The Path of Righteousness

Old Testament “righteousness” meant right standing with God.  It was a term of “correctness.”

New Testament “righteousness” means standing right with God.  It is a term of position.

The Path OF Righteousness we will discuss is NOT the Path TO Righteousness… that Path is through Jesus Christ.  The path we will look at is the path we find ourselves on in Christ and it is represented by the diagram below, which we will elaborate on.

When we are on the path of standing right with God, right next to Him… letting Him lead us… we start with an awareness of our sin.  Now before we feel any guilt or condemnation let us remember that sin is failing to honor God.  We know that there are days, moments, even seconds that we fail to honor God with our thoughts or actions. 

And, since we have accepted Christ and have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, when we fail to honor Him we feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  This conviction is one of chastening, for “all those He loves He rebukes and chastens,” and is meant for us to be guided back to Way. 

When we feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit we can choose to confess our sin.  Once we confess our sin we then will repent of that sin, with repenting meaning to change our minds concerning.  Think of repenting also as changing direction; which would give way to the next natural step of forgiveness.  Forgiveness (see the post “Time Travelers”) is going back to before to the point where you can then go in the right direction, with a renewed mind.

And when we are forgiven we receive a fresh anointing of that same Spirit, which increases our faith.  And here I want you to picture Jesus having come up out of the Jordan and the Holy Spirit descending upon Him in the form of the Dove.  For what happened to Him next is what happens to us all.

After having been anointed He went to the desert and was tested.  Faith is always tested.  When the test was completed, the Father came with provision as He sent the angels to minister to Jesus’ needs.

Once the Father gives you something (provision) He instructs you as to what He wants done with it.  We have the added benefit of the Word of God, which is useful for instruction.  Therefore we ought to always be in the word, seeking that guidance and instruction.

When we have followed the instruction He is good and gracious to reward us according to those deeds.  Following the reward we find ourselves in a position of promotion just as the faithful servant who multiplied the talents was then put in charge of more.

For us to remain on the Path of Righteousness, again it is the path OF not TO, we must under gird everything with OBEDIENCE to the will of the Father, as Jesus was obedient, even unto death.  Only when we give ear to His voice alone, can we expect to hear only His voice.

The Expected End of our path is the purpose for which He created you.  He has a purpose for our lives.  He has work for us in the fields.  He has a plan.

Let the law of the Lord be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.

SDG

“Restoring the time”

When God promised Israel that they would occupy the Promised Land, that land took on such importance; as the proof of the promise and, in turn, of their God, that their very identity began to shift from being God’s Chosen People to being Occupants of the Land.  They began to relate so closely to the land itself that they lost sight of what it symbolized, what it represented; the One from Whom it was given.  And so, even though they might have been prospering to the world, the prophet Joel was sent with a strong word.  The locust, the cankerworm, the palmerworm, and the caterpillar all came to ravish the fruit of the land.  Once Israel repented, God restored the “time” that these insects had taken from Israel. 

We are part of the promise of Israel; adopted into the royal family of the Prince through His work on the cross.  When we accepted the sacrifice that Christ made of Himself, for us, and believed in Him as our Redeemer, as our own personal Savior, we became His.  We became a child of the promise made to Abraham. Our identity is no longer our own, but His.  In the royal courts of heaven, when our names are read aloud with all the sin that we have committed, the Father does not see us, but His Son; the propitiation required by the Law.  We are covered by the blood of the Lamb, the perfect holy and living sacrifice for our sins.

Why would we, then, seek to find our identity elsewhere?  Why would we, as Israel had done, begin to associate ourselves with that which we do, or own, or occupy?

Should we be surprised if the love of the Lord requires that He will begin to take away our fruit, making the land barren, reducing our borders as well until, as Israel, we repent of our sin; our desire for an identity, for recognition apart from Him?  Of course not.  And when we repent and truly seek to be again seen only as His child He will do what no one else can; He will restore the time that the locust, and the cankerworm, and the palmerworm, and the caterpillar hath taken. 

This is a promise of restoration, not just and only of the fruit but of the time. 

Only the Author of time, the One Who is outside it, can do this.  Fully and completely restore to us anything that the enemy has taken away.

Before you came to Christ, even before the moment that you are reading this, your life had and continues to have many facets.  Those facets radiate outward.  They start in where your heart lies.  This is who you really are.  Your faith, the One in Whom you have placed your life, your trust, your being.  Then your physical facets, your personal relationships, your heritage, your accomplishments, your calling, your possessions, your past. 

Whatever facet of your life that you have given to Him He will bless and multiply, using it for His glory.  Whatever facet your hold on to, that you seek to maintain in your identity, you are at risk of losing.  He will send the locust.  You can choose to recognize that the loss is a chastening from the Lord and turn to him, or you can put your energy into trying to maintain what you believe to be yours. 

If you chose to repent and refocus on Him then He will restore the “years” to you.

Is there a relationship that you need restored?  Have you stopped experiencing success in any area of your life that you need restored?  Is your relationship with Him not what it used to be?  He can restore the years to you and it can be as though there was never a lost!

He is the true Restorer of all things.

SDG

Living in the FOG: The Fullness of God

“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Eph 3:19

How could we contemplate the Fullness of God?  It is beyond our understanding… it “passeth” it. 

The word used in the Greek for “fulness” in the above verse is sometimes used to describe being “filled with the presence, power, agency, riches of God and of Christ.”

Therefore the Fullness of God does not describe so much what fills God but rather what God uses to fill, or chooses to fill us with!

His fullness then is not a state of “being full” but of one that is truly “continually being filled!”

God is infinite.   We are finite. 

But in Christ we can be filled, continually… repeatedly.  Why, because we are not all sufficient; He is. 

We run out. But He runs over. 

And so walking in the Fullness of God is to be continually partaking in the presence and essence of the Father.  And that essence, revealed to us through His Holy Spirit is Love, for “God is love.” And it is power; the power of the Holy Spirit.  And it is sound mind. 

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  2Ti 1:7

And as we walk in this Fullness we begin to act as agents for the Lord Who fills us.  We act on His behalf. 

Go, live in the Fullness of God, the Lord Who loves you and desires that you move in His power and authority.  One Who desires that we act on His behalf to heal the sick, and free those who are a slave to this world; showing them the true way of freedom in Christ.

SDG