Michael
continues: Sometimes, the things that we think are "bad", God is
using for the good. The ultimate good, as Paul said, is "the furtherance of the gospel." The
1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “righteousness” as “Purity of
heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law.
Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it is chiefly used,
is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections
of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law. It includes all we call
justice, honesty and virtue, with holy affections; in short, it is true
religion.” This is what it means by having a “right”
relationship with God. Our righteousness is not in what we do. Rather,
righteousness is revealed in us as we walk according to what He has placed in
front of us to do. Our righteousness is only in Him, for He who knew no sin was made the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf
that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. We are never our own
reason for God to bless us. The only reason for receiving the blessings of
God is to walk and live inside of His holy word, will and way. He would rather
allow our bodies to suffer so that His strength may be made perfect in our
weakness.
The
worldly value system says that our greatness is a result of our worldly
achievements. However, the true way to be exalted is to lower ourselves in
humility before the Lord, so that He can lift us up. God is longing to be
gracious to us. The prerequisite to receive God's grace and mercy is to
approach His throne of grace with a humble and a contrite heart. When we fall
on our knees in humility and meekness, then He can lift us up. Therefore
rejoice in the suffering. For tribulation
worketh patience and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh
not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit which given to us. Before we can approach the throne of grace,
we, like the prodigal son, must come to the realization of our bankrupt sinful
self. When we have nothing left in our own power or of our own
possession, then, by faith, we can "arise
and go unto our Father." He will then embrace us in his arms. Dr.
D; James Kennedy said that “faith is like the hand of a beggar receiving the
gift of a King. We don't deserve the gift of eternal life. But we can have it,
if we will receive it by faith.”
God's
glory is displayed when we rejoice with Him by putting off the self-centered glory
of the flesh and glorying in Him alone. Anything done with a selfish
motive is still Sin. If done for the purpose of our own vain glory, then the
result is vanity, emptiness, and will come to nothing in the end. And “the
end” here is what really counts in the prospective of eternity. When Peter and
John were beaten in the book of Acts
for preaching about Christ, they said “we
count it all joy to God to be able to suffer for His glory.”
We
cannot finish in the flesh, what was begun in the Spirit. Therefore, I press toward the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. God has called us as his "Holy Baseball Catcher
mitts." We have received the Holy Spirit from our loving Heavenly
Father when we received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and were “born again”
of His Spirit. We have been called to pass the “Good News” of Jesus Christ
and His gospel of Salvation on to others, for He has given us the “word of
reconciliation” in the gospel and has committed
unto us the ministry of reconciliation. We have received the Spirit
of God in Christ in us, so that we can give it away by passing “The Word” along. In
other words our mission is this: Give them Heaven!
May
God richly bless you!
Your
brother in Christ, Michael
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