare Your wondrous works.” God’s Righteous Judgment “When I select an appointed time,It is I who judge fairly.The earth and all who inhabit it are unsteady;It is I who have firmly set its pillars.” — Selah “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’And to the…

[an-unanonymous-messenger]

We hear many people saying: "Don't judge" or "You're being judgemental". It is due to the lack of understanding of what judgement is. This is how they judge hypocritically. But here we see how Jesus tells us to judge indeed, and not any other way than righteously. Hypocritical judgment is no righteous way of judging, but righteous judgment by the fruit of our neighbour is the way. It is easy to judge someone by their appearance, but do we ever consider that they may be going through something or are bearing something within? Maybe pain, grief, something tough to let go? This is how we should view people, for each of us is fighting his own fight. Let us therefore seek God's guidance to proper understanding of judgment of man, in order not to abuse the Word of God against those who actually know the true meaning. Bless you in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour! Amen.

[afaithfulsower]

Breaking Barriers for the Gospel (Part 2)

During his earthly ministry, Jesus did not allow cultural and prejudice barriers to interfere with the work entrusted to Him by His Father. What barriers prevent you from sharing the gospel? (Click/Tap below to listen to more)

The A Faithful Sower Podcast provides engaging messages anchored in God’s word and applies to relevant aspects of daily living and current events. All with a driven emphasis on discipleship and sharing the gospel. Darryl Orrell is the founder of A Faithful Sower Publishing that sponsors A Faithful Sower Ministry. He serves as a ministry leader and teacher at Woodland Heights Baptist Church in…

[qiu-yan]

a lot of what nie mingjue does makes sense if you consider his specific code of ethics, his position, and the fact that he's known for pretty much his entire life that his cultivation path will kill him and has accepted this fact entirely....but the one thing i don't understand is why he swore brotherhood with jin guangyao. from nie mingjue's point of view, jin guangyao is already the guy who faked a suicide to escape from nie mingjue after nie mingjue tried to bring him to justice for straight-up murder, and that's not even getting into all the fear, anger, and trauma nie mingjue must still be bearing from the wen yao confrontation at nightless city. why would you want to tie yourself via sworn brotherhood to someone who has already done all this shit to you?

consider also the fact that nie mingjue knows his saber cultivation will lead him to become more unstable, impair his judgment, and may even affect his perceptions of reality - which means that he needs confidants he can trust. jin guangyao, via the whole suicide gambit, has already proven to nie mingjue that he is not trustworthy. so if nie mingjue knows that trustworthiness is necessary and that trust is something he's going to need, why would he choose to tie himself to someone he already thinks of as untrustworthy?

some potential reasons i can think of (written from nie mingjue's pov, so they might read uncharitably):

first (1), there's nie mingjue's stated reason of "wanting to correct jin guangyao from the path of evil" (something along those lines). there's at least two different ways you can take this:

1A: nie mingjue wants to do this in order to protect others from jin guangyao: first, nie mingjue sees jin guangyao as an emerging threat no one else has yet recognized, and so wants to keep an eye on jin guangyao / keep him in check. if jin guangyao can be "corrected to the righteous path," then fewer innocent people suffer. second, nie mingjue wants to protect lan xichen from jin guangyao. from nie mingjue's pov, lan xichen has been completely taken in by jin guangyao's charm, so jin guangyao could pose a danger to him as well; by inserting himself into the sworn brotherhood, nie mingjue can be there to protect lan xichen.

1B: nie mingjue wants to do this in order to save jin guangyao himself: nie mingjue still loves jin guangyao and wants to save jin guangyao from the path of evil, for jin guangyao's own sake. confucius (and aristotle, and marx, and a whole bunch of other dudes) does say that if you see your friend doing something morally wrong, then as their friend you have a duty towards them specifically to object to their behavior.

second (2), there are also some more practical / political reasons:

2A: the sworn brotherhood secures a more stable future for nie huaisang, since it entails long-term connections with the jin and the lan.

2B: a sworn brotherhood between high-profile members of different sects after the ordeal of the sunshot campaign could help in encouraging more postwar intersect unity, which would be necessary and beneficial in a time period in which everyone's still struggling to recover from the war. this sworn brotherhood ties the jin, the lan, and the nie together as allies, meaning they can share resources and information as they rebuild. of course, this does entail the exclusion of the jiang - but my personal opinion is that they all lowkey expected jiang cheng to fail and for the jiang to decline / be absorbed by another sect.

third and finally (3), there are the simple interpersonal reasons, unrelated to morality or politics:

3A: nie mingjue still cares for jin guangyao and therefore still wants a relationship with him. at the moment he swore brotherhood, he was still willing to try and mend things with jin guangyao.

3B: nie mingjue wants to make lan xichen happy, and lan xichen clearly wants the sworn brotherhood.

3C: if nie mingjue refuses to swear brotherhood, lan xichen may very well go ahead and swear brotherhood with jin guangyao anyways. which would lead to lan xichen and jin guangyao becoming closer, while lan xichen by contrast drifts further way from nie mingjue.

probably some aspect of all of these (plus some other reasons i forgot) are true at once. what's interesting, though, is that one can construct two overlapping yet also separate categories of reasons - separated by whether one believes nie mingjue still holds personal affection for jin guangyao or not.

[wardensantoineandevka]

tbh I do hope Davrin and Lucanis are like "you can do better" at anyone, Rook or otherwise, trying to kiss the other one even if you do convince them to play nice

yes, I know many of the companions will support and encourage relationships as they develop, but I really want them to be like "him?" about each other

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Song of Trust in God

To the choirmaster. Of David.

1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains; 2 for lo, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; 3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do”?

4 The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids test, the children of men. 5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates him that loves violence. 6 On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. — Psalm 11 | Revised Standard Version (RSV) Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 1:12; Genesis 19:24; Job 18:15; Psalm 2:12; Psalm 7:9; Psalm 7:11-12; Psalm 10:8; Psalm 16:11; Psalm 56:3; Psalm 82:5; Psalm 87:1; Matthew 5:34; James 1:12; Revelation 4:2

Commentary on Psalms 11 by Matthew Henry

Key Elements of Psalm 11

David encourages himself in God against his enemies

The providence and justice of God

[boxwinebaddie]

i can't believe the wife put kyle in the maid outfit for my birthday

i wOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO N

LeTS FUckIN GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooOooO!!!!!!!

[ncfan-1]

'Where the Stars are Strange' observation:

Dear God, the irony of Elrond calling the Ringbearers Sauron's collaborators when in the same breath he acts as Sauron's unwitting accomplice, but in another sense: that of making Galadriel feel isolated and friendless among her own people, in such a way as could potentially make her more vulnerable to Sauron's manipulations. Sauron hitting Galadriel wtih "your friends all think there's something wrong with you, but I would always accept you" in the S1 finale only for one of her dearest friends to all but outright tell her that she was taken in by Sauron so easily because there is something wrong with her and to tell her outright that he doesn't consider her a friend anymore because of it. Yikes on bikes.

[lukedanger]

So with the announcement that they're adding the "Galfrey corruption" arc for Devil Knight-Commanders, I had some thoughts on how they might be going about it and what they'll use as the basis.

My take? It's going to be based on her guilt for the Act IV Abyss trip, her desperation to save Mendev, how emotionally vulnerable both make her is in Act V, and her utter frustration at Mendev's nobility and the rest of Avistan for leaving it as her burden to shoulder. Heavy a burden as it is, that wouldn't break her. She's held Mendev together despite most of the still-alive nobility seeming to be like Daeran or Camellia - she can endure a bit more.

But when she returns from Iz, when she sees just how fast the house of cards fell apart? When she realizes just how badly the people beneath her have been acting when she isn't marching an army to their city? With her humanity essentially reawakened and able to feel every iota of anger, frustration, and exhaustion she's been bottling up for a century? That is when a Devil KC can step in and start to convince her that trying to rule justly as Iomedae teaches just held her back. To persuade her to indulge in some of her own darker urges like putting her sabaton on an annoying nob's neck. Perhaps even use a spell to be the literal devil on her shoulder for a bit during a day in court.

All in the name of Mendev and the Crusades, of course. It's harsh but necessary. Clearly, the ungrateful swine didn't appreciate her just rule before. Now she can make them wish they had as she drags Mendev to survival whether it wants it or not. I suspect that Galfrey's corruption will look like a "True Aeon" playthrough on the surface, but the motive becomes Galfrey's own frustrations being let loose in a very bad way. At some point, she starts indulging in her own desires outright rather than just 'harsh for the cause', all as the KC serves to enable those desires and keeps away those that might try to help Galfrey in this crisis of faith such as Irabeth.

Though if this is the angle they go for, I dearly hope that Owlcat makes it so that she has to actually trust you or see you as someone she can rely on. Those that are pricks to her for the sake of being pricks (you can still argue against her, but actually engage with her arguments instead of being petty) should be unable to corrupt Galfrey as they're the same kind of prick that she might want to stomp on. After all, it'd be perfectly fitting for a devil's carefully laid plan to fall apart because they were too petty... and a truly wise devil should be able to put aside revenge as a sucker's game to strengthen their own hand.

In short? I expect that the Devil KC is basically going to gaslight Galfrey into thinking that her allies had gatekept her, and that she should girlboss in the worst way possible to "save" Mendev.

[howifeltabouthim]

He's eaten up with vanity, always busy making pronouncements, disapproving of this, condemning that.

Iris Murdoch, from A Fairly Honourable Defeat

[danhumphrey]

i’m so sorry but the majority of the time dan is called judgmental on gossip girl it’s after he gets upset at someone for doing something so atrocious and diabolical that it would honestly be weird if no one pointed it out

[bibleversegarden]

Holy, loving, faithful, gracious, compassionate, merciful, longsuffering God, is righteous, just and true, and so are all His judgments, in all the earth.

Thus says the Lord God: "I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell."

"And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it." (Ezekiel 17:22-24)

"Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested." (Revelation 15:3-4)

- A Walk In The Garden Devotions

Related Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 32:1-4; 1 Samuel 16:6-7; Psalm 19; Psalm 23; Psalm 75; Psalm 89; Psalm 105; Psalm 145; Proverbs 14:34-35; Ezekiel 31; Isaiah 46:12-13; Isaiah 61:8-11; John 7:24; Acts 10:34-48; Revelation 19 and further study Revelation in its entirety.

View Related Devotion

[craigtowens]

Hellbent

God is looking for one righteous man or woman who will hold to His righteous standard, and who will stand in the gap to intercede for rebellious, hellbent people.

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.  https://craigtowens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/hellbent.mp3 Here’s how God describes a wicked nation: Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressive city! She obeyed no voice, she accepted no discipline. She did not trust in the Lord, she did not approach…

[afaithfulsower]

Breaking Barriers for the Gospel (Part 1)

During his earthly ministry, Jesus did not allow cultural and prejudice barriers to interfere with the work entrusted to Him by His Father. What barriers prevent you from sharing the gospel? (Click/Tap below to listen to more)

The A Faithful Sower Podcast provides engaging messages anchored in God’s word and applies to relevant aspects of daily living and current events. All with a driven emphasis on discipleship and sharing the gospel. Darryl Orrell is the founder of A Faithful Sower Publishing that sponsors A Faithful Sower Ministry. He serves as a ministry leader and teacher at Woodland Heights Baptist Church in…