February
27, 2005
Their
Righteousness Is From Me
"And
Their righteousness is from Me" says the Lord. (1)
Righteousness
is doing what is right, the right thing. The Lord told Cain,
"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?"
(2) Righteousness is from God. (1) The law of God is righteous,
"All Your commandments are righteous." (3) Righteousness
is from God and is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness
by receiving Him.
"Not
by painful struggles or wearisome toil,-- is righteousness
obtained; but it is freely given to every soul who hungers
and thirsts to receive it. 'Ho, every one who thirsts, come
to the waters; and you who have no money; come, buy and eat,...
without money and without price.' (4)
"As
we need food to sustain our physical strength, so do we need
Christ, the Bread from heaven, to sustain spiritual life and
impart strength to work the works of God. As the body is continually
receiving the nourishment that sustains life and vigor, so
the soul must be constantly communing with Christ, submitting
to Him and depending wholly upon Him. As the weary traveler
seeks the spring in the desert and, finding it, quenches his
burning thirst, so will the Christian thirst for and obtain
the pure water of life, of which Christ is the fountain...
"Jesus
said, 'The water that I shall give him will become in him
a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.' (5)...
To Jesus, who emptied Himself for the salvation of lost humanity,
the Holy Spirit was given without measure. So it will be given
to every follower of Christ when the whole heart is surrendered
for His indwelling." (6)
"Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
shall be filled." (7)
1. Isaiah
54:17.
2. Genesis 4:7
3. Psalm 119:172.
4. Isaiah 55:1.
5. John 4:14
6. Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp., 18-21.
7. Matthew 5:6.
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