Tag Archives: righteousness

2 Samuel 22-24; Blessed

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I wrestled a bit with 22:21-25 this morning, because David is indicating God has rewarded him for good behavior. Clean hands, David? I seem to remember something about a girl named Bathsheba. Check under your fingernails, my friend. I’m not so sure they’re as clean as you’d like to think.

But there are other places in Scripture that equate righteous living with blessing: I Samuel 26:23, I Kings 8:32, Psalm 24, Proverbs 11 are just a few.

Then you have Psalm 14:3, Romans 3:10, 23 that tell us none of us can claim righteousness. Besides, life itself tells us good things don’t always happen just to good people.

I just watched a YouTube video from Nabeel Qureshi, a young man dying of cancer. If you don’t know him, I encourage you to check him out. A former Muslim, he gave his heart to the Lord and has had a fruitful ministry sharing Jesus. It would seem he should have many more years to talk about his Savior, yet unless God performs a miracle, Nabeel’s life on this earth is at an end.

The recent hurricanes that have and are causing destruction in this part of the world are not just picking out criminals and atheists to hit. And I’m sure you could come up with examples in your own life when good Christian people are hit with hardships. So where does David get off talking about how God has blessed him for following the rules?

He was forgiven.

David was not delusional. How did God reward him for obedience? I found the answer when I read on.

God had shown Himself as faithful, blameless, pure, shrewd, saving. “You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light.”

Those are the real blessings of a right relationship with God. God may choose to miraculously heal Nabeel at the eleventh hour. He may choose to spare my home from Hurricane Irma. But the reality is Nabeel will die some day. My house will crumble and fall some day. Neither are going to last forever.

I have the same assurance David had in that I know God blesses His people with Himself. We can stand before him righteous, blameless, pure, holy when we allow Jesus to clothe us with His own. So, with David, I can say:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior, from violent men (and storms) you save me. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. (even Irma regardless of the outcome)

Yes, I am blessed.

 

 

Exodus 4-6 Deal With It

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Even though Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s house, he knew he was a Jew. He’d heard that Jewish boys were commanded by God to be circumcised. But when he grew up and married a non-Jew, he didn’t circumcise his son.

So now God is calling Moses into service. In fact, God has conversations with Moses like two friends over coffee. So why, when Moses is heading to speak to Pharaoh like God told him to do, did God attack him on the road and would have killed him?

God demands obedience, and He blesses us so much when we obey. But obedience does not cancel out a sin. Being obedient doesn’t balance the scale. Yes, Moses was being obedient. But God wasn’t about to let that sin slide. And in order to be the leader God wanted Moses to be, it required dealing with the sin issue.

It’s no different with you and me. Yes, God wants us to do what He says, but first we need to deal with our own sin, confess, repent, accept Jesus’ righteousness through His precious blood. Never think that God overlooks your sin because you teach a Sunday School class. Every sin comes with a death sentence.

Deal with it.

November 12 – Humbled

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Matthew 27; Mark 15

Every time I read the account of Jesus’ last few hours on this planet, I am humbled. He endured it all for love of me. He quietly listened to the lies, was punched and kicked and spit on. He heard every insult, and felt the pain of those nails tearing through His flesh. He even experienced what happens when God the Father turns away.

It takes about ten minutes to read about it. But Jesus lived it one minute after another, one long hour after another. Jesus suffered excruciating pain, and died a humiliating death – because He loves me that much.

I believe that as He breathed His last, His mind went ahead to 2016, and He saw my face. And your’s. That’s why He did what He did. He died so we could be forgiven.

Charles Wesley wrote a hymn the speaks to me every time I hear it. In it he asks a question: Can it really be that Jesus Himself shed His blood for me, the one who cause His pain in the first place?

The angels can’t even understand the depth of love that put the Immortal God on the cross to die. Jesus left heaven, took on mortality, and emptied Himself of everything except His love for me. And it’s by His grace that forgiveness found me.

It was like I was imprisoned by sin, chained to desires and actions that caused me pain. But I met Jesus, and those chains fell off, my heart was free. I’m alive in Him. I’m clothed in His righteousness. I got up off my knees a free woman, and followed Jesus.

Now I don’t fear judgment. Jesus, His righteousness is mine. I can boldly approach the God of the Universe, washed clean by Jesus’ blood. And I can claim the Son of God as my own!

Amazing love! How can it be, that You… my God… should die for me?

I am humbled. I am grateful. I love my Savior!

May 5 – God. Period.

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Psalms 1-2, 15, 22-24, 47, 68

These psalms remind me that God is God. There is no one like Him. He is the One who blesses His people with everything we need for this life – He blesses us with Himself!

He protects. He strengthens. He clothes us with His righteousness because we have none of our own. He died for us, paying what we cannot pay.

Yes, He is to be feared because of His holiness. But He also deserves our worship and our praise, our obedience and our love. We are blessed because GOD IS WHO HE IS!

Loving my Lord today!

It’s just a tiny sin

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I find it interesting that Christians can assign degrees of seriousness to sin. Some, they say, are small sins. Some sins send you straight to hell. But I don’t see the Bible teaching that.

What degree of sin did Ham commit? In Genesis 9 we see that Ham saw his father, Noah, drunk and naked, then ran to tell his brothers what he had seen. Sounds serious to me. But he didn’t murder anyone.

How can you tell where any sin falls on the mortal scale of degrees of sin? Jesus pretty much answers that. He said, in Matthew 5: You think murder is a big sin? I’m saying if you hate someone you are a murderer. You think adultery’s bad? You better be careful how you look at someone you’re not married to because you commit adultery if you even think about having sex with them.

Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law. He came to fulfill all the requirements of the law. But that doesn’t mean we have it easier than those Old Testament saints.

In fact, Jesus takes us one step further. He makes it plain that we can and do sin in our minds. The point is that sin is sin, there is no such thing as a big or a little sin. Committing a sin makes me a sinner, whether I act it out in my mind or in my body. And being a sinner, I need a Savior.

The good news is that all sin is forgivable. (I John 1:9) I need to go to Jesus with every sin I commit. When I ask him to forgive me, he does! Jesus reminds us his standard of behavior is perfection, holiness. (Matthew 5:48).

I, for one, need Jesus’ holiness because that train has already left the station in my life.

Dear Jesus, may your people recognize the seriousness of any sin in our lives. May we be quick to come to you for forgiveness when our thoughts, our feelings, our actions become sin. May we allow you to place your holiness on our shoulders, because frankly, we have none of our own. We want to stand before you wearing your perfection, and we thank you for the privilege you’ve given us through your own precious blood. Defeat Satan in our lives today. And may we show an unbelieving world what your holiness looks in us.

Jesus’ Counsel For A Healthy Life

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Our society has gotten so far away from what Jesus said when he was here on earth. Where in Scripture does it say, “You’ve got to take care of yourself,” or “If you want to be healthy you have to come first”? These are lies straight from Satan’s lips. That’s the lie that got him thrown out of heaven.

Mental illness is a rampant plague, and I believe one reason is that even some Christians, have fallen for the infectious disease of “self”. People try so hard to feel good about themselves, to pull themselves up, to convince themselves they are worthy, when Scripture tells us we need to let go of “self”, admit we are filthy, helpless, needy people. Dear ones, admitting that is so freeing! The reality is we can’t be good in and of ourselves. And trying to be is making people crazy.

Jesus tells us not to exalt ourselves, not to think more highly of ourselves than we should, to come to him like a child, give up everything to follow him.

The Pharisee loudly prayed, “Boy, God. I’m glad I’m not like that guy over there. I tithe, I pray, I go to church, I don’t cheat on my wife, and people think I’m pretty awesome.”

Jesus said, “One day you’ll wish you were like that guy over there. He recognizes his sin. He’s bowed before me and repented. He’s wearing my righteousness, and what you are wearing is nothing but filthy rags.”

Don’t try to find those quotes in the Bible. Those words are mine. But if you read Luke 18, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Here’s the truth. I am a sinner, and so are you. I am incapable of being anything other than a sinner, and so are you. I fail. I make mistakes. And when I measure myself up against a holy God, I can’t come close.

But Jesus tells me I don’t have to. He wants to be that for me. And all I need to do is admit my helpless position, recognize my sin, and ask him to forgive me. He’s already got that robe of righteousness waiting for me because he bought it with his blood. I don’t have to try to be good. He puts his own goodness on me. I don’t have to convince myself I am worthy, he makes me worthy because he is worthy.

I pray Christians will recognize Satan’s lies in counseling sessions, on TV, in the books they read, the sermons they hear, and the conversations they have with friends. I would challenge you to do a study on the word, “humble” in the Bible. Use a concordance and look up the verses that speak about humility, about humbling ourselves, and find out what God promises when we do.

“… and HE will lift you up.” (I Peter 5:6)

Barefooting

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I am sure that in all the years I’ve been reading the Bible, I never realized Isaiah ran around naked for three years of his life. I have to confess that I laughed out loud when I read that today in Isaiah 20. God told him to take off his robe and shoes to demonstrate his prophesy concerning Egypt and Ethiopia.

Isaiah 20:2 says Isaiah obeyed, and walked around naked and barefoot. God wanted them to know they would be stripped of everything they thought protected them from God’s judgment. I get that. I understand the lesson Isaiah was teaching. But verse 3 tells us Isaiah taught this lesson for three years, naked and barefoot! God certainly was serious about getting his point across. 

And I get the point.

God wants me to strip myself of everything I might think can shield me from his judgment. Take heart, I am fully clothed and intend on remaining so. However, in my heart I need to strip myself of all good intentions, all excuses, all church attendance and service. I need to strip myself of righteous indignation, self pity, intellect. 

I need to stand naked before God and confess that I am nothing, have nothing without him. I need to let him clothe me with his righteousness because I have none of my own. I may have led a dozen people to the Lord, sung in the choir, taught Sunday School, talked the “talk”. But none of that will protect me from God’s judgment if I don’t personally and intentionally confess my sins and allow him to forgive me. 

Dear God, once again I thank you for allowing your Word to speak to me today. Forgive me for thinking anything I have or have done will somehow cancel out the sins I have committed, for the sins I need to confess. Lord I stand before you naked, stripped bare of good works, good intentions, good excuses. I am a sinner. Forgive me, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Clothe me with your righteousness. Thank you for forgiveness, for life, and for your Word that speaks to those who are open to what you would have us know.

December 4

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Romans 2-4

Did you know Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” is actually the middle of a sentence? Here is what that entire sentence says beginning with verse 22b:

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

In the same breath Paul calls us sinners then points us to grace. I love the word “freely” in that sentence. We are all sinners and we have all been given a gift. Not a wage, like Paul explains in chapter 4. A costly gift, yes. It cost Jesus his life to pay the penalty for my sin.

But he offers it to me freely. The righteousness he bought is mine for the taking. He redeemed me through his precious blood. It’s  a righteousness I can’t earn. It’s forgiveness I don’t deserve.

Go back to 3:22: 
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to ALL WHO BELIEVE.

I am almost done with my Christmas shopping and in fact, have most of the presents already wrapped. I love buying for my loved ones and carefully pick out things I believe they will appreciate. They aren’t paying for those gifts. I don’t spend more on the ones who were nicest to me this year. These gifts are an expression of my love for them. And it would hurt me deeply if those gifts remained unopened after I gave them.

That’s kind of what happens when, faced with the truth of our sinful state, we walk away from God’s grace. He bought our forgiveness and is handing it to us with open arms. My prayer is that you won’t let that gift go unopened.

As I was writing this this morning the words from an old hymn kept running through my head. Some of the words are these:

Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin.

How can my tongue describe it? Where shall its praise begin?

Taking away my burdens, setting my spirit free.

For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!

Gracious Jesus, thank you for going to the cross and paying the debt for my sin. Thank you for freely offering redemption to me, a sinner. I pray that each one who reads this today will accept your gift. And may we who know you as our Savior make you Lord of our lives. May we live today out of grateful hearts and serve you with love.

 

December 1

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2 Corinthians 2:5-6:18

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When you hold an infant in your arms, aren’t you struck by his innocence? His complete lack of a past? That child can look at you without a hint of regret or sorrow for something he’s done. He has no memory of disobeying, because he’s never disobeyed. He doesn’t carry guilt because he isn’t guilty.

Dear One, that’s how God looks at us when we are born again. When we confess our sins, he forgives, cleanses, and forgets! The old us is gone and we have a new beginning, just like that infant.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (5:21) 

Jesus did that for us and it is ours for the asking. Is Jesus Lord of your life? Have you repented of sin? If you have, you have a clean slate. Understand that God has forgiven you, has paid the price for your past sins, and has forgotten them.

If you have not accepted the Lord, I pray you will ask Jesus into your life and become that new creation. And if you know the Lord as your Savior, but need to speak to him about some unconfessed sin, I pray you will do that today. Let Jesus do what he came to do and make you the righteousness of God through his blood. 

I’m praying for you today.

November 20

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Galatians 4:8-6:18

What does it mean to be free in Christ? Did Jesus erase the law when he died on the cross? Are the things that were considered sin in the Old Testament no longer sinful? 

Paul explains that because Jesus took on himself the penalty of sin we are no longer justified by following the law. Forgiveness for sin no longer requires slashing the throat of a cow. Salvation comes through the blood of Jesus and is ours for the asking.

But, Paul says, evidence of this work is played out in obedience. Sin is still sin. He tells us not to indulge in the sinful nature, rather serve and love each other. Paul lists acts of the sinful nature in 5:19-21. Among those are sexual immorality, jealousy, drunkenness, and hatred and people who live like that will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But he also says, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. People who have the Spirit of the Living God just naturally live like that. It’s as natural as an apple tree bearing apples.

Who wouldn’t want to live being filled with the those fruit of the Spirit? Aren’t those the things most people are looking for in this life? Dear one, we are free to choose that life! We are free to choose Jesus.

Father, once again I thank you for what Jesus did on the cross when he took on himself the penalty for my sin. Help me to recognize sin and flee from it. May I be quick to confess sin in my life and may I be filled with your Holy Spirit so that I will bear that precious fruit. Not only will my life be better, but I can reach out and help others, too. May I bear fruit for your kingdom today.