Rhapsody of Realities Daily Devotional; Friday 10th May 2019 ;
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome DSc., DD ;
THE NATURE TO DO RIGHT ;
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them (Ezekiel 36:27).
Notice our opening verse again; the Lord didn’t say, “I will put my spirit within you and you’ll struggle to please me”; no! Rather, He said, “…I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes….”
There’s a force in you, an ability or nature that compels you to do what’s right and required of God as a way of life; it’s called righteousness. Being born again, you’ve been called to express and manifest the righteousness of God. That’s Christianity. We don’t struggle to do right. We’re born with the new nature of God to live right.
Some have never really understood the doctrine of righteousness as revealed in God’s Word, and that’s the reason they still struggle with sin. They don’t understand righteousness as nature, the divine element that causes us to act, talk and live right. You can decide you’re not going to do something that’s wrong and stand your ground because sin has no power over you. This is possible because God already made you righteous. Living right is the product of righteousness. The ability to do the right things can only flow naturally from a righteous spirit.
Some of your actions may still be imperfect, but that doesn’t in any way negate your nature as the righteousness of God in Christ. What you need is to keep growing and increasing in the knowledge of God. Keep learning and acting on God’s Word, and your life and actions will be in sync with His righteousness.
There’re those who say it’s human nature to do wrong; “to err is human,” they’d say. That’s the reason your human nature was replaced with the nature of righteousness when you were born again. The life inside you now is not the human life that’s subject to sin; it’s the God-life, and it’s sin-proof (Romans 6:14). You’re no longer subject to the limitations and imperfections of human nature. You’re now a partaker of the divine nature and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of God that created you (Colossians 3:10).
Live in this light—in the consciousness that you have the nature of God in you to do right, and live righteously unto God. Hallelujah!
PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for your righteousness in me, which produces in me the ability to do right and fulfill your will always. I produce fruits of righteousness, do the works of righteousness, and manifest your goodness to the world, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Romans 5:17
For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
John 5:1-30 & 1 Kings 4-6
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Mark 9:14-29 & Numbers 13