Righteous by Faith in Jesus
Yes, we will make mistakes. Not a single person is without sin or ever could be righteous on their own (Romans 3:10 & 1 John 1:8). For the whole chapter of Romans 4 we are looking at today please follow along in your Bible or with the following link. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%204&version=NLT,NKJV
We see it was not by works that Abraham was considered righteous, but rather for his faith (v 3). We become righteous because of what God has done through the cross of Christ on our behalf. The Bible says in verse 13: Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
Everything that we think, do and say is now based on our faith in God and our relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. That is where we live by faith. We keep trusting God. His word is true. We grow in Him. But our righteousness is never because of anything we have done or not done. Our righteousness is solely in Him.
The problems we face in this life are just opportunities for God to show His great and mighty power in and through us to a lost world that He loves so much that He gave His only begotten Son to redeem.
20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises. 22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded 24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in Him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God.
Romans 4:20-25 NLT
Abraham was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises. How convinced are we? Are we completely trusting the Lord with all of our problems and with every step we take? That is where our righteousness comes from believing and trusting in God. Then as we grow in our faith, we, like Abraham will bring glory to God.
Father God,
You are so wonderful. You have done so many indescribably amazing things. We, like Abraham believe in You the One who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing (v. 17). How can we even comprehend how great You are? We just know that You are. Our minds do not even realize how many things You have done, will do and are doing. You just spoke the word and created this world and everything that it contains. What amazing power You hold. You made it all for our enjoyment. You are awesome. We sing Your praise. You are holy. Help us to believe in You more. We ask for unshakable faith. No matter what happens we want to be found faithful. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
We Want More of You God
19 Do not quench the Spirit, 20 do not utterly reject prophecies, 21 but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good, 22 abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NASB
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of fredemption.
Ephesians 4:30 ESV
When the word “quench” is used in Scripture, it is speaking of suppressing fire. When believers put on the shield of faith, as part of their armor of God (Ephesians 6:16), they are extinguishing the power of the fiery darts from Satan. Christ described hell as a place where the fire would not be “quenched” (Mark 9:44, 46, 48). Likewise, the Holy Spirit is a fire dwelling in each believer. He wants to express Himself in our actions and attitudes. When believers do not allow the Spirit to be seen in our actions or we do what we know is wrong, we suppress or quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We do not allow the Spirit to reveal Himself the way that He wants to.
Got Questions
To understand what it means to grieve the Spirit, we must first understand that this indicates the Spirit possesses personality. Only a person can be grieved; therefore, the Spirit must be a divine person in order to have this emotion. Once we understand this, we can better understand how He is grieved, mainly because we too are grieved. Ephesians 4:30 tells us that we should not grieve the Spirit. We grieve the Spirit by living like the pagans (4:17-19), by lying (4:25), by being angry (4:26-27), by stealing (4:28), by cursing (4:29), by being bitter (4:31), by being unforgiving (4:32), and by being sexually immoral (5:3-5). To grieve the Spirit is to act out in a sinful manner, whether it is in thought only or in both thought and deed.
Both quenching and grieving the Spirit are similar in their effects. Both hinder a godly lifestyle. Both happen when a believer sins against God and follows his or her own worldly desires. The only correct road to follow is the road that leads the believer closer to God and purity, and farther away from the world and sin. Just as we do not like to be grieved, and just as we do not seek to quench what is good—so we should not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit by refusing to follow His leading.
Father God,
We so want to make You happy with our thoughts, words and actions. We do want more of You and less of us. We want more of Your ways and thoughts. We need Your help to make better decisions based on the truths that we know from Your word. We give You free reign to move in and through us. We will do what You say to do in everything. Please fill us to bubbling over with Your Spirit. We want to see lives positively affected because we spoke the right words at the right times, and we were in the right places at the right moment. We want all of our thoughts to be centered on You and what would make You happy. That is what matters the most. Let revival start and let it start in us. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
Let God be Judge and Just Show His Love to a World He Loved Enough to Die for
18 God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodly behavior and the injustice of human beings who silence the truth with injustice. 19 This is because what is known about God should be plain to them because God made it plain to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse. 21 Although they knew God, they didn’t honor God as God or thank him. Instead, their reasoning became pointless, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 While they were claiming to be wise, they made fools of themselves. 23 They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that look like mortal humans: birds, animals, and reptiles. 24 So God abandoned them to their hearts’ desires, which led to the moral corruption of degrading their own bodies with each other. 25 They traded God’s truth for a lie, and they worshipped and served the creation instead of the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 1:18-32 CEB
26 That’s why God abandoned them to degrading lust. Their females traded natural sexual relations for unnatural sexual relations. 27 Also, in the same way, the males traded natural sexual relations with females, and burned with lust for each other. Males performed shameful actions with males, and they were paid back with the penalty they deserved for their mistake in their own bodies. 28 Since they didn’t think it was worthwhile to acknowledge God, God abandoned them to a defective mind to do inappropriate things. 29 So they were filled with all injustice, wicked behavior, greed, and evil behavior. They are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deception, and malice. They are gossips, 30 they slander people, and they hate God. They are rude and proud, and they brag. They invent ways to be evil, and they are disobedient to their parents. 31 They are without understanding, disloyal, without affection, and without mercy. 32 Though they know God’s decision that those who persist in such practices deserve death, they not only keep doing these things but also approve others who practice them.
So every single one of you who judge others is without any excuse. You condemn yourself when you judge another person because the one who is judging is doing the same things. 2 We know that God’s judgment agrees with the truth, and his judgment is against those who do these kinds of things. 3 If you judge those who do these kinds of things while you do the same things yourself, think about this: Do you believe that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you have contempt for the riches of God’s generosity, tolerance, and patience? Don’t you realize that God’s kindness is supposed to lead you to change your heart and life? 5 You are storing up wrath for yourself because of your stubbornness and your heart that refuses to change. God’s just judgment will be revealed on the day of wrath. 6 God will repay everyone based on their works. 7 On the one hand, he will give eternal life to those who look for glory, honor, and immortality based on their patient good work. 8 But on the other hand, there will be wrath and anger for those who obey wickedness instead of the truth because they are acting out of selfishness and disobedience. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 11 God does not have favorites.
Romans 2:1-16 CEB
12 Those who have sinned outside the Law will also die outside the Law, and those who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 It isn’t the ones who hear the Law who are righteous in God’s eyes. It is the ones who do what the Law says who will be treated as righteous. 14 Gentiles don’t have the Law. But when they instinctively do what the Law requires they are a Law in themselves, though they don’t have the Law. 15 They show the proof of the Law written on their hearts, and their consciences affirm it. Their conflicting thoughts will accuse them, or even make a defense for them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the hidden truth about human beings through Christ Jesus.
May our response be one of humility before the Lord our God.
Father God,
United we come before Your throne. Please have mercy and forgive us sinners. Help us to not be judgmental but to realize that but for the great grace of Yours, we would be the same. We are all rotten sinners. Some have trusted You and are now saved by Your great grace. Nothing we have done or not done, no rules or regulations won us our freedom. Our freedom and right standing with You was bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. May our cry when we see the brokenness of sin-filled individuals be, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” May we love the sinner and hate the sin. May we get mad at satan and his demons but love on those who are misguided and deceived by him. May we pray for their eyes to be opened to the truth. May we show the truth in all of our actions, thoughts and words. Above all may everything we do bring glory to the wonderful name that we carry as Your children. May we extend love and mercy, kindness and compassion, forgiveness and gentleness, humility and patience. May we by our obedience show Your virtues and truly represent You while we are on this earth. We ask that Your love would shake us up in our thinking. Help us to always and only reach out in love to every single person that You have placed in our sphere of influence. You are the Judge, not us. Our only job is to love others. You know and search each individual’s heart, where everything will one day be brought to the Light. May we humbly seek Your forgiveness now for any and all times we have failed You. We ask for Your power to rest on us. We pray for no division among Your children as we all are walking in Your light. Help us to see the truth, walk in love and speak in gentility to all others at all times. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
Follow Jesus
We cannot stay where we are and go where God is going at the same time. There has to be movement. We need to follow Him. God is always moving. He is at work all around us. He wants us to work with Him. What does He want us to do? We have to stay close to Him through prayer, Bible study, church (body of believers) and worship to know. These are some truths I have learned through the ‘Experiencing God’ by Henry T. Blackaby study that I did a long time ago and am presently doing a refresher study on with our church. One thing is an absolute truth, we cannot think, say and do what the world says is ok to think, say and do. We must be different. What does God want us to think, say and do? He is our Leader. He is the One we should be listening to.
Father God,
Thank You so much for being with us. Thank You for teaching us so many things. Thank You for Your guidance. Your word is life to our souls. You give us strength, wisdom and courage. We praise You for all that You are doing. We ask for Your blessings and hand of protection to be on Chris Tomlin and his family. Draw them ever so close to Your side. Thank You for him and his music ministry. Today we agree with the lyrics, and we say, ‘Where You go, I’ll go.
Where You stay, I’ll stay.
When You move, I’ll move.
I will follow.
Who You love, I’ll love.
How You serve, I’ll serve’
Keep us all close to Your side for we so desperately need You. We do trust in You alone! You are our Life. You are our freedom, and You give us joy unspeakable. We gladly, willingly and whole-heartedly follow You. Where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68). There is nowhere we would rather be, than at Your side. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
Repent and come to Jesus!
John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus preached repentance. The definition of repent is feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin. John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul and Peter all cried out for people everywhere to feel or express sincere regret or remorse about their sin.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:17 KJV
The Light had come to this world. The problem is that men love the darkness more than the Light (John 3:19-21). They will not turn away from their sins and come to the Light. We all have a choice. God has given everyone a free will. Joshua said in the Bible as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua made his decision. The disciples left the world behind and followed Jesus. They came to the Light so that their sins could be exposed. They knew they were sinners and they needed God’s great love, grace and mercy. They came to the Light, followed Jesus and learned to walk in the way of righteousness.
Jesus then taught them how to serve Him out of love. Everything is now based on His love. We are to love because He first loved us and gave His life for our ransom (1 John 4:19-21 & Matthew 20:28). Every bad thing we have ever thought, said or done was washed away the day we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We then follow Him and walk in His righteousness, and we keep trying. By His strength and His power, we will make it.
We are to keep our eyes on the prize (Philippians 3:14). He is with us (Matthew 28:20). He loves us (John 3:16) and He is for us (Romans 8:31). So just stay the course. He will use our surrendered lives to point others to Him. We all know the time of His appearing is closer than it was before. We do not know the day or hour, no man does (Matthew 24:36). Jesus told us though in Matthew 26:41 that we are to watch and pray.
Father God,
How awesome, holy and righteous You are. We are standing, walking, living, seeing, receiving and proceeding in faith. We trust You. We cling to Your words. We know that what You have said is true. Everything You have said will come to pass. Everything will transpire in Your appointed time. We are here to worship You. Thank You so much for our daily blessings. You are so good to Your children. Lord, help us to empty the garbage that we may be holding onto. We want to be able to run to You without having all the baggage that would try to hinder us or slow us down. We want to be completely aligned with Your perfect will for our lives. May everything we think, say and do bring You glory. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
Just Keep Trying
23 When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. 24 Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe.
Acts 28:23-24 NASB
It is not up to us to save anyone. We cannot do that. Jesus is the only One who saves people. It is only up to us to be a faithful witness and to sew the seed of the Good News that Jesus saves. Some will believe and others won’t. We must continue on. Pray for them. Pray that God would send others to water the ground of their hearts. We just do our part and let God do what He does. The Holy Spirit will work in ways that we do not see or understand. Just keep walking the walk, trusting in God and believing in God and His power.
By the way, if you have never seen the movie Fireproof, I encourage you to watch it. That show is a great movie especially for couples.
Let’s pray.
Father God,
How good it is to come into Your presence. How good to read Your word and grow in You. We have such peace in Your presence. You are good. You are faithful. You are loving and kind. Help us to be more like You. We want to be strong and faithfully serve You all of the days we have on this earth. We want Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done. This world is not our home. We are looking forward to a heavenly home! We are excited to one day be in Your presence! May we continue to be bold and to speak the truth, in love, to all others that You have placed in our paths. Please Lord, help us to keep our eyes fixed on You. We know that You’re coming back to get Your children and we long for that day. May everything we do and say be glorifying to You. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
Almost yet Lost
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
Acts 26:28-29 NKJV
29 And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”
Almost is truly a very sad state to be in, to have heard the gospel, yet decline God’s offer of salvation. I cannot think of anything sadder. Yet, this is the state of a lot of people around us. Some are even very close in proximity and in relationship. It truly is so sad for someone to reject the Gospel. When they reject Jesus as Lord, it hurts my heart. I just had it happen to me again the other day. I asked someone online if they knew the Lord, had they ever been saved? Their reply to me was ‘no.’ The no was one thing, when they follow it up with the words ‘and I don’t want to talk about this again,’ that is what bothers me. I was told that we could talk about anything else but that. Oh, how my heart hurts for them.
Father God,
We pray for the people in our sphere of influence who have not accepted the invitation from You to be restored to a right relationship with You through Jesus Christ. We cry out for their souls. Oh, Lord please speak to them again and again, not just through us, but send others to them. We do not wish to see any have to be eternally separated from Your presence. We know that You have such great love for all mankind. We beg You for our unsaved loved ones, friends and acquaintances soul’s. It hurts when someone we know rejects You. We know it isn’t us that they are rejecting. It just hurts to know they are rejecting the One who loves them the most. Help us to do better towards them. Help us to speak better, react better, and listen better. May we show Your love, grace, forgiveness and mercy at all times to all others. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
Message, Choice and Change
17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily.
Acts 19:17-20 NASB
People in the above message heard the message. They learned about Jesus. They understood that you must have a personal relationship with Him. The name of the Lord is to be honored, magnified and used in conjunction with a personal relationship with Him. Fear and great reverence for Jesus’ name fell on the people for they saw what trying to do something in the very name of Jesus without knowing Him personally did to those trying to use it. There is so much power in the name of Jesus. His name is to be reverenced, held in awe and great esteem.
When we lift His name on high and proclaim the message of salvation to others, miracles happen, the lost get found, the prison walls come down for those held captive, healings come about, and people are released from demons. Once they believe, there should be a change. You cannot continue in darkness and walk in the light at the same time. You cannot walk with Jesus and with the world at the same time. There must be a change. The change for the people in today’s message was that they destroyed what they had previously worshipped. They did not sell their items (to confuse, hurt and bring others into bondage), rather they destroyed them publicly. They were not ashamed of Jesus. Then the word of the Lord grew and prevailed.
If we want to be used by the Lord, let us grow in Him. As we walk, let’s walk away from the wrong things that we know are contrary to the word of God, and walk with the Lord in what we know to be truth. As the Holy Spirit grows in us, God will reveal to our hearts if there are any wrong things that we are doing that we need deliverance from. We then have a choice; do we walk with the Lord and lay down any and all things that are contrary to His word or do we continue to do those things which we know are wrong? The choice is ours.
This last song is one that I play at least five times in a row when I listen to it. Such a powerful song! Rejoice with me, oh child of the most-high God!
Father God,
We thank You for Your great mercy, grace, love and forgiveness. We thank You for giving us the right to be called Your children through the precious blood of Jesus. We lift His name on high. We are redeemed, set apart, called, chosen, royalty and precious in Your sight. We are dearly and completely loved by You the one and only true God of the universe. You can be trusted. You have given us so many thigs. We believe Your word. We hear Your message. We lay before You all of us that makes us who we are, we lay it down at Your feet. Please reveal to us what we need to repent of, so that we can get right with You. We do not want to walk in the ways of the world, we want to walk in Your ways, according to Your truths and along the path of righteousness with You. We thank You for the artists above. We pray that You continue to anoint them in their ministry to You. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
We Will Follow Jesus Keeping Our Eyes on Him
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV
People on this earth want others to follow them. You see it everywhere you go the notice to follow some person, place or organization on social media. I say let us follow Jesus. Keep our eyes on Jesus. He alone can help us. We cannot do anything with the gargantuan amount of perpetual garbage that is coming at us from all sides. So, instead, let us keep our eyes fixed on the One who loves us the most. Let’s continue doing the things that we know He wants us to do as recorded in His word.
Father God,
How awesome You are! How wonderful, loving and amazing! You speak and things happen. One word from You can move mountains. You are the One who created the mountains, valleys, seas and heavenly beings to begin with. You are worthy of all praise. We lift Your name on high. We bring sacrificial praise to You. We lift our eyes to Heaven and declare with the angels that You are holy! We worship You and You alone.
If you do not know Jesus but would like to know more about Him, including how you can be saved, please read the following blog titled, You Never Let Us Go. God bless. https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/
The Fathers Feet 
You must be logged in to post a comment.