The LORD is Your Righteousness

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

When you stop focusing on yourself, and your own efforts, and how much you can do for God, and instead look at Jesus and what He has done for you, you will be amazed at how doors open!

It is amazing how the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness are linked together. When you find the Righteousness of God as your very own, you are aligning yourself with the Kingdom of God. You are naturally making Him first by saying I can't be righteous by my own self-effort, I can only be righteous because of Jesus' free gift that He paid for on the Cross! God delights in that, my friend. Because it brings Him Glory!

And when you align yourself with the Kingdom of God like that, you will be amazed at the doors of opportunity that will fling wide open. You will find yourself preaching in amazing places, you will find yourself getting that perfect job you needed for the holidays, you will find yourself getting good marks at school, you will find strong friendships with quality people will open up... and SO MUCH MORE!

Why?

Because when you find the Righteousness of God, you find His Kingdom. And when you find His Kingdom, God will provide for you everything you need and more! God is not the God of enough. He is the God of the "more than enough"!! When the disciples went out fishing, He told them to cast their nets on the side of the boat and they caught so much fish their nets couldn't hold them all!! That's our God! He wants to meet your every need and more!

But stop trying in your own effort. Yes, you do need to be righteous. But stop trying so hard to BE righteous, when in fact Jesus has already made you righteous! It is unbelievable!!

Have a look at this awesome Scripture in Jeremiah 33:16...

And this is the name by which He will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'

Do you see that? The LORD (Jesus) IS your righteousness!! WOW!! He will establish you! He has finished it in the Cross!! It is finished! It is done! Now live in this liberating Truth! And watch how He will guide your life in every step as you seek Him more and more!

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I want to pray for you right now...

Oh Father,

thank you so much for sending Jesus, your Son. What a gift. What grace! Oh wow! Thank you that by His sacrifice we CAN be righteous before You!

And I pray right now that every person reading this would have a supernatural revelation of their righteousness imparted by you oh God! Holy Spirit, reveal the work of Jesus to your people!

That they may live lives reflecting your Glory!

In Jesus Mighty, Holy Name!

Amen!

How Do You Become Righteous?

Romans 3:21-23

²¹But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

I often have people come to me and ask how they can become more righteous. They want to know if there is some special method that they can apply that will help them become better people. I don't have that method. But I can offer you something better... a cure!

I just want to remind you that by putting your faith in Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, you are made 100% righteous!

Righteousness is not a word that can be measured.

It's like when you wash a car; when is it clean? It may be cleaner than what it was, but when it does it officially become clean? If you search and look hard enough, you will always find dirt somewhere, be it on the inside or the outside. There is no definition of "clean".

It's the same with righteousness. You can't be a little bit righteous. It's either you are or you aren't. Because if you think that you are righteous by how much good you do, I guarantee you there will be something somewhere inside you that isn't. No matter how small.

Jesus was the only human to ever walk this planet to be righteous. 100%. Inside out. Not an ounce of dirt anywhere.

He then went to the Cross, and took upon Himself EVERY sin ever committed, and ever to be committed!!

What happened on the Cross was a divine, supernatural exchange.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 that Jesus, who had NO SIN, BECAME SIN ITSELF, so that you and I, and everyone else who accepts His free gift of Life, can become RIGHTEOUS. In fact, we become RIGHTEOUSNESS ITSELF. We become like Jesus from the inside out.

That's Grace my friend!! That's why it's called Grace!! Because we don't deserve such a gift! It is the greatest gift of all time!

If you are trying to BE more righteous, I want to tell you right now that if you have received Jesus as your Saviour, you have already been made 100% RIGHTEOUS!!

You have been justified freely!! You have been redeemed!! Nothing you can do can ever make you UNRIGHTEOUS EVER AGAIN!! You are RIGHTEOUS!! You are the righteousness of God!! WOW!! No matter who you are!!

Don't try. Just stop a while, thanking God for His incredible gift in making you righteous that allows you to enter His Presence, and come into His Presence, and draw from His Strength that will empower you to be all that He has called you to be in this world!

Go for it! And don't let anyone hold you back!! God has great things for you!

Fear Is NOT From God!

1 John 4:18
"There is no fear in Love. But perfect Love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment."

Do you ever feel like you're not worthy enough to come to God? Do you feel like you might not make it as a Christan, because you could make too many mistakes? Or maybe you feel like you'll never reach God's purposes for you? Or! Maybe you're afraid that God knows all your sins and they're all going to be revealed one day in Heaven!?

I want to tell you that ALL these fears are NOT of God!

God IS Love! And there is NO fear in God! Why? Because His Perfect Love drives out any fears you may have.

The devil wants you to believe you might be punished in whatever small or big way, because when you believe you're going to be punished, you'll become afraid. And when you're afraid, you'll withdraw from God.

But when you realise that God is Love, you won't fear at all! Fear is from the devil!

Let's just deal with those questions I have listed above...

Do you ever feel like you're not worthy enough to come to God?
God tells you that He has made you worthy by the Sacrifice of His Son! You can come BOLDLY to His Loving arms because He has made you worthy. Not by your effort, but by His Grace!

Do you feel like you might not make it as a Christan, because you could make too many mistakes?
This is a lie from the devil! ALL your sins have been forgiven! Past. Present. AND FUTURE! All have been forgiven! Sure, you're going to make mistakes along the way. But who cares!? How does that affect your relationship with God? IT DOESN'T! You can come BOLDLY to Him no matter what! Just lift yourself up from those mistakes, come into His Presence, and be transformed in that place to become an ever better person reflecting His Glory!

Do you feel like you'll never reach God's purposes for you?
The Bible says to "Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4). When you realise God's unconditional Love for you, it will delight your inner most being. Your spirit. It will be the reason you live. And when you live from that revelation, God will ordain what He has planned and purposed for you. He WILL do it. Don't you worry!

Maybe you're afraid that God knows all your sins and they're all going to be revealed one day in Heaven!?
This is one of the biggest fears Christians have today! For some reason, people think that when we get to Heaven, there is going to be a "big screen" showing everything we ever did in our lives, including our sins. But that goes against Scripture! The Bibles tells us (regularly) that under the New Covenant, GOD REMEMBERS OUR SINS NO MORE!! How often? NO MORE! NONE! FINISHED!

So if God will NEVER remember our sins, why would He show them again when we get to Heaven? It contradicts His Promise!

I want to tell you my friend, ALL your sins have been dealt with at the Cross! And because of that, you can live confidently knowing that God Loves you no matter what! And now you can live boldly, knowing that God is pleased with you all the time! And when you live with that revelation, you can't help but live a life reflecting His Glory!

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So don't you worry about a thing! Any fears you have are NOT of God!

The only fear we have in God is a reverential fear of worship. But this is a POSITIVE fear. And a different subject altogether! Basically it means that when you see how big God is, and what He has done for us, and how much He Loves us, you will stand in awe! That is reverential fear. It's a positive fear.

Any negative fear is of the devil. Because God is Love, and there is NO Fear in Perfect Love!

Live confidently today under the smile of Heaven. It will change your life, my friend.

Don't Give Up!

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Life can get tough some times! And it can be so easy to look around us, and see the weight of our circumstances, and let those circumstances get us down!

But that's why this passage was written! For those tough times!

The point of this passage of Scripture is to not look at your circumstances, but to look to Jesus! When you see Jesus, you will be deeply encouraged. Your weary heart will be renewed and you He will lift you up.

Why? Because Jesus is the True Source of Peace and Joy. Not circumstances! Not what is going in life! Sure, when things are going great for you, it's easy to be happy. But what about when things are going tough? How do you stay happy in those times?

Paul said that he had learnt to become content (satisfied) in ALL circumstances. At ALL times! Do you know why? Because he set his sights on Jesus! The one who PERFECTED our faith!

So I encourage you today... don't lost heart! Don't grow weary! And the only way you're going to do that is by looking to Jesus!

As the famous old song says...
"Look FULL into His wonderful face! And the things of this world will grow strangely dim."

As this Scripture says; throw off everything that so easily hinders and entangles. It is so easy to get caught amongst the tough times of this life, and become discouraged. But my friend, when you look to Jesus, your heart will be set on fire, and you will be joyful no matter what your circumstances are!

So take some time out today to just sit at His feet. Come into His Presence. His arms are open wide, and He longs to satisfy your deepest desire.

Nothing Separates You From God's Love!!

Do you feel condemned? Maybe you feel like you aren't worthy enough to come to God?

If you are feeling that... then you have been lied to!!!

Check out what the Scripture says:

Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Do you see that? NO CONDEMNATION!! If you have been born again, then you are in Christ Jesus. And if you are in Christ Jesus, then there is NO CONDEMNATION that can come against you! Any condemnation or guilt you feel is from the devil, and it is illegal!

That means that you can come boldly before God your Father, and allow Him to hold you, and love you, and satisfy every deepest desire of your heart. My friend, when you feel His Love wash over you, everything else in life pales into insignificance.

And NOTHING can separate you from God's Love! NOTHING! It is freely available, all you need to do is come as you are.

Look at what the end of this passage says:

Romans 8:38 - 39
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
Vs 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

What is holding you back? NOTHING! Come boldly today. Sit at His feet and let Him speak words of Life to your spirit. Let that Love set your heart on Fire once again.

I firmly believe that God's Presence is directly related to His Love. The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:16 that God IS Love. That means when His Presence washes over you, you will have a supernatural revelation of His overwhelming, undying, unconditional love for you! And that Love will change who you are forever!

It's one thing to KNOW in your mind that God loves you, it's another thing altogether to actually EXPERIENCE that Love. God wants you to EXPERIENCE His Love for you.

If you are longing for more of God's Presence over you, and a deeper revelation of His Love, then why don't you pray this right now, right where you are? Maybe aloud? Maybe in your heart. And then go find a quiet place, and let Him Love you...

Father,

I come to You as I am. You know me inside out. And yet You Love me perfectly.
Reveal to me Your Love for me. I don't just want to know it in my head, I want to FEEL it in my heart. Let me FEEL Your Love. Reveal to me Your Love. The Love that You displayed at the Cross of Jesus. I want to know You deeply, Father. And I ask that you take me deeper and deeper into Your Love. Wash it all over me like a river. Please Father.

Thank You that You have revealed Your Love to us by sacrificing Your very own Son Jesus. Your Love is the Most Amazing Force in the Universe! Reveal it to me Lord!

In the Amazing, Holy Name of Jesus!

Amen!

Keep Filling Up With New Wine!

Mark 2:22
"And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."

The Bible often describes the Holy Spirit as wine. (Ephesians 5:18). Do you know why that is?

Because wine represents joy, happiness, celebration! Did you know that the first miracle Jesus ever performed was turning old, muddy water into perfect new wine!? Go read it for yourself in John chapter 2.

Do you know that that is a picture of us? We were once like old, muddy water, but Jesus changed us completely, and by His Grace He filled us with the Person of the Holy Spirit, and changed us into brand new people of joy and life! Wow!

Now, this Scripture in Mark 2 is telling us something... It is telling us that we need to keep the wine flowing. We cannot just live on what God did yesterday. When Jesus said "new wine", He was talking about freshness. New things. Keeping things fresh!

We should be allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us freshly on a regular basis. Because without Him, life will become dry, dull and depressing. Life can get us down, and the only source of True Joy and Happiness is found in the Holy Spirit! And every time we encounter Him, He reveals to our hearts the amazing Love of God only found in Christ Jesus!

So, I want to encourage you today; make time with the Holy Spirit as often as possible. He is God. And God is Love. He will reveal to you God's Love and Joy so deeply to your hearts that you really will become a new person!

Maybe some time in the future we can talk about how that works practically.

God bless you guys! Keep loving Jesus!

A New Covenant of Grace & Love

Jeremiah 31:31 says:
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."

God is a God of promises! He makes promises regularly! Why? Because He is a God of Hope! A Covenant is like a very serious promise. And He made covenants with His chosen people a few times. (His chosen people being the Jews; Israel). One of the "big" covenants that He made with His people was the covenant He made through Moses. We call it the Mosaic Law.

But do you know that as Christians we are not under that covenant God made with Moses? We are under a "better Covenant"! We are living at the best time in all of history! We are living under the best Covenant of all the covenants God ever made!

Look at what Hebrews 8:6 says:
"But the Covenant of Jesus is superior to the old one, because it is based on better promises!"

Why is this Covenant better? Well, let's have a look at what God says He will do in this New Covenant:

Jeremiah 31:33
Vs 33: "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel...
I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God and they will be my people."
Vs 34 "No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."

This is one of the most important passages in the Bible! Jesus confirmed this was the New Covenant that He established in Matthew 26:28, Luke 22:20, and Hebrews confirms it in chapters 8, 9 and 10. And Jeremiah goes on to say in chapter 32:40 that this Covenant is an "EVERLASTING COVENANT"! It will never cease! So we know, this is a big deal!

OK, so let's just have a look what some of the awesome promises are in this New Covenant:

1. God will put the law in our hearts and minds
Elsewhere in the Bible God promises that when we are born again, He takes out our old heart and gives us a brand new one! And God's ways are written on that new heart. Do you see that it is God who puts the law inside of us? Not us! We don't do anything, we simply live by the Holy Spirit, and He will lead us into all truth! When we got saved we became new people! New people that could only but do good things! Like love our family, love our friends, even if they are nasty to us. This is the work of God!

2. We are God's People!
We are sons and daughters of God! We are mighty princes and princesses whom God will fight for! We are royal people, chosen by Him! We are accepted by the Creator of the Universe! Everyone of us as believers has this privilege!

3. God has forgiven us, and remembers our sins no more!
Wow! Does it really say that? That God will forgive our wickedness and will remember our sins no more!? Yes it does my friend! That is amazing! God hates sin, and so He had to pay for it, and so all His Righteous Anger was poured out on Jesus at the Cross (Romans 3:21-31) so that if you believe in Jesus, He cannot get angry with you again! Isn't that amazing!? OH YES!

And because of that amazing promise, you as a new person with a new heart can enter BOLDLY into His Glorious Presence! Any time we like! (Hebrews 10:19)

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So there you go. What a way to start off the Fuzion Blog. With the reminder that we are living under a New Covenant. The best Covenant of all! Why have I started with this one? Because I want you all to remember this whenever you live as a Christian, whenever you hear a preach, whenever you read the Bible. Everything you do you must remember that you are under a New and Better Covenant, and God is your Father and He loves you, and He will NEVER be angry with you again, He NEVER remembers your sins, and He wants you to walk in intimate relationship with Him! WOW! GOD IS SO GOOD!!

If you feel amazed right now, why don't you pray this in you heart...

Holy Father of all creation,
thank you so much for this amazing promise you have made with me. How can I not love you? I stand amazed at your love. Thank you for this love that you showed when you sent Jesus to this Earth to die on a Cross. Please help me live with this foundation of your love and grace toward me, so that I can live a life that can reflect your glory. Teach me your ways. Show me more of who you are. I want to know you, and I know that under this promise, I can.
I love you forever!
Amen

Announcing the Fuzion Blog!

Hey guys!

Here is the official Fuzion blog! Tell your friends about it on facebook, twitter, email, MXit, the works! You can either direct them to our website: www.bestyouthever.com or you can give them the link to our blog directly: www.fuzionrocks.blogspot.com

The purpose for the Blog is mainly to give you, the legend "young" people of God, some food for your spirits! We are spiritual creations born from above, and those spirits need feeding to grow. And on this Blog myself and other Fuzion mentors will post encouraging devotional articles based on God's Word to help you understand the Bible, and who you are in Christ! And we will hopefully post on a regular basis! If not every day, at least 2 or 3 times a week.

God set our spirits on fire on the Fuzion Camp! Some of our spirits were born for the very first time! Jesus said in John chapter 3 that no man can see the Kingdom of God unless He is born from above. Born of the Spirit. God is Spirit, and He gives birth to our spirits! And He is the One who feeds our spirits!

Now we need to keep our spirits burning with His Holy Fire! One of the ways is to be filled with His Word empowered by His Holy Spirit. That's where this Blog will help. What read here will hopefully help in fanning into flame the Fire God set in all our hearts.

We also need to encounter Him regularly! Get in His Presence and let Him cover us in His Liquid Love over and over! We can never get enough of God! We must continue living in His Presence.

So, come back regularly, and tell all your friends about it. Post comments on what you think, or if you have any questions, post them in the comment section, and we will get back to you.

You guys are all amazing. Corinne and I are so proud of you all. We love you!

One Love in Him, the Author of Love.

James