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Day 7 – Faith, living in righteousness

Manifested and answered faith means living in righteousness…

REFLECTIONS:

Read Matthew 7:21-23, John 5:44 and 9:31 and take a moment to answer the following questions:

➤ When we talk about faith, who is the most important person?

➤ What questions can we ask ourselves if we think that we don’t have faith in a particular area?

CONTENT:

This passage in Matthew is probably one of the most difficult that we find in the Gospels because here, Jesus is addressing people who think that they have faith and perform miracles in His name. On the outside these people appear to be good “Christians” and yet Jesus rejects them, which leads us to a fundamental element, that is that faith is real, not by its results, but because of our relationship with God… This reminds us that a righteous life is not a perfect life, but a life that cultivates the knowledge of Christ through a personal and living relationship with Him.

When we talk about living a life of faith, we consider too often the visible results and manifestations as being what is the most important. Nevertheless, this is not the case. For example, you need more faith to sleep with living lions tan to be thrown into a den where they die (cf. Daniel 6:23), or to live an entire life in the measure of one’s relationship with God without ever seeing His promises be fulfilled (cf. Hebrews 11:23). A life of faith is a life that lives in the measure of its relationship with God, and in accordance with His will and His desires. Paul, who is certainly a model of faith, says with assurance that his priority is not in the great action, but in the fact of knowing Christ (cf. Philippians 3:8). It is from this knowledge that true acts of a life of faith will naturally flow.

Living as a man or woman of faith necessitates therefore having a righteous life, which on the one hand implies knowing God, but on the other hand means having healthy motivations. In the text of Matthew 7, it is clear that the people whom Jesus rejects are not motivated by Christ, but that they are using Him for their own gain. Their motivation is centred on themselves and not on the fact of accomplishing God’s will. Jesus is talking about our motivation when He warns us not to seek out the glory that comes from God. Sometimes it can be very tempting to want to build our own kingdom, our “ministry”, our reputation etc. But what should always motivate our actions and our life of faith is that His reign comes and that He alone be glorified. We need to remain alert because our motivation can easily lead us astray, and it is for this reason that it is so fundamental that we cultivate intimacy with God and live the reality of Galatians 2:20 because a dead person cannot own anything.

When we talk about a righteous life, it means about having a reference on which we can align ourselves and a stable foundation that allows us to remain righteous, and it is God’s Word which is the standard by which we are measured… Faith is always founded on what God says and if we want to develop our faith, we need to learn to always align our lives on what God says. This implies spending time day after day to read the Bible with a heart attitude that seeks His will above all else. Realising that every verse contains in itself the necessary power to accomplish this, being righteous is believing God and not seeking to interpret the Bible in order to justify our own unbelief or desires…

This righteous life has a starting point when we met Jesus. It is at this moment that we have confessed our sins and, by faith, we have received His forgiveness and salvation. This was our first act of faith. And every step of faith brings us closer to the goal, that is living with Christ for eternity… And so, living a righteous life is adopting a life perspective where everything is centred on eternity, recognising that we are only temporary residents on this Earth. We live knowing that we are building today with an eternal point of view with Christ. That is where we find our inheritance and only the fruit of our true faith will be there!

To conclude, a righteous life is a life that is centred on developing a close and intimate relationship with Christ, with the manifestation of His glory as motivation and eternity with Him as perspective…

Let the Holy Spirit touch your heart to reveal to you where you are and decide to align your life and heart on Him…

MY DECISION:

➤ What I have understood for my personal life:

➤ What I am deciding to do in my life based on what I have just learned:

➤ What you decide today determines who and what you will be tomorrow!

Adapted from "un disciple en marche" copyright 2018 by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse. All rights reserved. More on www.vievictorieuse.org