We Will Be Made Righteous

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For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience, the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19 (ESV)

All Christian believers know the story of Adam and Eve. God created them perfect to oversee His beautiful Garden of Eden. God gave then permission to partake of the fruit of all the trees in that garden, save one.

This garden had trees that bore fruit throughout the year. They had enough to sustain them. However, a serpent also lived in the garden. This serpent beguiled Eve into taking a bite out of the fruit of the forbidden tree. She chose to share the fruit with Adam.

When God came looking for them at evening, they hid because they realized they were naked. When God asked where they were, Adam told Him, “We hid from You because we were naked.”

When God heard this, He knew what Adam and Eve had done. They sinned against God. They disobeyed Him. He banished them from the garden. They had to work hard for whatever they needed or wanted.

God entered the world as a baby. Jesus came to teach the people about God and His ways. Jesus told His Disciples that He would be killed. They didn’t know what to think. He promised them a helper, the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus came to Jerusalem that last time. He yielded to God’s will as he prayed in Gethsemane. When He hung on the cross, He took the sins of the world into his body. In doing this, Jesus Christ allowed the people, then and now, to become righteous. That righteousness extends to you and me.

How can we convey the message that because of Jesus’ obedience at Calvary we are deemed righteous in God’s eyes?

Learning Obedience

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Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Hebrews 5:8 (ESV)

Jesus suffered on the cross for you and for me. He endured agony the degree of which we will never have to undergo.

At any time prior to Gethsemane, he could have turned away and not have done as God had planned. However, in the garden, He prayed three times, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus chose to obey His Father, went through a trial that was based on false accusations. Because of His obedience to God, you and I have hope that one day The Father will take us to heaven to be with Jesus.

Our Lord Jesus learned obedience by praying and listening to God, His Father. How do we learn obedience in today’s world?

Jesus modeled obedience before the people by giving up His will for God’s plan. He let God’s plan work out. How can we, as Christians, convey our obedience to God to those around us? 

The Choice We Have

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:16 (ESV)

The Apostle Paul pens these words to the believers at Rome. What he says to them, he also says to us.

We have a choice as to how we align our lives. We can choose to be obedient to our sinful nature and have a life of constant upheaval or we can decide to follow God and gain righteousness.

God gives us free will to decide what we want to do. When we choose to live our lives without Him, we open ourselves up to many difficulties-health issues, relationship problems, and financial concerns.

We can live for the world or we can live for the LORD. While living for the LORD may not always seem easy, if we obey God and His word, He works out those difficult circumstances as He intends.

Sometimes, we have to abide what He tells us and seek new ways to serve Him. As age and infirmity can change our activities and our work for Him. He leads us down different paths that He chooses for us.

As I initially typed these words, the hymn, “Trust and Obey” came into my mind.  These words are especially comforting:

“When we do his good will, he abides with us still. And with all who trust and obey.”

Lord Jesus: Thank You for Your guidance. Thank You for abiding with us. Help us. Your children to always be obedient and to follow your direction as we live for You.
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Trust and Obey, James H. Samiss, Daniel B. Towner found in Hymns for the Family of God number 454.

Trust and Obey

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And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV)

All of us who have been Christians for a lengthy period of time have heard the hymn, Trust and Obey. At church, we recently had a layman speak on Obedience. He uses the title of that hymn as a personal motto for his life.

My word for 2018 has been obedience. I found I made the right choice when I started my reading program for the year. Every book, I read touched on the idea that our growth in the LORD stemmed from our obedience.

Due to some health issues, I no longer am able to do as I once did in working for the LORD. However, I feel I have grown in my Christian walk because of this regrouping of my activities.

When we learn obedience to the LORD, we seem to have a better understanding of what we see going on around us in our neighborhoods and even in our world. We are not as nervous and we appear calmer to others when unusual events or conditions enter our lives or the lives of our loved ones.

How can we learn obedience? We learn it through the grace of praying and listening to what God tells us. Reading our Bibles and reading a good devotional book give us the guidance we need to learn what we can do to become more like Jesus.

More About Jesus Would I Know

More about Jesus would I know, More of His grace to others show;

More of His saving fullness see, More of His who died for me.

More, more about Jesus, More, more about Jesus;

More of His saving fullness see, More of His love who died for me.

__________________

More About Jesus Would I Know, Eliza E. Hewitt, John R. Sweney found in Hymns for the Family of God number 477.

When We Are Confused

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For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. James 3:16-17 (KJV)

James says some piercing things here. He mentions envying and strife Envy is a discontented feeling in the selfish heart, in view of the superiority of another, nearly tantamount to jealousy. ⁽¹⁾

Strife is quarreling or contention among people.

Confusion: a lack of understanding or unsureness, doubt, ignorance. ⁽²)     

          

Wisdom: an attribute of God, wisdom is intimately related to the divine knowledge, manifesting itself in the selection of the proper ends with the proper means for their accomplishment. ⁽³⁾

Pure: virtuous or godly.

Peaceable: possessing a restored relationship with God. ⁽³⁾

Gentle: kindly, humble.

As children of God, we should seek God’s wisdom and peace even when we face those who cause strife for us. Some of those who are guilty of hurting us act in ways that distress us because they are under the influence of the enemy, of things that control their minds and their bodies.

In spite of how those hurting us, we need to learn to seek His mercy for them and for us and display the good fruit He has implanted into our hearts. This may sound difficult, however, Jesus stands by our side when our detractors attempt to cause us to lower our defenses.

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1. New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Moody Press, Chicago, © 1988 page 364

2. google search 8.28.2018

3. Unger’s page 1369

4. Ibid.

God’s Will

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nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Matthew 26:39 (ESV)

“I prayed for God to heal him. Why didn’t He answer my prayers?”

“Why did God have to take her from her family?” I asked these questions when He took someone in my extended family.

The first time came after my uncle passed from this earth. I was angry that God had not done as I asked. Later, a co-worker and friend said something to me about God’s will. I found myself opening my heart to her. “I won’t pray for His will ever again. He let my uncle die.” Her response has stayed with me these four decades.  “God’s will gets done no matter what we want. He is sovereign.”

The second time I felt discouraged was when God took my husband’s niece. She was older than we were. She had granddaughters who needed her guidance. I had prayed for her as I sat in the hospital ICU room. I drove her daughter down to the hospital in Indianapolis twice- once when she was life-lined there. And again, in the wee hours of the next morning. I held onto hope when the doctors said there was none.

A few weeks after her service, my husband and I stopped at a neighborhood convenience store. He went in to get something. As I sat in the car, a young man from our church exited the store. He came over to my car and spoke to me. He asked how I was doing. I told him what had happened and that I was emotionally down and why I felt that way. His response also has stayed with me since then. “God may have done what was best for her.”

I learned a lot about God’s will from these conversations. The biggest lesson is that when we pray for God’s will, we can’t tell Him what that is. We can only request that our wish is heard.

September Doings

I haven't been very ambitious this week. I felt I had to cancel a speaking engagement. I did this because Hubby gave me a scare with his health. Nothing has come of what he experienced Sunday, Monday, and even Tuesday.

I have some pictures to share with you of things going on around here this month.


Our luncheon group expanded this month. We had four with us who weren't there at the end of July.
That's me in the pink, the third one from the right We hope to have a reunion of all who attended our old, now closed church. The wife of one of the pastors who was there before I was, sounded like she would like to come from out of state to see everyone. Others who work have expressed an interest.

These two are daughters of some of our peers. The woman in the tank top had to leave early. The other woman recently was discharged from a rehab center for injuries when she got hit by a car.

These are two wreaths I made. The larger one is on my front door. The smaller one was too small for the door, so I gave it to a friend for her mother's room at an assisted living facility.

I saved the best for last. These are impatiens growing up through rocks in our rock garden. We had some hanging baskets out there one of which was impatiens. We think the flowers dropped seeds and God took over.

We hang the baskets on the stand at the right in this picture. When I spoke at a local nursing home recently, I told them about this. One of the women was impressed to hear what God had done.

Peace and Blessings to you all.