It Pays To Be Righteous

Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you how to live, and how not to.  What is right and what is wrong.  Opinions vary, God’s Word is truth.  It Pays To Be Righteous.  Righteous.  Just, according to Divine law.  One who is holy in heart, and obeys God’s commands in practice.  Just:  Straight, full, complete, upright, in conformity with God’s laws, truth and justice, equitable, doing equal justice, having just weights and balances, living in conformity with the divine will, innocent, blameless, without guilt.  True to promises, faithful to one’s word or engagements, impartial.  Righteous – yashar – straight, upright, well pleasing (right pleasant, prosperous, well esteemed, to take the straight way.)  Genesis 7:1 – Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Genesis 18:26 – The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake.  (31) Abraham said, Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord what if only twenty can be found there?  He said “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”  Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.  What if only ten can be found there?  He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”  It pays to be righteous.  Deuteronomy 4:8 – And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this entire law that I set before you today?  So how are you righteous?  You can’t be – on your own.  God said there is no one righteous, not even one.  Everyone has turned to his own way.  The law of God just exposed sin, and the need for a Savior.  Jesus, the Righteous One became sin for us, so that we might be considered righteous in the sight of God.  His death in our place, makes us righteous before God, if we place our faith in Him.  If not, you will never make it, and no unrighteousness will be found in Heaven.  Not possible before a Holy God – like light and darkness, oil and water, where God is, no sin can dwell.  So if you’ve put your faith in Christ – how do you walk in the righteousness that you are in Christ.  Walk in the Spirit and you won’t fulfill the desires of the old nature.  That selfish, ungodly nature that opposes the righteousness of God.  Pray in the Spirit and you’ll walk in the Spirit.  Receive His Grace to say no to what the old nature wants, and yes to what He wants.  Just get His plans, soak in His Word, overcome with your testimony, and choose His presence, His thoughts, and His Words out of your mouth, and your walk will be upright.  Praise God if we sin, He will forgive us, but we don’t have to anymore.  The old nature doesn’t control us like it used to.  It pays to be righteous.  Not just to be spared from calamity, but to walk in victory! Freedom!  The life that He died for you for!  Praying that you will know and do what God has for you today.  It’s how you walk uprightly, bless-able, it’s how God gets the glory from your life.  It’s worth it.  His love endures forever, His mercies are new every morning.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  He will establish you in His righteousness.  Straight, full, complete, blameless, well-pleasing, prosperous, and well-esteemed by God and others.  He’s righteous.  And His Kingdom is righteousness, joy and peace.  It pays to be righteous.  He does it, not you.  His grace is all you need.  Praying that you will just walk in the Spirit today… in everything He’s told you to do.  He’ll take care of the rest.
 
Love you all,
dad