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.