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FAITH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

(Romans 4:3-5) “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.  However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

Last week I talked about what Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.”  Though we hunger and thirst for Righteousness, We can never fulfill that desire on our own.  When He spoke those words, Jesus knew what was coming. He was going to make a way for all of us.  Righteousness is now a gift from God made possible through the blood that Jesus shed for us.  As with Abraham, all we have to do is believe God, and righteousness will be credited to us.

Desiring to always do what is right is a wonderful goal, but we cannot accomplish that goal on our own.  God knew our dilemma and the impossible challenge we faced.  He so loved us that he sent his Son for us. 

As Jesus promised, righteousness has been provided for us.  We can now continue in faith to hunger and trust for righteousness, knowing that the day is coming when our desire will be fulfilled.

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RIGHTEOUSNESS

Righteousness – doing what is right.  Did you ever think in frustration, “why don’t people just do what is right?”  I imagine we all know the answer, “we are sinners.”  Unfortunately, there are those who don’t even take into consideration what is right, but in contrast there are many who really want to do what is right.

Jesus says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, and their desire for righteousness will be filled. If we pursue doing what is right, the Holy Spirit will be there to lead us in our pursuit.  I don’t believe that we will experience fullness of righteousness while still fighting against our sinful nature, but our hunger and thirst for this goal will be rewarded.

I want to do what is right, because Jesus has taught me that this is the best way to live. The deeper in love I am with Jesus, the more I desire to follow his teachings; consequently, the more I hunger and thirst for righteousness. 

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WAITING FOR THE END SO WE CAN BEGIN FOREVER

(Romans 8:19&20) For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

With the rebellion of mankind came death and destruction that subjected creation to decay.  With Jesus’ death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead, came not only the salvation of the Children of God, but the hope of liberation for the whole of creation.  That is why creation itself is eagerly waiting for the reveal of the children of God.

I believe God’s desire to create was centered on the creation of us. Therefore, as we go so goes all of creation. I find it significant that the reveal of the children of God will begin the transition to eternity for every part of creation.  God’s love for us, and his desire to be with us, has taken a long time, but he will make it all worthwhile for us his children.

There is much beauty and wonder still present on earth and in the universe, but there is continual death and destruction that diminishes the beauty and wonder.  We anticipate with great hope the reveal of the children of God, and we are joined by creation as it waits for its liberation.  Come Lord Jesus! We long for your return.

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IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

(Revelation 21:3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

In the first few years of our marriage, Bonnie and I were fortunate to attend a church in a small mountain town that was in the midst of revival. The revival was very successful. Thousands were saved in those years.  The Spirit of God fell on that congregation at every worship service.  That was when I first discovered the strong presence of God.

In God’s presence, I experienced peace and joy as I had never known before.  Noting that I have encountered before or since has felt even close to that amazing feeling of God’s presence.  When I think about heaven as being in the constant presence of God, I am overjoyed with what God has promised me.  I imagine that nothing I want or desire here on earth will be of any importance.  I will be in total peace and constantly filled with joy.

As we look forward to the eternal life that God has promised us, I believe being in his presence will be the only thing we will need to completely fulfill us.

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VICTORY OVER SUFFERING

(Matthew 26:36-38) Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Whatever we might be suffering, Jesus knows our pain, for he has experienced the worst of suffering.  Jesus suffered so we could avoid the worst of suffering.

We still have times of momentary suffering.  Yet when we are in the midst of turmoil and pain, it doesn’t feel momentary.  I hate suffering, and I want it to go away right now.  Even Jesus asked the Father to take away the suffering he was about to face, but it was not in the Father’s plan for our redemption.

What are you facing? Is your soul overwhelmed?  Seek comfort in knowing that your heavenly Father has a plan for you.  He has not abandoned you.  It will work out.  The suffering will come to an end, and you will be victorious.  Remember how well Jesus’ suffering turned out for us.

Jesus the holy man suffered.  God’s plan for us at times requires us to suffer, but the outcome will lead us closer to being like Jesus.

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PREDESTINED

(Ephesians 1:3-5) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.

Isn’t it amazing to think that, before the creation of the heavens and earth, God chose us to be his children.  It is impossible to comprehend how God knew us individually even before he began his creation.  Our God is incredible!  So here we are, walking in the wonder of salvation, filled with his Spirit, and basking in the hope of eternal life in his kingdom, because God predestined us to be his children.

Since God alone knows who is chosen, and we have no ability to know, we function in our daily lives knowing that God’s desire is that all would come to repentance.  The gospel is opened to all, only God knows the final outcome of who will enter his kingdom.

We can feel secure in our salvation and experience the great comfort of knowing our creator, without the burden of knowing who is chosen. Our part is to share the good news of salvation through Jesus and to pray for the unsaved.  The rest is in God’s hands, and in faith, we put our trust in God who knows all things.

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JESUS’ PRAYER FOR US

(John 17:20-26) “My prayer is not for them alone (the Disciples).  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one-I in them and you in me-so that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me before the creation of the world.  Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.  I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

This is the prayer Jesus prayed for us just before He went to the cross.  I am thinking of the multitude of people over the centuries that have been included in Jesus’ prayer, and that we today are covered by His words spoken to the Father on our behalf.  Jesus asked that we might be incorporated into His relationship with His Father, and that our joining would be a catalyst for the world to know that the Father sent him. 

Jesus asks that we, those of us who believe in Him, would be brought to complete unity. Through this unity the people of the world would know that God sent Him, and that the world would recognize the love expressed in Jesus’ coming to the earth.

Jesus concludes his prayer by stating that He has made the Father known to us, and He will continue to do so.  Why? so that we would be included in the love that is shared between the Father and the Son.  And finally, Jesus asks that he would be in us.

As I contemplate Jesus’ words, I am humbled and overwhelmed.  The magnitude of the love expressed for us in Jesus’ words, leads me to recognize that I really have a very limited understanding of how inclusive into the God Head we are destined to become.  God’s love for us is beyond what I can comprehend.  Perhaps it is as simple as we are His children and in His family. However, it is a perfect family where there is complete unity and love, forever!  This is hard for me to comprehend, but it sounds amazing.

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OUR FUTURE

(Revelation 21:3&4) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell among them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

(Revelation 22:1-5) Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great city.  On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.  And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse.  The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  And they will reign for ever and ever.

These passages from the last two chapters of Revelation describe some of the features of the New world and the new Jerusalem when God makes all things new.  The New Jerusalem is the city where those of us who have received God’s forgiveness of our sins through the Lamb of God, Jesus our Savior, will dwell. God will no longer be hidden from us; He will dwell among us.

We are so used to the old order of things; I find it hard to imagine what it will be like when there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain.  Sin will be gone, and there will be nothing to fear.  We will dwell in the peace of God eternally.

This is what God has promised us who remain faithful till the end.  No matter what we are currently facing, These promises are our future if we don’t lose heart.

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THE HEAVENS AND EARTH BELONG TO GOD

(Psalm 121 1&2) I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, The maker of heaven and earth.

The Bible begins with the Words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Now, if I don’t believe this, what good is the Bible to me?  The very premise of the Bible is that God created all that exists in the physical world, and therefore, creation is His.  I believe that the initial statement of the Bible is true, so I can trust that the rest of the Bible is true and trustworthy.

From the very beginning, we his created ones, have worked to deny God his right to his creation. We have created false gods and worked to eliminate God by saying that he doesn’t exist.  At the beginning, God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden He made for them.  Direct fellowship with mankind ended when they rebelled against Him.  God separated Himself, because He cannot tolerate the presence of sin.  The human rejection of God left us on our own.  We did not repent of our disobedience. Instead, we began to embrace evil by murdering, stealing, and lying to each other.

 However, God did not abandon us; Because of his great loves for us, He planned for our redemption:

 (1John 4:9&10) This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

I believe that God created the heavens and the earth; it belongs to Him, and the Bible tells the true story of how He has dealt with His creation.  The sad part of the story is how utterly hard we have worked to destroy each other and His creation.  Considering how patient God has been with us, I believe he deserves our devotion to His plan for our redemption. We His children have the opportunity through our gratitude, praise, and worship to recognize God’s rightful place as our creator.

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MAN BEFORE HIS CREATOR

(Job 38:1-7) Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm.  He said: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?  Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.” 

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.  Who marked off its dimensions?  Surely you know!  Who stretched a measuring line across it?  On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

The story of Job provides us with insight into mankind’s relationship with his creator.  Job suffered great loss including his children, wealth and health.  In his suffering he questioned why God would allow him to suffer all these great tragedies. The Lord responded by questioning Job. He continued for four chapters questioning Job about the different parts of creation. He was illuminating information about creation to which Job had no knowledge.  God the creator was clarifying for his created one the obvious difference between them. 

For Job, the tragedy and suffering he experienced at the hand of God was extreme, but it was a time of testing that God knew Job would faithfully endure.  Through his difficulties, Job grew in his understanding of God’s sovereignty over his creation.

After his testing, Job responded to God’s questioning with these words: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.   You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’  Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”

Job faithfully endured his time of testing. He did not turn his back on God, and God rewarded him with even greater success then he had before.  It’s a prodigious story that helps us remember who God is and who we are.  He is all powerful, and we are not.  He is our loving Father who cares for us, and though he trains us through times of trouble, in the end, we have a great reward if we remain faithful.