Divine Approval
Several years ago, we decided to drive through a wild animal park in Oklahoma on one of our family vacations. My daughter, Alicia, was sitting in the front passenger seat. My wife, Trina, and my son, Aaron, were sitting in the back seat. As we drove, we purchased some small buckets of feed to give the animals.
At first, all we saw were deer. We fed the deer and they were nice and cute. Then, a llama came strolling up on Alicia's side of the van. He scared her so much that she quickly rolled up her window. I laughed and said, "I'm not afraid of a llama." The llama must have heard me say that because immediately, he came to my side of the van. I began to feed him out of my bucket. Suddenly, he forced his whole head in the window and ate out of my bucket, placing his entire head in my lap. Alicia and I began to laugh nervously. Then the llama pulled his head out of the bucket and sneezed. Llama spit, snot, and slimy stuff went all over the front dash and on our clothes. It was nasty and had a terrible smell. I slapped the llama's head to get him out and rolled up the window, but the damage had been done.
We left the park and headed to the nearest store to get something to clean up the mess. We finally got the slime out, but the smell was more difficult. We could smell the llama sneeze during our whole vacation every time we got in the van. That smell stayed in the van for months. The llama was gone, but the smell was still there!
Sin and satan are the same way. When the devil gets his head in your life, he will not leave until he has sneezed on you and made a mess. Jesus died on the cross, He shed His blood, and arose from the dead to undo all that the devil has done in your life. Jesus became everything sin produced, and through the new birth, you receive everything righteousness produced. When the devil brings accusations to your mind, you need to say, "Don't talk to me. Talk to the blood. My faith is in Jesus’ blood."
Smith Wigglesworth said, "There is not one thing in me the blood does not cleanse." The blood of Jesus not only cleanses all sin, it cleanses all unrighteousness. It removes the guilt and stain of sin and produces a righteousness consciousness.
If you minimize the significance of the gift of righteousness, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God and the substance of your faith. Ask God to give you more understanding on the gift of righteousness. Romans 1:16-17 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ… For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
Your faith will be strong in the light of a revelation of righteousness. You will walk free from the weight of the old system—a religious system, man's system. You will walk as a new creation in Christ, under God's system of righteousness based on Jesus blood. A lack of understanding or a misunderstanding about righteousness will hinder everything else in your Christian life. A right understanding and a revelation of what righteousness is and what it means will enhance everything else in your Christian life.
A righteousness consciousness will have these wonderful effects on our lives:
- It will free us from a sense of guilt and unworthiness (Rom. 8:1).
- It will free us from the frustration of struggling to be accepted by God (Ephesians 1:6).
- It will free us from the fear of the consequences of sin that are in the world (Romans 5:9; Isaiah 54:14).
- It will produce a sense of peace and security in our relationship with God and man (Romans 8:31; Isaiah 32:17).
- It will cause our whole being to swing over into harmony with God (Rom. 1:16, 5:1).
- It frees us from oppression and fear (Isaiah 54:14; Genesis 3:9,10).
- It frees us from a sense of inadequacy (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Here are three things to remember about righteousness:
- It is a free gift. You can't earn it or buy it (Romans 5:17).
- Righteousness deals with the sin problem (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:19).
- It is the divine nature of God and a spiritual force (Romans 8:10; Romans 6:18).
Even if we know some things about righteousness, we must confess and meditate on the scriptures. As our minds are renewed, we will receive more revelation that we are God's righteousness, which will free us from sin consciousness. You will also see amazing results in your prayer life (James 5:16). Your life will grow brighter, "The way of the righteous is like morning light that gets brighter and brighter till it is full day," Proverbs 4:18 (CEB).
DIVINE APPROVAL
This month we want to offer you our book and CD set, Divine Approval. We believe you will get more revelation on righteousness than ever before. Through the blood of Jesus, you have been made 100% righteous! Your faith cannot be any stronger than your revelation of righteousness. For your offering of $20 or more we will send you both the book and cd set that will feed your faith.
Thank you so much for your faithful monthly partnership. This summer we will be preaching in several campmeetings and conferences. The Word is growing and multiplying through the meetings, the book distribution, the television program, and all of our media outlets. Thank you for praying for us and for your generosity. We declare to you our partners, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:19.
In Christ,
Mark and Trina