Appetite for Righteousness. If you will seek Him with all your heart you will find Him!
Appetite For Righteousness
Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Jesus’, the ultimate teacher, inaugural message is found here. We are just looking a the first several verses. Yet the verse that stirs in my spirit is verse 6. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled. God wants us to have a appetite for righteousness. We all know physical hunger; God calls His children to spiritual hunger. What do you have an appetite for? Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Biblical righteousness is being in right relationship with God. The term used is justified. Sunday school teachers have often said Just-is-if- you never sinned.
Psalm 63:1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. 6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. 7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. 8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.
This is a Psalm of spiritual hunger. Oh, how I hunger for God! I long to see His power and glory. There is an old song the saints use to sing. “Only Jesus can satisfy your soul. Only He can change your heart and make you whole. He will give you peace you never knew, sweet love and joy and heaven too. Only Jesus can satisfy your soul.” How sweet it is to wake up with our mind upon the God of our salvation.
Hebrews 1:8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."
Jesus rules from a scepter of righteousness. Jesus loves righteousness and the reward was a special anointing of gladness. What is this we are to hunger for? What is this that Jesus rules with? It is a scepter of justice and equity. It is the righteousness that is imputed because of the work of the cross.
Romans 4:22 And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Righteousness is imputed through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus' obedience made way for all to be justified before God.
Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
To be made righteous before God is only available by one Man’s obedience. Our peace is secured through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Philippians 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The righteousness that Jesus Christ brings, comes exclusively through the cross. Many have tried to gain righteousness from some other means; there is no other means of righteousness. Your good works can’t provide you with righteousness. Your great performance will not bring you righteousness. We must come to the same conclusion as the apostle Paul . He counted all things as rubbish; the KJV say he counted all things as dung! Paul could have counted his place in society, his great religious education, his zealous performance under the law, or a righteousness that came from the law. All of these thing He counted as nothing! Paul wanted the righteousness which is through faith in Christ; it was the righteousness which is from God by faith. A righteousness of intimacy to know Jesus in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being confirmed to His death. Jesus has laid hold of us let us take it a step further. Paul preached the full counsel of God, teaching us to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid hold of us. Paul was hungry and thirsty for the genuine righteousness of God. God give us a heart to press…
1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God; and righteousness and sanctification and redemption;
Believer you can walk in wisdom; it is the wisdom God has provided. We can walk in righteousness; it is the righteousness that Christ imputed. We can walk in sanctification (as those God put his seal of ownership on); the blood of Jesus purchased us. We can walk in redemption; Jesus set us free from the enslavement of sin’s bondage.
Psalm 42:1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Psalm 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon . 13 Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, 15 To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
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