One of the verses I have been thinking upon alot lately is:
Isaiah 32:17-18: "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be confident trust forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest."
When I embrace the gift of righteousness the fruit of my life is peace. Peace means prosperity, happiness, wholeness, health, nothing missing and nothing broken. My heart is made whole with His love.
The effect the gift of righteousness has on my heart is confident trust in the One Who loves me.
As I let this promise penetrate deep within my heart, I realize how much my Savior loves me to purchase such a powerful promise for not only my heart, but the hearts of my family as well.
In verse 18 God said, the home of the righteous would be filled with peace (happiness, health, prosperity, love) and we would enjoy undisturbed places of rest.
I want nothing more for my family than to know the love of Jesus and for their hearts to be filled with love, joy and peace: enjoying the life our Savior died to give us.
So now when I see one of my children or my husband discouraged or sad, or they are dealing with a negative attitude toward each other or someone else, when I since strife trying to enter my home, I remember what my Father, God spoke over my home because He made me righteous in Jesus, and I agree with Him.
I look to Him and say, "Thank you Father, that you have promised peace for each member of my family. You said my home would be filled with peace, our hearts would be secure in You, and we would experience undisturbed places of rest. I am trusting You to bring peace to my husband and my children's hearts because everything you say about me and my home is true. Thank you, for your gift of righteousness. I can rest in your love."
I can't even explain what peace comes to my heart when my thoughts are filled with this promise. He truly is able to bring peace and joy into the hearts of everyone I love!
I love the gift of righteousness!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow did your heart respond to the promises given to the righteous that we went over in Week 3? They seem too good to be true. Were you discouraged because you're not experiencing these? Was it the thrill that you might feel upon learning that you won the lottery? Amazement? Did you feel like you had some work to do?
ReplyDeleteHow your heart felt when you heard those promises will help you locate yourself in understanding this message of righteousness. I think I get it. I'm amazed when I see these promises but I'm not so sure that I feel like I just won the lottery. I'm just being honest. I'd be celebrating if Ed McMann showed up at my door! "Woohoo! I'm rich!"
If I had a deadly disease and then I got the doctor's report that I was all clear, how would I feel?
How would I feel if I saw my husband and children loving each other and me just like Jesus loves them? That's how I want to feel when I hear these promises that belong to me because I'm righteous!
I think it's like what Abraham must've thought when God first began to tell him that he would be the father of many nations. "Great, that'll be wonderful Lord! Mmm-hmm." But then there came that one day when God told him, "Abraham I've made you a father!" and Abraham celebrated! He was ecstatice, expectant! He even changed his name. (Wow! Like God did for us! He renamed us Oaks of Righteousness!)
I love Romans 4:19-24 out of the Message Bible "Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us!"
I need to go ask my Jesus about my heart's response to some of His promises. He's the only One Who can set me completely free! How about you? Let's get honest.
Okay, honest?? Thats what you ask? Well ok......
ReplyDeleteHonestly, when I first heard about the promises of God I was amazed. I had been a christian for several years. I was amazed that for all the years no one ever told me that I had promises from God. So like any good "word of faith" would tell me I got my list out and began to quote...... That went on for years. At some point the promises of God started to become a long laundry list of exactly what I didnt have. Evidence, even, of fruit I did not bear. An Embarrasement.
One year I committed to going to Tulsa to the Because of Jesus Bible study...
I could see Connie really had a revelation of this "righteousness" thing. I could see she really believed. She got it.
I began to talk with God. "okay, so what if its true?" "God, what if I am righteous, just because you say so?"
That simple dialouge began the change of my life....
Susan,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! I love that you went to God and asked Him yourself. He is the one Who truly gives us revelation and understanding and sets our hearts free. I'm so glad you are becoming more established in your righteousness in Him.
Actually, you can't ask god anything, because he is not actually real. When you pray to god, you are in fact just thinking to yourself in your own mind. And when god heals your, it is actually your bodies' immune system.
ReplyDelete