Tag: righteousness
Humbly boasting in Christ!
Scripture reading for July 5th: Job 37-40, 1st Corinthians 1
Key Scriptures: 1st Corinthians 1:28-31 “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.””
Paul stated plainly that God chose the weak and lowly things of this world in order to shame the proud and those claiming to be wise. Through Jesus Christ, God’s amazing wisdom, abundant righteousness, sanctification and redemption are available to all who humbly accept. That’s something to humbly boast about!
Job 37:23-24 “The Almighty–we cannot find Him; He is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness He will not violate. Therefore men fear Him; He does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”
Prayer: Lord, thank You for Jesus Christ, our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption! Help me to humbly boast in Him alone!
Righteousness, Peace, Joy!
Scripture reading for July 2nd: Job 27-29, Romans 14
Key Scriptures: Romans 14:7-9, 17 “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” …”For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Paul, writing to the Roman Christians, encouraged them to refrain from judging one another based on human rules and traditions. They were judging others based on their habits. The kingdom of God was not based on external habits, but brings the fruit of inner righteousness, peace and joy through the presence of God the Holy Spirit within. The Holy Spirit gives each person a healthy “fear of the Lord”.
Job 29:28 “And He said to man, ‘ Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'”
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit bringing us into Your kingdom. Let me share the righteousness, peace and joy with others. Amen.
Living by Faith!
Scripture reading for June 13th: Nehemiah 3-5, Romans 1
Key Scriptures: Romans 1:16-17 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Paul, writing to the Roman believers, declared the Gospel of Jesus Christ as God’s power for salvation. This message of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ brought faith to those who would believe. Their faith in Jesus brought righteousness that enabled them to live by faith.
Nehemiah 4:14 “After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the faith granted me to believe in Jesus Christ. May I live fully by faith today. Amen.
Rejoicing in the oil of joy!
Scripture reading for December 14th: Philemon, Hebrews 1-4
Key Scriptures: Hebrews 1:8-9 “But about the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has set You above Your companions by anointing You with the oil of joy.“ (a quote from Psalm 45:6-7)
The writer to the Hebrews pointed out that God spoke prophetically through the sons of Korah concerning Jesus Christ. Christ would be God’s Son and rule on an eternal throne. Righteousness would be the scepter of His kingdom and rule. The Son, like God the Father, loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Because of this integrity of character, God anointed Jesus with the oil of joy! Hallelujah for a joy-anointed Savior who anoints His people with the Holy Spirit and joy!
Rejoicing in the anointed Jesus: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion–to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, . .” (Isaiah 61:1-3)
Rejoicing in the Righteous King’s Righteousness!
Scripture reading for August 24th: Jeremiah 23-26
Key Scriptures: Jeremiah 23:3-6 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which He will be called: The Lord Our righteousness.”
God revealed to Jeremiah a coming time when He would raise up from King David’s line another “Branch”, who would be a King who would rule with wisdom and justice. In this King’s days, Judah would be saved and Israel would be protected. This King would be called by the Name: “The Lord our Righteousness”! This is none other than Jesus Christ, again foretold prophetically over 600 years in advance. Because He was truly righteous, in Him we can have true righteousness through faith!
Rejoice in the King’s Righteousness: “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” (Philippians 3:8-9)
Rejoicing in Righteousness!
Scripture reading for May 17th: Job 8-11
Key Scriptures: Job 9:1-4 “Then Job replied, “Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God? Though one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. His wisdom is profound, His power is vast. Who has resisted Him and come out unscathed?””
Bildad, one of Job’s friends, told him that because of his suffering and loss of health and wealth that he must be harboring wickedness. But though Job knew of no sin he could confess he knew he needed God’s mercy. He began to question how any man could be righteous in God’s sight. He knew that God was far superior in wisdom and power and that this question must be answered by God Himself.
Thankful for God’s righteousness: But God has provided righteousness to all who believe on His Son Jesus Christ! “And God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Peace and thanksgiving!
Scripture reading for September 9th: Colossians 3
Key Scriptures for over-comers: Colossians 3:15-17 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Paul gave the Colossians simple advice about practically living in anticipation of Christ’s return. They were to rest in all that Christ had done for them and cultivate a thankful soul. Allowing God’s word to dwell in them, teaching others the word of God, and admonishing in love those needing correction would produce an atmosphere of continual peace. This would result in worship–both personal and corporate! Songs of worship and thanksgiving would flow from believers as they did their daily work with thanksgiving and great gratitude to God from whom all things flowed into their lives.
Observations for over-comers: A thankful heart based on living out the promises of God’s word produces abundant peace and rich worship to overcome the world, flesh and Satan’s traps! “If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river, you righteousness like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:18)
All boasting is ‘in the Lord’!
Scripture reading for July 6th: 1st Corinthians 1
Key Scriptures for over-comers: 1st Corinthians 1:26-31 “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written; “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.””
God loves to work with those men and women that the world looks at as weak and worthless. That’s because many of the ‘beautiful’ and ‘successful’ people of the world are so caught up by the world’s system and their own human pride that God can’t use them or get their attention! The world’s own boast of their wisdom, talent, strength, possessions, and position. But God’s ‘weak’ people boast in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus alone is their wisdom, righteousness, holiness and redemption! We owe it all to Him!
Observations for over-comers: Over-comers love Jesus Christ and boast of His goodness and blessing and thank Him for redeeming them. “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boast boast about this: that he knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Faith working through Love!
Scripture reading for July 1st: Romans 14
Key Scriptures for over-comers: Romans 14:19-23 “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because it is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
In Paul’s time, eating meat sacrificed to idols was a big issue. Some believed that this meat would pollute them spiritually. Others were concerned that this would cause unbelievers to think that believers were serving idols too. Paul taught the law of love. When we love others, we do what is best for them and try and keep peace. Each person should serve God with a clear conscience, acting in faith in whatever they believe in these disputable matters. This doesn’t mean that we ignore sin and fail to lovingly pray for and confront believers that are still caught in sinful lifestyles. We must do all that we do to the glory of God and live by faith to please Him!
Observations for over-comers: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit!” (Romans 14:17)“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to You.” (Psalm 51:12-13)
Are you ‘weak’ or ‘strong’?
Scripture reading for July 2nd: Romans 14
“For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (Romans 12:3) Paul had exhorted the believers to dedicate their bodies to God and renew their minds with His word. He had instructed them to think soberly about their own lives, calling, and gifts. Some, however, were not as strong as others in their faith and walk of liberty with the Lord.
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:1-4) Some of the believers with ‘stronger’ faith were passing judgment on those who limited what they could eat to vegetables. Those with ‘weaker’ faith were also passing judgment on those who ate everything. Under Christ’s New Covenant of grace, each person would answer to God in matters like diet that were disputable.
As New Testament believers and children of God, we must seek to please the Father by walking in faith. It is Christ who will enable each believer to stand before the Father through what He has done on our behalf. We must not judge one another on matters that are disputable!