Righteousness.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Who can be righteous? We can. But not by anything we have done. Jeremiah prophesied 600 years before Jesus was born that God would raise up a ‘righteous branch’. It is through THIS branch that we, too are made righteous.

God made it clear that He doesn’t want anyone to spend eternity in torment. But God, being holy and just, cannot allow anything that is NOT holy and just into His presence. So, He sent Jesus, the Righteous One. Paul will explain in Romans that it is nothing we can do. But if we seek Christ with all our hearts-that is, we are SO intent on Him that our desire is akin to being starving and thirsty, almost an overwhelming physical need, that He will reveal Himself and God will forgive those lawless deeds. And like Christ-BECAUSE of Christ-our sins are forgiven and we shall be deemed ‘righteous’. Our thirst and hunger have been satisfied, not by anything we did, but accepting the totality of the sacrifice of Christ for us.

Scripture:
James 5:16
Proverbs 16:29
Philippians 1:27, 3:9
Jeremiah 23:5, 33:14-16
Romans 4:4-8

Prayer: Father, I want to be filled with the righteousness of Christ. I accept in Him the completion of His work on the cross, my sins put away and now, in purity and righteousness, stand before You. As I go further in my life, I ask that You keep this thought firmly in my mind: that I should strive to be able to show myself worthy, to be holy, because You are holy.