I struggle with forgiveness how about you? For years I not only could not forgive my parents as well as others in my life that I suffered physical and mental abuse from but I could not forgive myself. My self-esteem (identity) was held captive behind a stronghold of unforgiveness and bitterness not only for them but for myself. I want to blame them for everything that I had experienced without taking any responsibility for my decisions and consequences. It also destroyed my ability to have a healthy relationship with anyone. I was carrying daily an incredibly heavy backpack full of bitterness and hate. If you are suffering under this spirit of wrong thinking come before your God and ask Him to help you forgive yourself and those who hurt you. Ask God to reveal your part and the wrong thinking that is holding you captive. It may be painful, but you have a Savior that loves you and is right there beside you to walk through the painful memories and wash you clean in His blood. That is just the beginning because He also has lifted you up with Him to sit at the Father’s side and use the authority given you to cast down those spirits of wrong thinking! You see, Jesus’ resurrection and position at the right hand of the father is full of power “Dunamis Power” to heal your brokenness and forever heal you. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity (lack of courage or confidence), but of power and love and discipline(self-control).” The Greek word “Dunamis” is where the English word “dynamite” came from, Paul wanted Timothy to know that God had given him the dynamite ability to stand strong in the faith. This is just as true today; God wants you to know that we have the power over our wrong thinking and the spirits that try to control our mind. Matthew 10:1 also tells us we have this power, “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.” Yes, GOD! Thank you for giving us the authority to “cast them out”. Today, God is speaking to you…forgive those who have hurt you and forgive yourself! Ask God to forgive the people who have hurt you and then forgive them…Jesus last word on the cross reflects the strength and power in forgiveness “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34 Let the gift of “Dunamis” power fill you and give you the strength and courage to step forward in your relationship with your Forever Father and His Son. Who in your life needs your forgiveness? Do you believe you are forgiven? Finally, unforgiveness in us creates bitterness which in turn creates a hard shell over your soul, how can the Father’s Love reach it with that hard shell upon it?
Dear Sisters, here are a few scriptures on Forgiveness to meditate on:
But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.” Luke 23:34 NASB
“Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23
“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.” Mark 11:25 NASB
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. “ Ephesians 4:31-32 NASB
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. “ Matthew 6:14-15 NASB
“Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” Colossians 3:13 NASB
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:37-38 NASB
“Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22 NASB
Hebrews 12:10b says, “He disciplines us for our good so that we may share in His Holiness.”
Correction in scripture is sometimes described as troubles, tribulations, hardship, or discipline. I do want to make it truly clear that God does not bring hardship upon you. You live in a fallen world, trials and tribulation as spoke of in the Bible will come despite all your efforts to avoid them.
God uses your life circumstances to refine you. Do you ever find yourself asking God why me? Many times, these circumstances are because of something you have done, our choices, behavior, wrong thinking, selfish desires and motives.
Read Isaiah 53:2-5 written hundreds of years before our Savior Jesus would be born…God reveals His plan. He knew all along that it would take a Savior Jesus Christ, His very Son to save you from yourself.
“The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We’re all like sheep who have wandered off and gotten lost. We have all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we have done wrong, on Him, on Him. (Isaiah 52:2–5 MSG)
What is God’s purpose in discipline? What blessings can you expect when you surrender to it?
Hebrews 12:5-10 says tell you what you need to complete the tasks He has for you. He is preparing you for something better more valuable to Him!
“In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So, do not feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, do not shrug off God’s discipline, but do not be crushed by it either. It is the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that is why you must never drop out. He is treating you as dear children. This trouble you are in is not punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline is not much fun. It always feels like it is going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.” (MSG)
Hebrews 12:13 says that your behavior must be refined by Him for His work to be completed in you…”make straight paths (obedience and love) for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint (lacking self-control), but rather be healed (controlled through obedience to God’s Holy Word).
Now let us visit Romans 8:26-39 (paraphrases are my revealed understanding)
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; (1. The Holy Spirit strengthens you.)
27 He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (2. He teaches you to pray accurately. 3. He prays perfect prayers through and for you.)
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (4. All things work for your good as you pray, love God, and desire His will)
29-30 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (5. You are destined to be like Christ…living here and now a resurrected life.)
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? (6. Since God is for you, who can be against you or ultimately do harm to you? What do you need to overcome? What lie must be broken and truth revealed?)
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (7. God provides everything you need.)
33-34 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. (8. God, the Holy Spirit will show you where you have made a mistake, but He does not and will not continue to beat you up…repent and receive that freedom…stop remembering, let go. Speak the Word of God out loud…the devil is a liar!)
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (9. God loves you! He desires a personal relationship with you!)
36-39 Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (10. Nothing can separate you from His love! You are His child loved and valued above all of God’s creation. Your past, your freedom comes through Him conquered through Him because of His love for you. 11. Nothing can separate you from His love! You are deeply rooted and grounded by His love!)
These days have an air of uncertainty however, my sisters in Jesus Christ you should know without a doubt who you belong to and that nothing can separate you from God! Praise and Worship your SAVIOR TODAY WITHOUT HESITATION! Do not let the devil distract you from your purpose and God’s will for you!
Sometimes the best writing one can share is simple and yet profound…God’s Word. Today my sweet sister’s in Jesus Christ have hope and courage; meditate upon God’s Amazing Truth and BELIEVE!
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have Him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we have been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you will have it all—life healed and whole.
I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
You never saw Him, yet you love Him. You still do not see Him, yet you trust Him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you will get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.
The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah’s Spirit let them in on some of it—that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving You, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves—through the Holy Spirit—the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!
So, roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Do not lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You did not know any better then; you do now. As obedient children let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”
You call out to God for help and He helps—He is a good Father that way. But do not forget, He is also a responsible Father, and will not let you get by with sloppy living.
Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood; you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew He was going to do this for you. It is because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
Now that you have cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s Living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself!
1 Peter 1:3-23 MSG
Open up your heart right now. Listen to Him. Follow His leading, not just my words. Man can fail you. God Cannot and will not ever fail you. He keeps His promises. He loves you so very much. You are His special child, and He wants you to curl up in His arms and feel His eternal, everlasting, unconditional love.
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you for keys of the Kingdom of Heaven…and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19 emphasis added
You need to pray that God will give you a burden for setting people FREE. Once your heart becomes heavy by seeing the devil hold captive the people with whom you have daily contact, you will have a hunger to see souls not only delivered from sin, but also set free from the demonic control of satan and his evil spirits. There is nothing so wonderful as seeing a person who has been in bondage set free supernaturally by the power of God.
Bind – Deo is the Greek word for binding, to tie or knit together. Deomai means “as binding oneself in prayer and supplications.”
Loosing – Luo is Greek for loosing “to loosen and destroy; to break up or dissolve and make melt.” It also can mean “to breakthrough or make an opening.”
Keys – Kleis is Greek for “having a key that locks, shuts up or closes.”
God has given us direct authority over hell and satan. We connect ourselves through prayer to confront, forbid to operate and tie up anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God.
When we loose we cause breakthrough in the spiritual realm. When you loose a thing you release the WILL OF GOD!
“Your Kingdom come, Your WILL be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Matthew 6:10
Truth: The only power the devil has is the power you give him in your mind. Satan has a big magnifying glass that he carries with him wherever he goes. He still wants to “be like” God. Is there something the devil knows that most men do not know? The devil wanted to be like God, but God made you in His image. Can you imagine how angry the devil is? The devil hates you because you are God’s chosen, loved, creation made in His image. God also gave you the power to rule over the enemy. He gave you the power in the Holy Spirit, this power is over all the power of the devil. Thank you, God, for the weapons we have to fight the enemy and break strongholds in our life! Amen!
Thank you Kimberly Daniels for your amazing spiritual insight, my Notes from the book “Clean House Strong House”
The struggle is real, weekly I meet women who are living in addiction, sexual abuse, mental abuse, self-destructive behavior based in their childhood experiences and more. From my childhood until I was 47 years of age, I was held captive by my past and struggled under many of the before mentioned circumstances. I had accepted Jesus as my Savior however nothing in my life changed, I knew God was real however I lacked the understanding that He wanted to be part of my life daily and that through Him I would become free. I am sharing this with you because Jesus had an encounter with a woman much like me and He not only brought salvation to her, but He changed her life forever. This is my story, it became God’s story, I am forgiven and not forgotten, loved, and valued by my Forever Father God. I wanted to share with you today through scripture how God wants to encounter each and every one of us in this very way…bringing us into His Kingdom giving us the authority to speak life in what seem like desperate circumstances and walk in the grace and mercy only Jesus can bring.
Walk with me and open your Bible to John 4, identify with this amazing woman and how God changed her life. (Please note that these are my teaching notes, be kind to the grammar.) Pray before you begin and ask God to reveal to you something new about Him and something new about yourself.
The Woman at the Well
Verse 4 we see that Jesus “had to pass” through Samaria. Everywhere and everyone that Jesus visited, spoke to, and healed was a divine appointment not only for that time, but for today and for tomorrow. You even read this is a divine appointment…What is God saying to you?
Verse 6 It was the 6th hour or noon in Jewish time – hot, dusty, a time when everyone was inside resting, seeking shade. The only time she would go, so that no one would see her…full of shame, guilt, based on her life and her reputation.
Verse 7 Jesus asked her to “Give Me a drink” an invitation to truth, God’s way of putting you to work…Jesus is asking us to give Him something daily, our faith, praise, worship.
Verse 8 no one else was there. The is a private, personal between meeting between Jesus and the woman…like He desires to have with each of us…one on one…intimate and personal. His calling to her was not for anyone else but her.
Verse 9 The woman is unsure, unworthy, she knows who she is and how she lives, the label the world has put on her, the lie that she has no choice. God sees beyond our circumstances, our physical form to our spirit…remember we are all His creation and we all belong to Him.
Verse 10 If YOU Knew…open the flood gates here it comes “truth” gift from God, Jesus is inviting her to ask, an invitation from God the Father. “Living Water” in the Greek means Life Rain…continually feeding us truth, nourishing, growing, steady…provided from heaven for you intimately and personally. Think about rain and the different ways we experience it…
Verse 11 She is not getting it…”Sir you have nothing to draw with” she is only seeing the physical, worldly way not the supernatural truth of this “Life Rain” how long did it take you? Have you really gotten it, are you experiencing a constant rain? Are there times of desert, dry, scorching dryness in your life? Are you held captive by the devils lies that you are not worthy of God’s love? Do you live on the outskirts of Christian Life?
Verse 12 She is asking Jesus. Who are you? This man is speaking to her, there is something different about Him. She is moving from the world truth into the spiritual truth.
Verse 13 Jesus shows her and us that we are all the same, loved and cherish by God who created us. The “Life Rain” he is offering is for everyone.
Verse 14 Now here is the invitation to drink…Whoever drinks…never thirst again…forever changed, transformed…ask Jesus, ask God, forgiven, washed clean by this life rain… it brings, forgiveness, hope, mercy, grace.
Verse 15 The woman is still thinking only in the physical instead of thinking “Yes God”…we must hunger for it, yes taste and drink…this water this rain will fill you up and continue filling you until it spills out on to all of those around you…shared truth…your story is now and forever His story living in you.
Verses 16-18 Jesus now brings the hammer…I know you! Truth of his power and knowledge. This truth is revealed to her by Jesus recounting her life…She thinks how? He doesn’t know me? You see God know every word that you have ever said, every thought, action, yes mistake, situation, sin…nothing is hidden from God.
Verses 19-20 The woman still cannot perceive who Jesus is and what He is truly offering, she thinks He is a prophet or religious man. She starts in speaking of religious ritual “worshipped in this mountain” conditions for worship…excuses, rules, ritual, specific place. She knows if she even dared to show herself in the temple she would be rejected even stoned because she is a Samaritan and a prostitute. Are you suffering under a religious spirit? You have told yourself I will never be accepted in church, never belong? Sadly, today there are churches still making religious law their guide and not God’s truth that He loves ALL people. Jesus gave is life for ALL. I want to say right here that the devil knows scripture as well or better than we do and he uses it to corrupt and distract, man uses rules and ritual, outward appearance and lifestyle to judge when scripture clearly tells us that only God knows the motives of the heart and only God can be the judge. Only God has the power to bring someone to Him, our responsibility is to share His truth, by Loving God and Loving People. Remember, a truth believer and follower of Jesus Christ seeks to have a personal relationship with Him…
Verses 21-22 Jesus rebukes this thought, your thinking is wrong, the truth of God has been corrupted by man’s limited knowledge, God is not a place, He is not found in a pastor, denomination or ritual ”neither in this mountain or in Jerusalem” …He is in His Word, He is Creator, Father, All Knowing and Seeing, Forever…Never Changing, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow…SUPERNATURAL Hebrew 4:12 says that truth is reveal through God’s Word living and active able to separate your flesh (sin, worldly thinking) from your spirit. Our worship for the One True God dwells within us coming through us in our attitude and actions.
Verse 23-24 Now is the time, praise and worship Him who lives in you and brings nourishment to your spirit daily. This truth is for everyone God calls to worship Him in Spirit and Truth
Verse 25-26 Truth revealed to all…”The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Verse 27 The disciples recognized the importance of this teaching and so they did not question her or disrupt what Jesus was sharing with her…if you are familiar with the disciples they often would attempt to protect or distance Jesus from people. I believe it is very significant that they said nothing as if they recognized the importance of “this encounter”.
Verses 28-29 At this moment God’s truth became hers and she could not hold back from sharing with anyone who would listen…determined. Her life was forever changed. Freedom from the shame and guilt, sin forgiven, a new life reborn in Jesus. Just for a moment close your eyes she her running back to the town and encountering people in the street, no longer afraid of what they would say or do. The freedom she received from Jesus gave her the authority to walk in God’s righteousness and truth. Verse 29 says “Come and see this man who knew everything about me and has given me a new life, declaring I am forgiven, come and experience this truth for yourself HE IS THE CHRIST! Our Savior! God in the flesh!” paraphrased
Verse 30 The people responded…God used her to share the truth, to bring people to Him so that they might receive the “Life Rain” He was offering. Later on, in verses 39-42 We see that many came to Him and they asked Him to stay with them. Because of the women bringing them to hear for themselves many were saved. Not on her word alone, we must believe from our own hearing and come to Jesus as He calls us. Through this broken woman, Jesus brought truth to an entire region and the people of that area declared that “Jesus is the Savior of the world”.
I have saved these verses for now because this truth is for many. In verses 31-38 Jesus disciples still had not grasped who Jesus was and their responsibility as believers and disciples. The woman heard and responded, shared truth, allowed the life rain to change her, she took that truth and sow for the harvest. Many hear the truth of Christ and even follow that message to church; however it gets hung up right there. The disciples witnessed Jesus in action and yet walked in ignorance of what He was calling them to do…it took the cross and resurrection for them to truly grasp all Jesus had been teaching them as they walked with Him side by side daily.
What can we learn from God’s writing here? This woman responded to God’s call in her life, first she had to allow the “life rain” Jesus was offering to wash away her past and see herself through God’s eyes. To claim her identity in God not the world. This claiming is where her strength came from, right now you must let Jesus direct your every thought and action. Feelings and attitudes often are attached to the past. The devil will use this to set you off course, distract and teardown the grace God has given you. Use God’s Holy Word as a guide in every thought and action, let Him show you areas in your life that the devil is using to keep you for your true freedom and purpose. If God has forgiven you and forgotten you MUST also…there is a tendency to continually analyze yourself, comparing yourself to others around you. To listen to the “well meaning” you must remember that the devil works through Christians as well as the world. Do not let this endless cycle of self-evaluation kill your confidence and distract you from your unique personality and the special purpose God has given you alone. Jesus is calling you to be His church, to represent and present His truth and love to a fallen world.
I speak these words over myself as well. Jesus let these Words of Truth sink in deeply and fill my spirit. I claim who God created me to be and I daily speak life into myself and those around me. Daily we must make sure God is going before us in every decision and that we are walking in His will.
Isaiah 54:17 says ““No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.” NASB
2 Corinthians 10:5 says “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” NASB
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 NASB
Doug and I have been watching Derek Prince’s “The Roman Pilgrimage” on YouTube. As the title suggests it is a study of the Book of Romans. Romans gives way to spiritual truth, it is our guide which compels us to persevere in our journey of knowing God and receiving all that He intended for us. God has been speaking so clearly through this study to me. Confirming His love and purpose for us. Chapters 1-7 confirms our position of righteousness and defines God’s Love for us.
Let us look at Romans 4:1-25, Paul is speaking about Abraham, who is the perfect example of our relationship with God. He was a man who believed God’s promise by faith alone without evidence. As you remember he and Sarah were childless and of an elderly age, yet God had promised him descendants as many as the stars in the sky. The key here is there was no physical evidence, Abraham believed in God and His Promise. Now let me say at this point which is a bit of a rabbit trail. Sarah talked Abraham into taking matters into their own hands which was out of the will of God. (Romans 4:1-5) That is a discussion for another day. I will say Abraham’s mistakes did not keep God from fulfilling the promise He made to him. Abraham’s sin came through doing more than what God asked him to do. This is a question we must ask ourselves daily…are you allowing God to go before you or are you moving and then asking God to get behind your decisions?
So, let us get back to my original thought. There are 5 points here in scripture that Paul shares about Abraham’s relationship with God. These should be our guide to a personal relationship with God as well.
Receiving the promise as Abraham did depends on walking in faith. (Romans 4:13-22)
1. As believers we accept God’s promise by faith alone without evidence. We must live by faith no matter what the world or our circumstances look like. This belief gives us the position of righteousness in God.
2. We must recognize that this position of righteousness is NOT obtained by works or religious ritual. We are incapable of producing the promised result on our own.
3. When we focus on the promise without wavering, we step into God’s given righteousness. This righteousness is not based on our actions it is freely given by God and through His grace and mercy.
4. Physical and spirit truth will manifest in us supernaturally and uniquely. This supernatural power comes to us through the Holy Spirit living in us. We share a common thread in this that God’s love belongs to each of us.
5. When God’s promise is fulfilled in us, God is glorified.
God is always moving us forward by challenging us to live and make every decision by faith and allowing God’s grace to cover us. Let us talk about grace briefly…Grace begins where human ability ends, it is received only by faith Ephesians 2:8 AMP says it so well…”For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God.” and the result always glorifies God.
“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:5-6 NASB
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 NASB
What does this word righteousness really mean? Not according to the world but God? Simply said “we are accepted before God with no condemnation.” The believer and non-believer alike hunger for righteousness “moral character” “acceptance” this position can be found in the world and when we seek righteousness in the world sooner or later, we compromise everything God created us to be.
Romans 14:7 says “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
In closing this righteousness God’s speaks of is not connected to anything we do here on earth. Righteousness comes through faith, offered to ALL those who believe…there is no distinction. It has no social status, ethnic origin, educational degree, financial credit rating, position within the Christian community or most importantly where you lay your head at night. Righteousness comes to those who believe in faith, seek only God’s truth, live humbly knowing that we can do nothing without God. We must find our identity daily in His Word and through His grace.
Instructions For Life According to Jesus Christ 