WHAT WE FIND IN JESUS (PART 7)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

Isaiah 11:5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Spend enough time in a relationship with Jesus and you will discover the two qualities we look at today as we continue to examine the things we find in Jesus, drawing from the words of the 11th chapter of the Book of Isaiah. Those qualities are the focus of verse 5:

Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

It should be no surprise that we find righteousness in Jesus. God’s word from 1 Corinthians proclaims as much through these words:

Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30

As Christians, we are to Christ-like, aspiring to be like Jesus in every way. When we do that, when we fully commit ourselves to be like Jesus in every way, then we will find ourselves living in righteousness because all that Jesus is will be what we are and He is our righteousness.

And why would we choose to live any other way? There is no other life for a Christian than living in and through the One who proclaimed Himself as the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). There is no other way, there is no other truth, and there is no other life outside of the life lived for Jesus Christ. Don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.

Friends, we need to live with a deep hunger and thirst for Jesus, to seek His wisdom and guidance through the Holy Spirit, to emulate every way that He lived during His time on earth, and to model His life in each and every way. When we do this, when we approach Jesus with our deepest desire, then we will find ourselves always satisfied with His righteousness. He promised us as such when He said:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

There is never a time we will go to Jesus and be left void. This is because of the second quality in our feature verse today: faithfulness.

Indeed, Jesus is always there for us when we need Him. There is never a time we come to Him that He is absent. No one is there for us like that. With this, it’s little wonder why the writer of this famous hymn felt the way he did when he penned these lyrics:

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Jesus is our faithful friend, always ready to listen to us as He is just a prayer away. He knows our needs before we even ask because He loves us and cares for us deeply. He’s always available in times of trouble and trial and temptation and sorrow, ever ready to bring us direction and strength and peace and comfort.

And when we remain as faithful to Him as He is to us, then we will receive His righteousness in its fullest measure, our hungering and thirsting fulfilled fully.

Have you experienced the faithfulness and righteousness of Jesus in your life?

I pray your answer is yes for when we fully live for Christ as Christians, we can’t help but find both of these qualities in abundance.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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