The Holy Spirit is Guiding Us, Even When It Seems Like a Set-Up

I announced to the public earlier this month that in October, 2018 I was convicted by a jury of two counts of PC 148(a)1, which speaks of a failure to follow the lawful order of a police officer, or to delay him from lawful duties.

For the next few weeks, I revisited the evening when I refused to comply with the unlawful order of the police officer in that city council meeting. I started wondering after the jury rendered its verdict: "Have I missed something? Did I make a mistake?"

Of course, throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, God's people face unjust trials and convictions many times.

Yet the LORD leads all of them out of those dark times into greater light, glory, freedom, and blessing--not just for themselves, either, but for others, too.

With all of this in mind, I found this passage in Genesis 37:

12And his [Joseph] brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

Here, we have a perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, sent by his Father to visit His Brethren, the Jewish people.

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not." (John 1:11)

Now here's the part which stands out about the Holy Spirit:

15And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 

This "Certain man" is not named, just like the servant who found a bride for Isaac (Genesis 24), and just like the servant who attended to Joseph's commands when he stood in Pharoah's stead (Genesis 40)

16And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

Throughout the Old Testament, any reference to an unnamed servant is a type of the Holy Spirit. He helps the types who represent Jesus, and as an unnamed servant, he does not draw attention to himself:

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (John 16:13)

So, here we have an unnamed person telling Joseph to find his brothers in a clear location.

This man guided Joseph to his bitter, envious brothers, who sold him into slavery, then lied to their father to make him believe that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

It would seem that the Holy Spirit, or in the case of the above account the unnamed man, lead Joseph into a trap.

In truth, we all know that this guidance, this direction led to Joseph's massive promotion and glory.

When Joseph later revealed himself to his brothers in Egypt, he comforted them:

"Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life." (Genesis 45:5)

and also

"And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." (Genesis 45:7)

Even when the brothers once again attempt to deceive Joseph, fearing that he would turn on them after their father Jacob died, Joseph would say to them:

"19And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 20But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 21Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them." (Genesis 50:19-21)

When the outcomes seem dire or doomed, and yet you were guided by the Holy Spirit and His peace (Colossians 3:15), just bear in mind that the Holy Spirit is indeed setting you up--setting you up to succeed!

Righteousness is Where We Are, Regardless of The Attacks

I was meditating on this revelation today.

For the longest time, I would work so hard to ignore or undo bad thoughts, bad feelings, bad memories.

If I remembered something that made me mad, angry, or I felt upset that some event or circumstances transpired a way that I wish had not happened, I would feel so bad that I was remembering that sentiment again.

Then I learned about what it means to be established in righteousness. This status we have in Christ Jesus cannot be asailed, no matter what happens to us, what happens around us.

"In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee." (Isaiah 54:14)

We are established in His righteousness (Isaiah 54:17)

In fact, we are made the righteousness of God in Christ!

IN HIM!

That's where we are today, and all the blessings that come upon the righteous, come upon us because of Jesus.

I started to realize more and more that it didn't matter what I was feeling, what I was thinking, where I was going, or what was happening to me.

I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21).

That's where I am, and that's where I shall rest and remain blessed, no matter what happens to me.

With that, I both know and believe that I am defended, protected, prepared to be overcome, no matter what attacks may come my way!

I Need God's Favor Even Where I am Familiar

This Monday, I returned from an extended weekend stay in Arizona.

It's a great place, not as desert-y as I had feared.

It's really nice!

There is a great deal of desert, sure, but I saw so many homes with their own set of greenery. Phoenix, Arizona is a huge city. It takes 30 minutes on a major freeway to get from one of the city to another city.

And that's if there is no traffic to contend with!

I noticed that I meditated on God's Word a great deal. It seemed like every moment of the day, I was chewing, muttering, marinating in one or many sets of Scriptures.

It was a very fulfilling time that I shared with friends and fellow patriots there in the Phoenix area.

Then I came home, and I realized something:

What is preventing me from meditating at length here in my own home town, my own city? What has been holding me back from thinking that I do not need to ask for God's favor here in the place where I live, where I have called home for the last three decades?

For a long time, when by myself or walking about boldly yet singly in public, I would think out loud, let my mind wander and wonder onto so many topics.

I never really got settled. It was so easy to get upset about past slights or future fears. After five days of staying at someone else's home in another state, after the habit of repeating and meditating on God's Word in different passages, I found that my mind was clearer, and opportunities began to appear in great number.

I can ask for God's favor and receive His grace for every day. Why was I not doing that when back at home in the South Bay?

Just because I know the South Bay, just because I have lived in Torrance for the greater part of my life, that does not mean that I do not need God's grace, His favor for facing different challenges and issues from day to day, or from hour to hour.

I need His grace, I desire His favor wherever I go, whatever I do.

The five day excursion in Arizona really opened my mind, my heart to seeing more of Jesus and receiving more of his abundant gifts of righteousness and grace (Romans 5:17).

I want my loving Daddy God to surprise me every day. For the last four days back home, I have found myself really appreciating everything that I have lived in, that I have enjoyed for this great length of time.

What can I say? I need God's favor even in places with which I have been so familiar all of these years. Yes, I may know that so many things close to me are relatively the same, but who knows what may happen upon me when I trust His favor?

I want to get into the habit now more than ever, just as Ruth did when she joined with Israel:

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter." (Ruth 2:2)

Ruth landed in the perfect field:

"And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech." (Ruth 2:3)

She trusted in God's favor. She believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same God who sent His Son to die on the Cross for us, to grant us His rightoeusness, His life, and His standing.

In the same way that Ruth trusted God's favor and found herself not just by chance, but by "her hap", in not just a good field, but the field belonging to her Kinsman-Redeemer.

Let's not hold back God from blessing us beyond what we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Let's ask God to continue to show us through His Son how much He loves us! (Ephesians 3: 17-19).

Established in Righteousness: What Does That Mean?

What does it mean to be established in righteousness?

It means that righteousness, our righteous standing, is a fixed truth, something that is part of who we are.

Righteousness defines who we are, and it is not something that can be taken away by any circumstance or feeling. This status of being righteous, being righteousness, before God the Father in Christ Jesus.

One preacher shared:

"Jesus did not just take our sin. He became sin."

Why is that distinction so important? If someone takes something from you, they can give it back to you at some other time. If someone becomes something that belongs to you, that object, that "thing" if you will can never be returned to you.

How about that?

Consider what Paul the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians in his Second Epistle:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus became sin, and He bore our sins in His body (1 Peter 2:24).

We became the righteousness of God in Him!

We become, we are made a new creature in Christ Jesus! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

For a long time, I meditated on righteousness as something that is outside of me, i.e. something that I receive and keep receiving, certainly, but something that as a status comes from outside to within me. (Romans 5:17).

However, Isaiah prophesies "In righteousness you shall be established."

If the only way that righteousness enters us is through receiving and receiving again, then we are not established in it.

But we are established in His righteousness today, because Jesus accomplished the Great Exchange at the Cross.

This righteousness, and all the blessings attached to it, having nothing to do with our circumstances or other outcomes around us.

Our standing before God in Christ Jesus has nothing to do with us at all!

Righteousness is a gift:

"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17)

It's a gift, and we need to be conscious of this incredible gift, that we keep on receiving it, even when we fail, when we fall, when we flip out or fess up to wrongdoing of any kind.

This Gift of Righteousness defines who we are in Christ Jesus!

"[H]e that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous." (1 John 3:7)

To do righteousness, within the context of this passage, is to seek the Blood of Jesus to establish us from all sin and in His righteousness, i.e. to believe on Him!

Then what follows:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)

Christ Jesus is made our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30)

For a long time, however, I was not fully established in this. I was still worried that I would be punished for my sins in some fashion--In that regard, I was not established in His righteousness.

There were tough times, when it seemed that nothing was going right, and I would yell at God, wondering why He wasn't doing anything -- at least, so it seemed. I was not established in righteousness then because I was still evaluating my position based on my circumstances.

"How could I be in this difficulty now? I thought I was passed this!"

When I realized that all of my sins have been forgiven, put away, and that no matter what is happening at that moment, I am still righteous before God, everything in my life just changed without any trouble.

This status of being the righteousness of God in Christ had been in place with me ever since I believed in Jesus and made him Lord and Savior of my life, because He became my life. Gosh, there is so much about our inheritance through Christ Jesus that we have to learn.

There is so much that I had to unlearn, too.

I was the righteousness of God in Christ when I was working at the grocery store. I was the rightoeusness of God in Christ when I was a teacher in different classrooms all over Los Angeles County.

I was the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus when I was 13 years old and claimed Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Even then, as a young boy almost out of Seventh Grade.

I was the rightoeusness of God in Christ Jesus when my mother left me at the Torrance airport.

I was the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, with perfect standing and honor before my Daddy God when I was arrested in Huntington Park, California ... for no good reason.

I was the righteousness of God in Christ when I failed student teaching the first time.

I have not only been the righteousness of God in Christ, but I have been a long-standing heir of so many promises in Christ Jesus, because ...

"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:17)

And the sufferings?

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

They are a mere nothing.

No matter what the sufferings may be, I am the righteousness of God in Christ.

And THAT is what it means to be established in righteousness! (Isaiah 54:14)