"From Faith To Faith" by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland is one of my favorite devotionals! Here is the one from today!
You Are
Righteous
...not having mine own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. Philippians 3:9
I don't care how badly you may have messed things
up yesterday or how many mistakes you have made, I want you to begin this day
knowing you are righteous! Not because of anything you've done but because you've received,
by faith in Jesus, the very righteousness of God.
Just look at the kinds of benefits the Word of
God says that righteousness will bring:
"The righteous shall flourish like the
palm tree" (Psalm 92:12).
"When it goes well with the righteous,
the city rejoices" (Proverbs 11:10).
"The seed of the righteous shall be
delivered" (Proverbs 11:21).
"For the eyes of the Lord are over the
righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers" (1 Peter 3:12).
"For thou, Lord, wilt bless the
righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield"
(Psalms 5:12).
"The righteous cry, and the Lord hears,
and delivers them out of all their troubles" (Psalms 34:17).
"I have been young, and now am old; yet
have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread"
(Psalms 37:25).
"The righteous shall inherit the land,
and dwell therein for ever" (Psalms 37:29).
"The Lord loves the righteous"
(Psalms 146:8).
Don't let the devil rob you of even one of
these blessings by telling you you're unworthy of them. Run him off. Shout out
loud, "I am the righteousness of God!" Then step out in faith and
enjoy the privileges God has prepared for you!
TRUTH! So many believers are out there preaching a 'gospel' of 'perfection' in order to be pleasing to God. This is just NOT so! At the very moment of our New Birth, our previously 'dead' human spirits were recreated in the image of God Himself! We went from being sinners to being SAINTS in the eyes of God! Our spirits are now perfectly in HIS image! Pure, without sin and FREE! Our bodies WILL BE that same way at the Catching away of the Church, in an instant! Our souls, however, are a completely different story! They MUST be renewed every single day with the Word of God and by the Spirit of God! Our #1 priority, according to JESUS, is NOT to try and clean up our lives, but to be faithful to DO Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27:
27 And he replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. AMP
When we do THIS, Holy Spirit is free to continue working His GOOD WORK in us, which will cause us to line up, more and more, with the behavior that looks, sounds and acts like JESUS! It will NOT happen any other way! Refuse to be intimidated, discouraged, pressured or manipulated into changing the emphasis that JESUS gave us to an emphasis on the flesh and our own strength and ability! Remember, NOTHING can separate the born again believer from the LOVE of God (Romans 8:35-39)! His LOVE, working in us, is all that is necessary to break every bad habit and to develop new, good ones! Here to encourage you in this is Hillsong Worship with "Behold (Then Sings My Soul ):
Shalom in Him!