Feeling GUILTY??

[WISDOM]

Have YOU ever done something or said something for which YOU felt GUILTY?  (Sounds like me daily)  Maybe it was something that made you lay awake half the night wondering if you were right or wrong.  Possibility, huh??

Though we may try very hard to live the Christian life, ALL OF US from time-to-time are GUILTY of sin.  I hate to bust YOUR bubble, but that's a fact! (1 John 1:8)  However, our FATHER has a NAME HIS children can run to when such feelings arise.....JEHOVAH TSIDKENU (Sid-kuh-new).  The name means "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."  It appears in a prophecy of Jeremiah at a time when the kingdom of Judah was in moral and spiritual decline.  More than a century earlier, the Ten Tribes of the Northern kingdom of Israel had been taken into Assyrian captivity.  The ministry of Jeremiah took place during the last 40 years of Judah's existence, from the 13th year of King Josiah to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.  This period was characterized by IMMORALITY, POLITICAL CORRUPTION, and APOSTASY (sounds like today's societies, huh?).

If you'll take a look in Jeremiah 2:4-37, you'll find the shocking truth of Judah's sin.  Jeremiah indicts the spiritual leaders for spiritual DEFECTION in verse 8.  The priests ARE NOT seeking GOD and the prophets are prophesying by "Baal" and following useless idols (Jeremiah 2:20).   The phrase "on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot", or prostitute, is a reference to Baal worship.  This was a fertility rite practiced in "sacred groves" and on hilltops.  Because of the sexual acts involved in this worship, the nation truly deserved the title "harlot", or prostitute.

Judah had learned NOTHING from Israel's fall, a century earlier, about the results of turning from JEHOVAH GOD.  Judah's people were guilty of the SAME sins and their guilt WAS WORSE because they had seen GOD's punishment on Israel through the Assyrians.  Our FATHER also predicted through Jeremiah that IF the king of Judah DID NOT lead the nation to REPENT, he would die in the land of captivity and NEVER see Judah again (Jeremiah 22:12).  You think our LORD wasn't serious?!!! (Jeremiah 22:5)

THEN, in chapter 23 our FATHER says through Jeremiah, "Woe to the shepherds."  The "shepherds" are the king, priests, prophets, and ALL the LEADERS of Judah who lead the people away from GOD and into idolatry (Jeremiah 23:1-2).  In contrast to the UNRIGHTEOUS Spiritual Leaders of HIS people, our FATHER says here in verse 23:5 that HE is going to send HIS SON in the future.  This spiritual leader will be called "JEHOVAH TSIDKENU", THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (verse 23:6).

The word "TSIDKENU" cannot be adequately translated by one English word, but it includes the idea of "STRAIGHT, RIGHTEOUSNESS, JUSTIFIED, and ACQUITTAL."  A paraphase of this name for our LORD might read, "The LORD is the AUTHOR of our righteousness and justification."   This not only reveals that GOD is righteous, BUT ALSO that the ONLY way we become righteous is if GOD becomes our righteousness, which is in contrast to what you and I really are (Romans 3:10,23).

ANY righteousness we may have MUST come from GOD.  JESUS CHRIST is our righteousness!!  The blessings of life that we enjoy TODAY are not because of our own goodness and righteousness....you better wake up and smell the coffee!!  All of us are sinners, and there is NOTHING we can do to make ourselves righteous.  Some of us may think so, BUT our LORD says otherwise.  That's an argument you're NOT going to win!  It is this truth we must admit BEFORE we can become righteous.  GOD is holy and CANNOT overlook even one sin.  We are not made righteous by being born into a certain race or family, or by being good, keeping the Ten Commandments (which incidently, it is IMPOSSIBLE to do), or by joining some church/religious group.  

All of your and my "good works" and self-righteousness in comparison to the knowledge of righteousness found in JESUS CHRIST is RUBBISH/GARBAGE.  By the way, I'm NOT speaking of head knowledge here, but instead a knowledge gained through experience that TRANSFORMS a person (Philippians 3:9).  The righteousness for which you and I must hunger is the righteousness of GOD (Matthew 5:6).  Only when we realize our "spiritual poverty" will we hunger for our FATHER's righteousness, because ours is filthy (Isaiah 64:6).  On the best day of our life, compared to GOD's righteousness, our is like a filthy rag.

Have YOU ever felt sinful and dirty?  Have YOU ever felt YOU had done something so wrong you could never be forgiven??  Have YOU been guilty of some sin for so long that you think there is no way your life can ever be cleaned up???  Do YOU think GOD didn't know?  Do YOU honestly believe HE wasn't there when you did it????  DON'T YOU REALIZE HE WANTS TO FORGIVE YOU AND CLEAN YOU UP!!!!

When JESUS CHRIST hung on the Cross of Calvary, the RIGHTEOUSNESS, "JEHOVAH TSIDKENU" was paying the price for YOUR sins so that in HIM (notice what I said) we could become the RIGHTEOUSNESS of GOD.  By ONE SACRIFICE, CHRIST has made it possible for us to be new and righteous people (Hebrews 10:4).  After we become new, righteous creations in CHRIST, .....we STILL sin (HELLO!!!).  BUT, when we do, we will feel guilty BECAUSE OF the CONVICTION of the HOLY SPIRIT.    Thank our FATHER for 1 John 1:9!!!

Get to know HIM by this name, so that when YOU (no one else) stand before HIM to give an account of YOUR LIFE, YOU will be found in HIM, not having to depend on YOUR OWN "righteousness", BUT having the RIGHTEOUSNESS that comes from GOD through FAITH in our LORD/SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST (Philippians 3:9).  Give GOD a "Shout-Out"!!!!!

JEHOVAH TSIDKENU...."THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS"!!!!!!!!

[traveller]

AMEN WISDOM!! Preach it Brother! Woohoo!!  :t3:

[Guest shadow2b]

Have YOU ever done something or said something for which YOU felt GUILTY?

[Guest Boron]

An excellent post, Wisdom.  The only thing I can add to it is that the Law was given, so we can see just how much we all fall short of God's standards. It was not given to make us righteous . (Rom. 3:19-20, Gal. 2:16).  The only part of the Law that was and is yet still being overlooked is the animal sacrifices, and blood atonements,  that are listed in Leviticus. Instead of attempting to please God through achieving the impossible through "righteous" performances, they forget that these atonements were given to make us truely righteous -of which they all point to Christ Jesus.   In other words,  it is not what we think we can do for the kingdom, but rather, what we allow God to do through us, that counts (John 6:27-29, Heb. 3:15-4:11)

[Guest shilou]

Wow Wisdom that was great. Made me thing of something I have to do some knee action on. I just finished speaking with a man who is filled with self pity. He said what has God ever done for me? I had to tell him the truth that God is not here to serve you, but for you to serve Him. I recall how hard it was for me to get that. I called on God every time I messed up my life wanting Him to fix it all for me and getting angry when He wanted me to do something to fix it myself. Now on the other side I regret all the years I spent or shall I say wasted trying to get God to do my will, when the simple answer to true happiness is to seek His. God gave such a nice example of how He works. This person had planted some seeds weeks back and they are struggling, he pointed it out to me. I said thats funny my garden is exploding with color but it's not really my garden it along with everything else belongs to God and only He can make the garden grow. I told him to try and be grateful for the little bit of growth the garden does have and see how that works. I had to laugh later wondering if he thought I was nuts.   Oh well is it odd or is it God.

In Yeshua's love

Shilou

[Guest shadow2b]

Wow Wisdom that was great. Made me thing of something I have to do some knee action on. I just finished speaking with a man who is filled with self pity. He said what has God ever done for me? I had to tell him the truth that God is not here to serve you, but for you to serve Him. I recall how hard it was for me to get that. I called on God every time I messed up my life wanting Him to fix it all for me and getting angry when He wanted me to do something to fix it myself. Now on the other side I regret all the years I spent or shall I say wasted trying to get God to do my will, when the simple answer to true happiness is to seek His. God gave such a nice example of how He works. This person had planted some seeds weeks back and they are struggling, he pointed it out to me. I said thats funny my garden is exploding with color but it's not really my garden it along with everything else belongs to God and only He can make the garden grow. I told him to try and be grateful for the little bit of growth the garden does have and see how that works. I had to laugh later wondering if he thought I was nuts.