Tuesday Devotional

Tuesday, December 8 – Practicing Righteousness

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” (I John 3:7)

Now once you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior and let Him wash away all your sins, the Holy Spirit promises to help you to keep from sinning; there is no one alive who does not sin at times, but Jesus is working on our character until He calls us home. When we do sin we confess it and He promises to forgive us and cleanse us, just as He did when we first came to Him. But those who go on a path of sinning, and practice it as a way of life, the Bible says in I John 3:8 that they are of the devil. No Christian desires to ever have Christ regard him in that way. So how do we rid ourselves of the sin which can so easily entangle us and cause us to practice it, not just once, but often? First of all, if we practice righteousness, with the help of the Holy Spirit in us and with us, and God’s messengers, the angels surrounding us, we cannot practice sin at the same time. It is either or. Either we love others or we hate others. Either we get angry or we are patient. Either we live with the mind of Christ or we have the mind of the tempter. Either we manifest our actions by the gracious thoughts Jesus puts into our minds, or we harbor wicked thoughts. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) The old human nature has a bent to do wrong, to do things our way instead of God’s way. That is, unless it is corralled right from the outset. If our main intake concerns worldly things, that is how we will live our lives. On the other hand, if we daily feed on the Word of God He can do His work of changing us into the likeness of Christ. Then the actions of righteousness will naturally flow from us, just as a good tree bears good fruit, as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 7:16-20. We will have the ability to discern between evil and good, even when it’s dressed up in its fanciest clothes. Pray at all times in the Spirit so that He can guide you into all righteousness. Forgive others who may hurt you so that it cannot become a thorn in your flesh. When the thought of their unrighteous action comes up, try thinking of someone you may have hurt. Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to get on the path and stay on the path of right living. He promises to help you in all things. “…by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)

TODAY’S PRAYER: Dear heavenly Father, I need Your help each day to practice the righteousness of Christ. Thank you for loving me and forgiving me and providing for my salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read Chapters 1-5 of I John and write out your thoughts.__________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“We often reject the good that God offers us because, at that moment, we expected some other good.” – C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer