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Righteousness

Recently, by reading the amazing Proverbs 31 Ministries devotions, I have been inspired to start journaling about how god is moving in my life.  Daily God can move, and work, and He does, we just don’t always take the time to notice.  Whether it is through a phone call, an e-mail or a facebook post, God can move in your life everyday. 

Now God does answer prayer and if you SINCERELY ask it, God will start moving in our lives.  The Bible says in Philippians 4:6  “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Proverbs 15:29 says “The Lord is far from the wicked but He hears the prayer of the righteous.”  Therefore, if you are righteous, then, according to the Bible, the Lord will hear your prayers. 

First lets look at what it takes to be righteous.  Webster’s Dictionary defines righteousness in this way: “Free from guilt; morally right; acting in accordance with moral or divine law.”  Here is the problem though.  Ecclesiastes 7:20 says “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins. “  Ut-oh, looks like we would be up a creek without a paddle at this point and time.  But there is hope.  Romans 10:9 says “ That if you confess with you mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.”  Romans 6:23 says “fort he wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Okay – so we have established that no one is righteous, but we need to be righteous for God to hear our prayers.  We have established that we can become saved by accepting Jesus into our hearts and confessing with our mouth that He is Lord.  But does that make us righteous?  That saves our souls, but does that make us righteous?  There is no one that never sins.  Back in the day they used to have to sacrifice a blood offering to atone for their sins.  It was something that they cared for, the best of their flock or the best that they had to offer to the Lord.  (because you know that He created us and He does want our best.)  1st John 1:7 says “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 

All of us know that Jesus was taken to the cross and was put to death.  The blood that was shed there, purified us from all sin.  John 3:16,17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

So here is the deal: We know that we are not righteous, we know that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we know that God sent his one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins and therefore we are saved through him.  So now what- do we never sin again?

No – unfortunately not

1st John 2:1,2 “… But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”  YEAH!!!  We have an atoning sacrifice!  Webster’s says that atonement is “amends for an injury or wrong doing; the reconciliation between God and man.”

Horary!  So we have been atoned for.  But does that mean I am good to go and live whatever life I want to live?  I can go out and intentionally sin and then know Jesus will be there to take my guilt and my shame?  2nd Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come!”  If you have really accepted Christ into your heart, you shouldn’t want to sin against him.  You shouldn’t want to do what is evil or impure – your heart is CHANGED.  You want to be righteous. 

So it comes back to how are we to be righteous?  It is easy.  Well not really, but God spells it out for us in 10 simple rules from the Old Testament.  Exodus 20 has the 10 commandments that God gave Moses instructing the Israelites how to live holy.  

1)      You shall have no other gods before me.
2)      You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters bellow.
3)      You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God
4)      Remember the Sabbath day but keeping it holy
5)      Honor your father and your mother
6)      You shall not murder
7)      You shall not commit adultery
8)      You shall not steal
9)      You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor (lie)
10)  You shall not covet (be jealous)

Some are obviously easier to keep than others, but all of these are so important to keep our hearts pure. We need to strive to follow these commandments, often times we will fail because we are living in a fallen world, and we will fall flat on our faces, but that is what Jesus came to the earth for- to forgive us our sins- we just need to glorify Him in what we do.   

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