Raining Rightousness

Reading from the Book of Romans 1:17-20

¹⁷ For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” ¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

People who are just and upright "shall live by faith". Faith is confidence in God.  It is important that we be consistently confident, not occasionally confident.  Going from faith to doubt to unbelief and then back to faith, will make us lose a lot of precious time. We must be consistant in our faith walk. Practice being confident in all things, with God's help.

Begin to take off the weights that have been put upon you and begin to trust Jesus.  Begin to trust Him to do what you have never been able to do in your entire lifetime. Don’t resort to stories to cover up your emptiness inside. Don’t suppress what is really going on inside of you by trying to pretend it is not there. Trust Him and in so doing your entire life will change.

Just trusting in Him will bring results. Be done with suppressing the truth … and instead trust Him completly that He will bring about the needed change in you.  He will rain down righteousness upon those that trust Him; real righteousness, not a cheap imitation.

The Tomb Is Empty

Reading from the Book of Matthew 28:1-7,18-19

¹ After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

It was dead quiet and pitch dark. A mixed smell of flowers, oils and spices was filling the air of the small carved out grotto.

Suddenly the small room began to fill with light until it appeared to be ablaze. Within the light one might have detected a personage, if one could have been able to abide the glory of the light and the moment!

“Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, Arise!”

As soon as the words were spoken the glorious man was gone, and so was the light that had set the grotto ablaze. It was absolutely charcoal again. For just a short moment…

The price for the inherent sin has now been paid through His blood, His death and His resurrection.

He has Risen!  He is Alive!

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 ² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
 ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

There Is A Knock At The Door

Reading from the Book of Revelation 3:20

 ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Jesus knocks at the door of many hearts right now, but we must remember that the doorknob is on our side.  He is a gentleman. He will not force His way into our lives. We must open the door and welcome Him.

Have you ever had your home broken into or known someone who has? There is a terrible sense of intrusion and violation when something like that occurs.  Jesus will never enter a place in your life where He is not welcome. God wants to bring healing and wholeness to every area of your life, but He will wait for your invitation.

It is up to you to open the door and ask God to show you where you need Him to do some work in your life.  He is knocking to come in and He is eager to bring restoration, healing and wholeness.

Renew Your Mind

Reading from the Book of Ephesians 4:17-23

  ¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

 

Those who are unbelievers can be so callous and hard that they are "past feeling". They live by their feelings in unbridled sensuality and carnality. Such people are past doing what they should be doing with their feelings. God gives people feelings for a specific purpose and use in their walk with Him. But people who have alienated themselves from God are hardened to the place where they are beyond using their feelings for the right purpose. Satan moves them into an area where they live riotous lives, doing whatever they feel like doing.

 

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

 

You and I are not to live that way, but to make the truth of God's Word our standard and to obey it by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are to be constantly renewed in the spirits of our minds, having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude.  Attitudes begin in the mind.  Our minds are renewed by the Word of God.  Reading the Word daily renews our minds and changes our attitudes. Renew your mind in the Word!

Balance

Reading from the Book of 1Peter 5:6-8

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Ask the Lord for what you need then wait on Him to provide for what He sees fit, knowing that His timing is always perfect. Humble yourself under His hand in every situation of your life and trusting that He knows what is best for you. He has great plans for you. Stop striving and allow Him to show you how to cooperate with His purposes for you. 

 

⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you.

Be sure to cast all your cares upon the Lord. Do not worry about anything because staying peaceful is actually proof that you have humbled yourself and that you trust God to do what needs to be done.

 

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Maintaining balance in all things is so important! If we do not, we open a door to Satan, who roams around hungrily seeking to devour us. Here are a list of thoughts that will help in staying balanced in one particular area of your life---your self-image. There are many aspects of life that need to be kept in balance, but focusing on self-image is most important because it is such a foundational issue.

 

In order to develop a balanced, healthy, God-centered self-image, incorporate these thoughts into the way you think about yourself.

1. I know God created me, and He loves me.

2. I have faults and weaknesses, and I want to change.  I believe God is working in my life.  He is changing me bit by bit, day by day. While He is working in me, I can still enjoy my life and myself.

3. Everyone has faults, so I am not a failure just because I am not perfect.

4. I am going to work with God to overcome my weaknesses, but I realize I will always have something to deal with.  Therefore I will not become discouraged when God convicts me of areas of my life that need improvement.

5. I want to make people happy and have them like me, but my sense of worth is not dependent upon what others think of me.  Jesus has already affirmed my value by His willingness to die for me.

6. I will not be controlled by what other people think, say or do. Even if they totally reject me, I will survive.  God has promised never to condemn or reject me as long as I keep believing.

7. No matter how often I fail, I will not give up because God is with me to strength and sustain me.  He has promised to never leave me or forsake me.

8. I like myself. I do not like everything I do, and I want to change, but I refuse to reject myself.

9. I am right with God through Jesus Christ.

10. God has a plan for my life.  I am going to fulfill my destiny and be all I can be for His glory.  I have God-given gifts and talents, and I intend to use them to help others.

11. I am nothing, and yet I am everything!  In myself I am nothing, and yet in Jesus I am everything I need to be.

12. I can do everything God calls me to do, through His Son Jesus Christ.

 

⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

There are many area we should strive for balance. We should maintain the balance of work and rest, eat a balanced diet, never spend more than we earn, and enjoy people, but also have solitude. Although we want to please people and have their approval we must put God and His will first in our lives at all times. If we do not maintain balance in our lives, Satan will take advantage of the door we have opened. If you find areas out of balance, ask God to help you make the adjustments. Resist Satan and strive for balance.

Deeply Rooted

Reading from the Book of Ephesians 3:14-19

 ¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Do you really understand the depths of God's love for you? Do you understand the width and length and depth and height of God's love for you, and that you should be rooted and grounded in that love?  Just imagine having your personality filled with the Holy Spirit of the living God and being a body wholly filled with God Himself. Any area of our lives that we hold back from God is an area where we can not be filled with His Spirit. Your time is His, your money is His, as are your gifts and talents, your family, your career, thoughts, attitudes, and desires.  He wants to be involved in every area of your life, including how you dress, the friends you choose, what you do for entertainment, what you eat, and so on.

After conversion, Jesus is our Savior, but is He our Lord?  I lived a defeated life for many years simply because I was not fully surrendered.  I accepted Jesus has my Savior and I had enough of Him to stay out of hell, but I had not accepted Him as my Lord in every area of my life.  I had not accepted enough of Him to walk in victory---and there is a difference.

Complete surrender to God brings good change into our lives.  Surrendering to Him actually opens the door to the things we desire, and yet we waste our own energy trying to obtain access to them in our way. Ask God to reveal to you more and more of His love and to expand your capacity to recieve this awesome love and to become deeply rooted in all the fullness of God.