But what does being established in righteousness mean?

BE ESTABLISHED IN GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS

By Joseph Prince – Posted March 6, 2017

Isaiah 54:14

In righteousness, you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Have you ever asked yourself why some Christians are constantly beset with overwhelming challenges, sicknesses and defeat if God’s promise, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17), is true?

Well, this promise comes with a condition—“In righteousness you shall be established”. When you are established in righteousness, you will be far from oppression and terror, and not a single weapon formed against you will prosper!

This condition is not hard to meet. For a start, you already have righteousness! When you received Jesus as your Savior, you received the gift of righteousness which enables you to reign in life. (Romans 5:17) This righteousness does not come from you but the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17) And when you are established in His righteousness, no weapon formed against you will prosper.

But what does being established in righteousness mean? To be established in something is to have that something as your very foundation for security. So God wants you to know, be sure of and grow in the revelation that you are righteous by the blood of Jesus, by His perfect sacrifice at the cross.

When you feel as if you are in a storm, tossed here and there, and you begin to experience worry and fear, remind yourself of who you are in Christ. You are the righteousness of God in Christ and you have His righteousness!

As you do this, you will begin to notice the worry and fear slide off you, for when you are established in righteousness, “you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”! That is why God wants you to be established in righteousness. He wants you to be free from fear, and far from oppression and terror.

So when the pressure is on, hold fast to the belief that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. That is where no weapon formed against you can prosper. As you keep believing and confessing your righteousness in Christ, revelation will break forth and you will experience the release of God’s miraculous provision, divine protection and blessings into your life!

Thought For The Day

When you are established in His righteousness, no weapon formed against you will prosper!

Lay It on the Altar

By Joyce Meyer - Posted March 06, 2017

…God tested and proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. [God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you. 
—Genesis 22:1-2

Once the Lord said to me, "Joyce, do you love Me? If so, will you still love Me and serve Me even if I don't do everything just the way you want or just when you think I should?" At the time of the Lord's visitation, I had been asking God for a huge ministry. He also said, "Joyce, if I asked you to go down to the riverfront here in St. Louis and minister to fifty people for the rest of your life and never be known by anyone, would you do it?" My response was, "But, Lord, surely you can't really be asking me to do that!"

We always have such grandiose plans for ourselves. If God asks us to do something that isn't prominent, we aren't always sure we are hearing Him correctly or that it is His will for us! When God asked me those questions about my ministry, I felt the way I imagined Abraham must have felt when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac through whom He had promised to bless him and all nations of the earth (see Genesis 22).

It seemed God was asking me to give up the very work He had given me through which He blessed many others as well as me. But God wasn't asking me to give up that ministry. He was just asking me to lay it on the altar, just like Abraham laid Isaac on the altar before the Lord. 

We must not let anything—even our work for God—become more important to us than God Himself. To keep that from happening, from time to time God calls upon us to lay it all on the altar as proof of our love and commitment. He tests us by asking us to lay down our most treasured blessing as proof of our love for Him.

Remain

By Joel Osteen – Posted March 6, 2017

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."
John 15:7, NKJV

TODAY'S WORD:

In life, we all have ups and downs. There are seasons that are more difficult than others, seasons of testing, trials and temptation where our character is being developed and our faith in God is being strengthened. Sometimes it can feel like you are taking two steps forward and three steps back. If we’re not careful, we’ll start thinking that life is always going to be this way. Even in the strong seasons, you’ll start looking for things to go wrong. 

God doesn’t want us to live life like a roller coaster. He wants to bring us to a place of stability where we remain strong in Him. Jesus said, “I am the vine. You are the branches. If you abide in Me, you will bear much fruit and your fruit will remain.” The word “remain” means “to be fixed, immovable, not affected by circumstances.” If you will just keep abiding in Him, just keep meditating on His Word, He’ll bring you through. He’ll make you strong, He’ll keep you stable, and you’ll keep moving forward into the life of blessing He has prepared for you!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Father, today I set my heart and mind on You knowing that You are good and faithful. I trust that as I seek You and put You first, You will direct my steps. I choose to remain in You and follow Your leading in everything I do in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hidden Envy

By DR. David Jeremiah – Posted March 6, 2017

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:26

Recommended Reading: James 3:14-18

According to the journal Science Advances, researchers in Spain conducted a study of the personality types of 540 people and grouped them into four categories: optimistic, pessimistic, trusting, and envious. The first three groups represented sixty percent of the total, and another ten percent were impossible to define. The remainder, the largest single group, was made up of people whose personalities were dominated by envy, though they usually didn’t recognize it.

We all battle envy, of course, but we often don’t realize how much we’re motivated by silent contests with those around us. We quietly compete to get the upper hand, to be noticed, to have our way, and to feed our ego—all without realizing it.

The Bible’s medicine for the heart disease of envy is christly love. Envy is an emotion that devalues the importance of loving others. Love is much stronger than envy. The best way to counteract envy is to make up our minds to love others. When we love someone, we want the best for him or her. Suddenly it’s not all about us, it’s about how we can help others succeed.

Whenever you attempt a good work you will find other men doing the same kind of work, and probably doing it better. Envy them not.

Henry Drummond, in The Greatest Thing in the World

 Read-Thru-the-Bible: Joshua 5 – 7