EPISODE 98: BE RIGHTEOUS
BE IN THE WORD (This Week’s Verses):
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:11)
But he was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The punishment that brought us peace was on him, And by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
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! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. (Romans 4:20-25, MSG)
BE EDUCATED (Additional Resources):
- The Teleological Exegetical Principal and Old Testament Violence by Dr. Greg Boyd discusses a principal which stipulates that, all other things being equal, we should always interpret the beginning of any divine program from its end (telos).
- Is God to Blame? This is often the question that comes to mind when we confront real suffering in our own lives or in the lives of those we love. Pastor Gregory A. Boyd helps us deal with this question honestly and biblically, while avoiding glib answers.
- Right or Righteous? by Fred Faller. Righteousness is not only living up to a moral standard, but about being in right relationship with others and God.
- How We Do What We Do: A Vocation of Righteousness to God from The Practice. What if not only what you do, but how you do what you do actually mattered to God?
- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. In this classic, C.S. Lewis, explores the common ground upon which all of those of Christian faith stand together.
BE DOERS, NOT JUST HEARERS (Practical Application):
- Write down three relationships, maybe the three most complicated or difficult for you. Go through each relationship and right down how your right (or misaligned) relationship with God has affected these relationships.
- Commit to right relationships. Talk to an accountability partner and ask for their prayer as you seek to be intentional in righteousness.
And here’s the Right Relationship recap Amber had in this episode!
When we step out of right relationship with others, it is an indication that we have stepped out of right relationship with the father.
When you strive to find our identity in what you do remember your right relationship is one who is a royal daughter. (1Peter 2:9)
When you hold back out of fear of rejection remember your right relationship is one who is accepted and beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)
When you feel cast out and abandoned remember your right relationship is one who is adopted into the family of God. (Ephesians 1:5)
When you feel completely alone remember your right relationship is one who will never be forsaken. (Hebrews 13:5)
When you feel like a total screw up that can’t do anything right remember that your right relationship is one who was created to do good works. (Ephesians 2:10)
When you are circling the same mountain, the same sin that has kept you in bondage for years, remember that your right relationship is one who is free. (John 8:36).
This is why in Ephesians 6:14 (The Armor of God) the armor that covers our heart and all our vital organs is righteousness. Being in right relationship with God is EVERYTHING.
Righteousness takes TRUST. Trust that God will set us right.
Righteousness means trusting that, even though we feel hopeless, God will shape us into the puzzle piece that fits as it ought to with Him and, consequently, with others.