Righteousness is Not Diminished When We Are Angry

Here's a powerful thought.

It's OK to be angry, and to be angry, or to get angry, does not diminish your rightoeusness or your right standing before God.

Jesus got angry:

"And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other." (Mark 3:5)

This verse contains the one time where Jesus is described as angry. Not even when he was turning over the tables and chasing out the merchandise of animals in the Temple do we find a record of Jesus being angry. God gets angry when people put the law ahead of grace, when people are hard and reject grace.

Paul informs us that it is OK to get angry, too:

"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath" (Ephesians 4:26)

Righteousness is a gift that we receive and keep receiving from the LORD (Romans 5:17). Because it is a gift, the reception of His righteousness into our lives does not depend on how we feel. We can be mad, sad, angry, enraged, full of wrath, full of sorrow, but every time we need to know that our righteousness is not removed from us.

This is a great revelation, and this revelation should grant great authority and opportunity to everyone who sees injustice and wants to do something about it.

It's Not About Me--It's About Him, and He's Thinking About Me

 When I was in middle school, and I was trying to get a better handle on this "Christian Life" thing, I asked my mother: "Should I be thinking about God? How often should I be thinking about Him? What is supposed to be my main focus?"

This seemed like a really big demand for me.

My mother did not give a great answer, but the larger issue is that I was looking to her for answers, instead of resting and receiving comfort and power in God's Word.

Today, I realize that He is thinking about me! He is thinking about each of us!

My goodness, He was thinking of all of us, even when we did not care about Him one bit!

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

God loved you and me, even when we did not know that He existed, or we did not care that He cared for us.

What makes anyone of us think that He stops caring about us, thinking about us, watching out for us just because we are saved? It's completely madness to think that He cares for us less, or that He starts demanding certain things from us now, when He gave His best, His Only begotten Son, when we were at our worst:

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?: (Romans 8:32)

We are called to live by faith, receiving from Him. God does not come or go in my life because of what I am thinking of feeling. The fulness of His life is something that I am invited to receive--and keep receiving!

"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)

He is thinking about me all the time! He is watchinng out for us, and He is caring for us! It's not about me thinking about Him:

"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:17)

All this time, I was under such strain. I was so desperate to be a "good boy" in my mind, my thoughts, y actions. I simply had no idea how independently alive and active the LORD is. What was I thinking, that I had to create these ridiculous rules, demands, hardships for myself. Unreal!

Thank you, Jesus for setting me free. In this Year of Time and Space, you have accelerated my restoration and revelation of You, and I am freer now than I had ever been before. Thank you, JESUS!

Can't Stop Writing About New Freedom in Established Identity

 For the longest time, I was convinced that who I am was all dependent on what I was thinking. How insane is that?

If I was feeling bad, it meant that God was getting crowded out of my life, and therefore I had to do something about those bad feelings, those bad thoughts.

Yet my identity in Christ has nothing to do with what I am thinking or feeling. It has everything to do with Christ Jesus has done and is doing still for me.

I understand what it means to be at rest in Christ Jesus. His love is real, His presence is real, and His goodness for me is never-ending. I do not have to wonder if He is present and real to me, no matter what I am thinking or feeling.

For the longest time, I was so busy trying to keep my thoughts and feelings in check. I did not realize how real God is, and that my loving Father is still with me, and there is no way that He is going to leave me or go away from me just because I think or feel a certain way.

I know that I am belaboring this point, but it has been really powerful for me. I have learned to distinguish who I am apart from my thoughts and feelings. It's all about God's Word, and it's all about God's Work at the Cross.

It does not matter how I feel. All this time, I kept thinking that I had to make sure that I did not have thosed bad thoughts, those negative feelings in my head in order for God to work in me and through me. How painful, how frustrating all of that was! It was really difficult.

Today, this is not the challenge that it used to be. Why? Because God is real, present, corporal to me, all by faith. Faith is not fantasy. It is the recognition of the truth, apart from our limited five senses. Indeed, we walk by faith, not by sight.

This is a great revelation for me, and I am so grateful to the LORD JESUS for all that He has accomplished and is continuing to accomplish for me. Amen!

Lord Jesus, Thank you so much for showing me how real, how prevalent, how present You are to me! All this time, I was so busy trying to make sure that I was always thinking the right thoughts, the right feelings. My goodness, no wonder I faced such torture, such pain, such anguish.

Thank you, Jesus, for setting me free!

Can't Stop Writing About the Freedom in Righteousness

 This the Year of Time and Space.

It may have seemed that for many people, this year has been wasted.

For my part, I can tell you that all has worked for good. For my good! (Romans 8:28)

This year has allowed me to see more of Jesus, to understand how real He is.

This year, I walked out of a church that refused to stand up to the Governor's abusive, unlawful orders, and I ended up in a church which refused to be bullied, kowtowed by the lawlessness.

I am running for State Assembly, and the election season is kicking off into full swing.

Because the year pretty much grinded everything to a halt, there was so much evil the world that had to stop, as well. The natural cycles and themes of God's natural world were restored once again.

This was a time that forced people to walk by faith, in that we had to go forward one step at a time, not having the full knowledge of what could happen.

The Year of Time and Space is a year in which God brought many people in the Body of Christ to new heights, to greater revelation, to broader spaces.

This time of slow-down forced me to look into God's Word more than ever before. There were compulsive behaviors that God was able to remove from my life during this so-called pandemic. Because of the slowdown and shutdown of public gatherings, many pastors and church leaders brought their ministries online, and now they are reaching untold millions around the world with the Good News, the Gospel of Grace!

AMEN!

One of my points of greatest struggle was that I would get angry, I would get embittered very easily. I used to think that all the wrongs which people had perpetrated against me, would mean  that those harsh memories would be able to bother me any time. It was such a strain for me, and I spent so much time trying to stem and tame this struggle inside my head.

Now I understand that His righteousness rests within me, a golden offering that will never leave me, never be shaken out of me:

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." (2 Corinthians 4:7)

And this righteousness cannot be taken away from me, even if I sin:

"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." (Proverbs 24:16)

The rightoeus man does sin from time to time, but he is established.

As we keep receiving the gift of righteousness, the abundance of grace, and as we keep seeing the LORD in the Word, we are transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). We grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord, and His grace is all the more manifested to us (2 Peter 3:18).

The biggest change that has happened for me, though, is that I see how real, relevant, prevalent God is. I am no longer wondering if He is on my side. I know that He is for me, because I have been made the righteousess of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The stumbling block for me was that I struggled to understand that righteousness is a gift, and that is not dependent on my actions or my feelings. I confused that issue, and then combine that with the lie that the LORD comes and goes depending on how you feel or what you think, and well, there you have the perfect recipe for confusion, pain, anguish, torture, and loss.

Thank you, Jesus, that I am free from all of this. This is indeed the Year of Time and Space. I am set free from all the wrong believing, the wrong ideas, that wrong things that I had learned. I am so grateful for the extended shutdown period which occured, because I have now learned so much more about what it means to reign in life, in Your Life!

Righteousness Has Nothing to Do With Feelings

Wow! Just plain wow!

I cannot believe this revelation has taken me this long to understand.

But hey, it just goes to show how important it is for us to believe the truth, and to be set free.

I have been the righteousness of God in Christ since the moment that I believed on Him. That was in 1994.

It was not until 2008 that I started to learn that I was made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). This revelation came to me through Joyce Meyer and her ministry. At that time, I was facing so many dark conflicts and problems in my life. I was trying to find full-time employment as a teacher, but I had walked off of two different jobs. It seemed that all was lost, and I had no idea how I was going to pay the rent, to get through the month, etc.

Then I started to learn that I am the righteousness of God in Christ.

With righteousness came all these other blessings. Wow!

I started claiming these blessings fully in my life. "You know what my needs are, Lord," I would often say when I was facing difficulties, or when I was worried about how I was going to get through the day.

It was really something that year, that I saw the LORD taking care of every need in my life. I had a new job, I was gainfully employed. I was well-received and favored by my coworkers, colleagues, etc.

But then a sense of strain, of condemnation overtook me. I felt that I had to take care of life on my own afterwards. The question began to nag me: "What happens after this? What is next?"

There was the growing sense about me that life was all about me, and that everything was all up to me. I did not understand that Christ Jesus is my life, and that He is providing all things for me.

It's the abundance of grace with the gift of righteousness that we reign in life (Romans 5:17). God wants us to receive and keep receiving. God was not present in my life if my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors were properly aligned. It's hard to reconcile this, but I had no idea that God was actively alive in my life. It;s crazy, but it seemed to me that I was rolling the dice every day, wondering whether God was for me or not.

This bondage brought me into such despair and fatigue. I was so tired, so empty, and I ended up walking off the job. That was the third full-time teaching job that I had been working ... and I quit. I had no idea what the future held for me. I had no idea where God was taking me, or what I would have to do or say or think to be in the right place at the right time.

It was really hard for me to trust the Lord at the time. I had had no training in the grace of God, in His unmerited favor workin in my life, and more importantly that He is my life (Colossians 3:4).

Because I did not have a strong enough knowledge of God's Word, and because I did not understand how alive, vibrant, and real God is, I ended up trusting in my feelings. I ended up falling into this notion that I had to think and feel a certain way to ensure that God's presence was ... present.

This, of course, created unprecendented problems. The fiery darts of the Enemy were firing away at me, and I would get caught up in these arguments all the time. Yet what does Paul counsel to the Corinthians?

"4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

"5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

"Imaginations" can also be rendered "arguments." God's Word answers every argument, Yet for years, I would argue with my head constantly, convinced that I had to get all the negative thoughts and feelings out of my head so that I could hear God clearly. What madness, but it was true.

That was the life that I was living.

TODAY, I am learning that this precious gift of righteousness is a rugged, rigid, right and ready standing that is not going away.

Now I understand what the prophet Isaiah shared:

"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)

TODAY, I am established in His righteousness. I know that nothing I am thinking, feeling, wondering, or worrying about is going to change that. I understand that I am not living this life in my own efforts anymore. Because of this perfect gift of righteousness, Christ is able to live in me and guide me. I do not have to wonder or guess whether He will be there for me or not. This life is no longer about second-guessing God, but knowing and believing in His love for me. 

This is just wonderful. This is peace. This righteousness, from Christ, to me, and it has nothing to do with my feelings.

Why He's Not Telling Me Where He Is Taking Me (Part Two)

 In the previous post, I shared that God often does not tell us where we are going, because He is more--in fact, MOST--interested in our trusting Him more.

I drew this revelation from a passage I have often studied, quoted, and shared with others: Mark 4: 35-41.

The disciples are on the sea, heading to the Gadarenes. Jesus has told them: "Let's cross over the other side." While they are rowing over, a great storm overtakes the ship, and the ship begins to take on water. The disciples, fearing the worse and fearing for their lives, wake up Jesus, was sound asleep in the bottom of the ship. He comes out and stills the storm with one word. Then shares the following:

"And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" (Mark 4:40)

Then:

"And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:41)

I have often found that phrase "they feared exceedingly" quite startling. They were afraid because of the boisterous storm and winds, plus the water pouring into the ship. But when Jesus answered, in fact OVER-answered their prayers, they were MORE afraid! How unfortunate! God always points out that passage to me, and shows that the disciples' biggest problem was not the storm, but their lack of faith.

Jesus told them where they were going! Jesus even stilled the storm for them, and yet instead of being calm, they were even more afraid. How terrible is that! God wants us know that we can trust Him, and trust Him fully. We have no reason to fear Him.

So, the first reason that God is not interested in telling us exactly where we are going? He wants us to trust Him, and telling us where we are going will not foster that trust.

There are other reasons why God does not tell us where we are going.

He wants us to depend on Him completely, not our own efforts, to get there.

Consider this wonderful type in Deuteronomy:

"When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.

"When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn." (Deuteronomy 23:24-25)

In this judgment, God invites the Israelites to eat as much of the grapes or the corn that they can eat there in the vineyard. They are not permitted, however, to harvest and save more for later. What's going on?

Jesus encouraged the Israelites during His earthly ministry to pray this prayer:

"Give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11)

Jesus did not say "this monthly bread" or "this yearly bread". What's going on here? Jesus needs us to see that He is our Bread, the Bread of Life (John 6:35)

God does not want us relying on our efforts. He wants us completely dependent on Himself. This has nothing to do with God being on some kind of ego trip, by the way. We were created from Him, and in Him alone we can live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:28)

Jesus is our life (Colossians 3:4), and therefore He wants us to rest in Him and receive from Him at all times. With this in mind, God does not necessarily tell us where we are going, because He wants us to let Him take us there.

Here's another example of His favor at work in our lives, if we allow Him to:

"19So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 21Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went." (John 6:19-21)

Again, the disciples were rowing on the sea, and they were trying to get to a specific destination. The winds were contrary to them, and for all the efforts, they were not able to get where they wanted to go. Then Jesus arrived on the sea, on the scene. He almost passed them by, but the disciples reacted to Him. He told them: "I am. Be not afraid."

Here, their response is quite different. They welcomed Him into their ship. They clearly saw Him above the winds, water, and waves, and yet He invited them to let Him into their ship.

Then check out the miracle that followed: "When they willingly received Him into their ship, they immediately got where they were going."

This is a miracle of time and space, too, and most readers miss it. They welcomed Jesus into their ship, and they right way, straightaway, no holding back got to where they were trying to get in their own efforts. In this year of Time and Space, we see that God is making up for lost time, and taking us over greater spaces in spite of outside limitations.

God showed me yet another reason why He does not necessarily tell us where He is taking us: it will take longer. If we let Him guide us, we will get where He wants us to go much quicker than if He told us where He was taking us, and we in turn relied on our efforts to get there.

And that's a tendency we have, isn't it? We know where the end point, the goal is, and we spend all of our time and energy getting to that place, arriving at that station in our lives. Yet all the while, we end up missing what, or rather Who life is about: Jesus.

And Jesus does not want us to miss out on Him:

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)

Jesus is our Life, as well as the Way and the Truth (John 14:6)

We don't need to focus on knowing where exactly He is taking us. He is most importantly in our knowing Him intimately and trusting Him fully to get us to a good place, no matter what the obstacles and difficulties which meet us along the way.

Why He's Not Telling Me Where He Is Taking Me

I just received this answer, this specific revelation this evening while eating dinner.

I was praying "Lord, where are we going? Where are you taking me?"

I heard Him respond: "You need to stop asking me that question. You are called to walk by faith, and that means that you are not going to get a specific answer as to the next specific location or vocation that I am guiding you to."

This calm rebuke was well-received from me ... finally.

Pastor Prince has shared that this year, Year 2020, is "The Year of Time and Space", and it's the year in which we allow God to take us to new heights in record time, but He will only allows us to see what is happening before us one step at a time.

He drew this direction from the LORD via the description of the side quarters next to Solomon's Temple:

"The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third." (1 Kings 6:8)

A winding staircase allows individuals to reach the maximum height of a building in the shortest amount of time, relying on the last amount of space. However, anyone traveling up a winding staircase can only see one step ahead of himself at a time. He is not going to have the complete, long view in front of him as he ascends the staircase.

So too, God is showing me that the next step of my life, of my walk with the LORD is not going to be clearly outlined for me in the long term. Besides, He has shown me that God is not interested in us knowing where we are going, but trusting Him who has pledged to get us there safely, in peace and prosperity. This revelation had become manifest to me when I was meditating on Mark 4. Jesus told His disciples that they were going to cross over to the other side of the sea. Then the winds grew strong and boisterous, and a great storm overtook the sea, enough that their ship started taking on water. The disciples panicked, shouted at Jesus, who was sound asleep at the time: "Master, don't you care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4: 38)

Jesus woke up, stilled the storm with one word, then rebuked His disciples. Instead of resting in calm gratitude, they were more afraid. 

God showed me that we need to know more than where we are going. We need to know, believe, trust in Him who is guiding us. In fact, knowing where we are headed is incidental, not essential, to our walk on this earth.

Consider Micah's exhortation:

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8)

Consider also Abraham's example, as recorded for us in the Book of Hebrews:

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." (Hebrews 11:8)

Most importantly, consider the question posed by the apostle Thomas , and how Jesus answered him:

"5Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:5-6)

Wherever we are headed, whatever may happen along the way, Jesus is the Way. We need to know Him. We need to know that He has us covered, from beginning to end, and that at the end of the journey, He will bring us to great blessing:

"4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." (Psalm 23:4-5)

and

"He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me." (Psalm 18:19)

I thank you, Jesus, that You have helped me to grow to trust You, to know that I do not have to know where I am headed, since where You are taking me, I know that it will be a grand and glorious place, in which I will prosper and be in health (3 John 2).

More Revelations About the Gift of Righteousness

 I have been reading, writing, meditating on the Gift of Righteousness and the Abundance of Grace (Romans 5:17)

Above all, I must not neglect the truth that Christ is my righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30), and that in Christ I have been made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This gift of righteousness is not dependent on how I feel, what I think, what is going through my mind.

It is a static, essential reality of who I am. It is my new identity. I am the righteousness of God in Christ!

This revelation is so simple, so commonplace, and yet for the longest time I was wrestling with bad thoughts, hard feelings, upsetting situations from my life. Harsh but true, I had been treating righteousness as something that had to be felt, to be held onto in my mind.

I did not realize that it is all about resting in His Finished Work now, since He has indeed finished the work:

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12)

This faith is all about our righteousness before God in Christ, because of the work which Christ Jesus acconplished at the Cross.

"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4:11)

We rest from our works, in that we are not trying to do something to earn or maintain our righteousness before God. Christ is our righteosness, not we ourselves.

Yet, for so many years, since 2008, when I started learning that I am the righteousness of God in Christ (thank you, Joyce Meyer!), I was trapped in my mind, with my feelings. I was constantly convinced that I had to make sure that I was not feeling bad or fearful. Also, I was confused, and I struggled to understand how I was still righteous even when I sinned. That created so much confusion and ultimately bondage in my life.

Righteousness is my true and unchanging location. I cannot be removed from this status of righteousness. My feelings do not make God go away, and my righteousness cannot suddenly be removed just because of how I feel or what I think.

All the bad memories, bad thoughts, fiery darts have no effect on me now. This is just incredible!

This verse makes all the more sense to me know than before:

"4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

What is the obedience of Christ?

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Romans 5:19)

Where did I find that I was facing so many struggles? Righteousness is not based on my actions at all, or on my feelings, for that matter. All of that is irrelevant. I am righteous because of what Christ Jesus has done at the Cross, and what He is still doing at the right hand of our Father in heaven.

I may fail, fall, stumble, or sin during my walk on this earth, but ...

"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:" (Proverbs 24:16)

The other thing that I did not understand was "How do I live this life?"

But I am not living this life!

"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2:20-21)

God is alive. He is my life. He is not some figment of my imagination. He does not come or go just because I feel bad or get angry. He does not leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).

This gift of righteousness is something that my loving Father invites me to receive--and to keep receiving--because of His Beloved Son JESUS!

There is not one thing in this world that can separate me from Him, and there is nothing that can negate or undermine my righteous standing in Christ Jesus! AMEN!