His Righteousness Remains Forever

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Quick Summary

In Revelation 3 Jesus says "Wake Up! Strengthen what remains. There are several things that the New Testament tells us remains. In Hebrews 4 it says the promise of entering into God's Sabbath rest still remains and the day is today. This rest is available in Christ everyday. In 1 Corinthians 13 it says faith, hope, and love remain but the greatest of these is love. In the New Testament God has given us his steadfast love and we can become more steadfast by focusing on his steadfast unfailing love for us.

In 2 Corinthians 9 and Psalm 112 it says that the righteousness of Jesus also remains forever. We have been given the gift of being righteous with God through believing in Jesus, rather than our own works. By believing in Jesus our right standing with God is firm and fixed. Steadfast forever but we must stand fixed in His righteousness rather than our own. When we receive his righteousness and put it into practice it empowers us to do the right things and love God and people. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for all those watching, listening, or reading this and their families, friends, and all those connected to them along with our church and governmental leaders.

Thank you for releasing us from darkness and transferring us into the light, into the kingdom of your dear son. Thank you for your purpose and grace given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

I ask that you the father of glory would give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation so we would know you better. That the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened to know the hope to which you have called us, and the riches of your glorious inheritance that is in us, and the immeasurable greatness of your power to us who believe. The same power that you exercised in Christ when you raised him from the dead, and seated him at your right hand in heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,and every name that is named. Not only in this age but also in the one to come. And you put all things under his feet and made him to be the head of all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Heavenly Father, bless us and make your face shine upon us. Let us find grace and favor in your eyes.Expand our borders and our territory. Expand our capacity to receive your purpose and grace, and all that you want to do in our lives, and to let it flow through us so that we do good and are a blessing to people all over the world. Keep your hand on us and help us do TODAY what is right and best in your eyes. And to do it with peace and joy, and confidence in you. And as we do stretch out your hand to heal and do signs and wonders. And keep us from evil and pain.

Through the mighty name of Jesus. Amen

Yearly Cycle Updates

The feast of Pentecost is coming up on May 17th. Pentecost is the middle of the year on God's calendar. There are 3 feasts in the Spring (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits), then Pentecost in the middle and 3 feasts in the Fall(Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles). 

The Jewish tradition says that the 10 commandments or Law was given on the day of Pentecost and on that day 3,000 people died. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost and 3,000 people were born again. Both the Law and the Holy Spirit were given for guidance in life. The Law was a set of rules to live by but they did nothing to change our hearts or our motivation to do the right thing. The Holy Spirit was given to guide us on the inside and show us the way and God's grace empowers us to want to do the right things. 

Pentecost is the bridge to the other side of the year and we switch to playing defense. The Spring is the time to plant seeds but then in the summer they need to be protected from weeds, bugs, etc. We are making the transition to playing more defense soon. 

Communion Meditation

In Corinthians 9 there is a phrase that says "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor and his righteousness remains forever. In this passage the apostle Paul is quoting Psalm 112. We are told to seek His righteousness, not our own. Are we seeking after the kingdom of God, which is God's way of doing things, or our own way of doing things? Are we seeking after the righteousness that comes from Jesus or our own. In the Pentecost example we saw that the commandments and trying to willpower our way to be right with God leads to death, but his Spirit and His righteousness lead to life. 

Here is what is says in Psalm 112 AMP

Prosperity of the One Who Fears the Lord.  (Everytime we take communion it should be done in the fear of the Lord out of awe for God and Jesus).
112 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience],
Who delights greatly in His commandments.
2 His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light arises in the darkness for the upright;
He is gracious and compassionate and righteous (upright—in right standing with God).

When we take communion the bread is a reminder of the righteousness of Jesus. It is unleavened bread, which is a symbol of Jesus being without sin. To be righteous means to be in right standing with God, meaning we have peace with him. Isaiah tells us the effect of righteousness will be peace, quietness, and trust forever. To be right with God means we are in relationship and have his blessing and favor on our lives. We have peace with God through the body of Jesus. By his one sacrifice we have been made holy forever(Hebrews 10). He was beaten and crucified so we could be right with God. We have been given the tremendous gift of His righteousness. This is steadfast righteousness. It is unchanging because it is not about our behavior but the righteousness of Jesus. It never changes. When we eat the bread we are receiving the righteousness of Jesus, which is supposed to be put into practice as he empowers us to do the right things from the inside. His grace changes our hearts motivating us to do right from the inside rather than having to be forced by laws and rules. His righteousness and grace empower us to live rightly. 

Here are some scriptures on our righteousness in Christ. 

Philippians 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

Romans 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

1 John 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Corinthians 1:30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

As we take the cup in communion it is a reminder of our covenant with God in the blood of Jesus. Because we have been given the gift of righteousness God is on our side. He has promised to give us his steadfast love. As we continue with Psalm 112 notice that the person who is righteous need not fear bad news or be shaken. Why? Because we can put our hope, trust, and confidence in God's unfailing steadfast love for us. Our hearts can be steadfast because our righteous is fixed because of Jesus we have access to God's steadfast unfailing love. Our role in the covenant is to be steadfast and fixed relying and trusting on God and to give other people the same grace we have been given. 

Here is how Psalm 112 finishes. 
5 It is well with the man who is gracious and lends;
He conducts his affairs with justice.
6 He will never be shaken;
The righteous will be remembered forever.

7 He will not fear bad news;
His heart is steadfast, trusting [confidently relying on and believing] in the Lord.
8 His heart is upheld, he will not fear
While he looks [with satisfaction] on his adversaries.
9 He has given freely to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted in honor.

10 The wicked will see it and be angered,
He will gnash his teeth and melt away [in despair and death];
The desire of the wicked will perish and come to nothing.

The apostle Paul was quoting Psalm 112 in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Here is what it says in 2 Corinthians 9 NIV starting in verse 6.

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures(remains) forever.”

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

The concept of sowing and reaping is all around this passage of righteousness remaining forever. Here is what it says in Hosea 10:12 about sowing righteousness...

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

Proverbs 11:18 The wicked earns deceptive wages, But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward

James 3:18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

There is a balance to grace and sowing and reaping. By his grace God gives us seed to sow and he enlarges our harvest. He empowers us to sow righteousness and do right motivated from the inside. Then as we sow righteousness we reap steadfast love and God as our great reward. In Genesis 15 God told Abraham that he would be his great reward or "sakar," in Hebrew, which means your wages or in your service. Jesus was among the people as one who served and if we have seen him we have seen the father. God is among us as one who serves. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness and he reaped steadfast love and God being in his service helping him. By simply believing in Jesus we are credited with righteousness and reap God's steadfast love and him helping us. Then as we sow steps of obedience, trusting and relying on God, and giving other people grace we reap God's steadfast love, his loyalty to us. 

The righteousness of Jesus remains forever. To make this really simple follow the way of love. Receive the free gift of righteousness and let it empower you to become steadfast in doing right by loving and loving people.