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THE NEW WAY OF LIVING Forgiveness, Watermelons, and The Good News By Larry Kreider AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS: "Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God....." (1 Corinthians 15:334a) Did you ever wake up on a holiday and find your alarm finging in the morning at its normal time? You wake up and tell yourself you have to go to work, then you realize, "This is a holiday! Oh, wow! I can sleep in! this is great!" You awake to the truth. The Bible says, "awake to righteousness." That's it! I can witness! I can be a man or woman of God! I can go to work and enjoy it in Jesus' Name! I can love my parents! I can raise a family for the Lord, regardless of my present circumstances! I can take a step of faith! I can be victorious! I am righteous through faith in Jesus Christ! Awake to the truth that God has given you the grace and the ability to do al these things. You may ask, "Is this a license to sin?" No, it's never a license to sin! When we awake to righteousness, we never want to sin. Some may say, "Wow, that sounds dangerous!" Let me illustrate. I once heard the story of a bozt that capsized. The boat was going down and a helicopter came flying into the area and dropped a rope. A man from the capsized boat held on to the tope and was pulled up into the helicopter. A second man also grabbed the rope and was pulled up. But the third man said, "Oh, don't do that! It's extremely dangerous to hang on to a rope tied to the bottom of a helicopter." Well, the man had a choice. He could either hang on to the rope and get into the helicpoter or lose his life. Either we trust God and receive His righteousness by faith instead of trusting in dead works, or die spiritually. That's how important this truth is. Righteousness through faith in Jesus is the only ways out. Again I would like to emphasize that righteousness through faith has nothing to do with the way we feel. It has only to do with the reality of the Word of God that is in our lives. Sometimes it takes time to see the results of living in righteousness by faith. It is like the parable of the Chinese bamboo plant. I was told that the first four years after you plant a Chinese bamboo, you see nothing happen. The fifth year, that plant grows 90 feet tall within six weeks! So, you plant your righteousness consciousness seeds and say, "Im righteous by faith in Jesus." You may not feel any different, but you keep saying it because you know it is true. You know that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. One day the Word of God is going to bear fruit in your life and it's going to grow and compeltely change your life. Don't be afraid to talk to yourself. I talk to myself all the time. The Bible says David talked to himself; he encouraged himself in the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6). David, in the book of Psalms, said one day, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His Holy Name.!" He was talking to himself. We should be doing the same thing. I encourage you to get up in the morning and say, "I am righteouss through faith in Jesus. I am a man (or woman) of God. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me today." QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: Read 1 Corinthians 15:34a. What does "awaking to righteousness" mean to you? How is your thinking changed? Is it a feeling? Is it positively necessary for the Christian life? Is this a license (permission) to sin? Explain. When we confess the Word of God to ourselves, what happens? How do we encourage ourselves in the faith? ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________
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