True Righteousness
God is righteous. Psalms 145:17 (NKJV) says, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.” Righteous means just and right in conduct. God is righteous and just in all He thinks, says, and does. He’s right in ALL His ways.
The Bible says that if we say we abide in Him, we ought to walk just as He walked. (1 John 2:6) The first part of Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV) says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” If we want to be righteous and walk in the righteousness of God, the way He walked, we’ve got to think how God thinks.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV) gives us very important direction, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The perfect will of God is that we would walk just as He walked. Look at Psalms 106:3 (NKJV), “Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does righteousness at all times!” It’s going to take the renewing of our minds in order to keep justice and to live righteously.
Righteousness, right doing, justice in word, thought and deed, matters to God. Psalms 5:12 (NKJV), “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.” Remember, in the Old Testament, the Lord delivered Noah and His whole family because Noah was a righteous man, who walked with God. (Gen. 6:9) Our blessing and the blessing of our family depends on whether or not we will walk in the righteousness of God. Remember back in the beginning chapters of the Book of Daniel where he and his three friends refused to defile themselves and walk unjustly while taken captive in Babylon? God delivered them from the hand of the enemy and from the fiery furnace meant to destroy them. The Bible is filled with examples like this, where righteousness is what saved someone’s life!
I love Matthew 5:6 (NKJV), “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” I want what God wants. I want to know how to live better. I want to know when I’m wrong. I want to know when I’m off course. I want to be correctable. If the church doors are open, I want to be there to be fed by the Word of God. Let me sit up front, let me get in line first, let me get full! I want what God wants! I’m hungry. I’m thirsting for righteousness. Because of this, I will be filled. And, being blessed, according to this scripture is being filled. Being filled means to have abundance, it means to be satisfied. This comes as we hunger for His righteousness. When we hunger to live right, when we hunger to walk in truth and justice, we will be filled in all areas of our lives.
In John 5:19 (NKJV), Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” This applies to us as children of God. Follow what the Father does. Walk in His true righteousness and be blessed. Amen?
Be Blessed,
Pastor Renée
