(Take some time with this one today and as always, please pray for leading and discernment) 

 Have you ever assembled a piece of furniture at home or maybe a gas grill or lawnmower and this happens: you do your best to follow the instructions that comes in four languages. You then lay out all the parts and make use of the flimsy tools they provide and just when you finish with a sense of accomplishment over completing the herculean task, you see about a half dozen odd looking parts laying on the floor that somehow did not make it in to your assembly. 

 Granted those who struggle with OCD tendencies may dismantle the whole project and start over to make sure all the parts get in. 

 Me….? I’m gonna try and see if it functions to my specifications before I go back to the drawing board. 

 Do you think it’s possible that we have been doing that with biblical doctrines for years? We take a bunch of scriptures and assemble a set of beliefs that we teach and preach on and before you know it, your heart gathers around your doctrine finding security and salvation in it, as opposed to Jesus. 

 Then, when you come across various bible verses that don’t ‘fit’ with your constructed doctrine, you find it easier to dismiss or reject or explain them away before you would even think of dismantling your core tenets of belief.

 Heaven forbid that we could be wrong about something that we have believed, taught, and subscribed to passionately for years. 

 The past two mornings I’ve been addressing the kingdom of God which Jesus exhorted us to pursue first and foremost above all those other things that we can easily be consumed with pursuing; like what we are going to eat and what are we going to wear. He told us that our Father in heaven already knows about that and promises us those needs will be met if we make not only His kingdom our first priority of pursuit, but also His righteousness.

 Paul used that same word when he wrote to the Romans that the kingdom of God is not about food and drink, ‘but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom 14:17) 

 Righteousness. That’s one of those big bible words that gets used a lot and fought over even more.

 For the sake of time, here’s the short version that is pretty much a core belief in many evangelical churches…Righteousness implies that one is in ‘right standing with God’. And since we were all wretched miserable sinners and could never be good enough to meet God’s standards, Jesus came down and lived a perfect sinless life and then died on a cross(and rose from the dead) to demonstrate God’s love for the world and if we just confess that we believe in our heart that this happened this way, then God will look down on us as now being ‘righteous’…not because of anything we did, but simply because we say we believe in our hearts that Jesus did what He did. It’s a righteousness that ‘comes by faith’. 

 There certainly is an appeal to all that. Only problem is, as good as that all sounds, you still have all these other ‘parts’ laying around that got left out of that doctrine. 

 Oh, I can recall in times past maybe assembling that mower or grill and my wife comes out as I’m putting my tools up feeling accomplished and the first thing she would notice was not my finished work of art, but some of those odd pieces that did not get in to the assembly. She would of course ask what those were for and why were they laying on the ground. I have faint memories of responding to her offensive question with a hard glare suggesting she mind her own business and then would mutter something about they were just extra tools or spare parts or something absurd. 

 People whose hearts love their doctrines more than Jesus will act the same way when you point out other verses in the bible that don’t fit with their doctrine. Happens all the time. And need I point out what they did to Jesus because He Really didn’t fit with the doctrine of the Pharisees and other religious orders of that day? 

 If we can use a working definition for ‘righteousness’, can we go with ‘what is deemed to be right’? I’ve heard it suggested before that now days we have a Methodist righteousness, and a Baptist righteousness, and a Pentecostal righteousness, and a Catholic righteousness, etc. You get the idea…everyone telling us their version of righteousness on how one ‘gets to heaven’. 

 So Jesus tell us we are to pursue and seek after God’s righteousness (Matt 6:33). Maybe we can define that as ‘doing what is right in God’s eyes’? I’m no theologian but that sounds reasonable, does it not? 

 Now let me go on record here before cries of ‘heresy’ go up…none of us can do anything in our own power and abilities that will meet the standards of God’s righteousness. It just ain’t gonna happen. We don’t have what it takes. Which is why we need Jesus. This has nothing to do with ‘adding to’ what Jesus did on the cross for us. But where we might see the waters muddy a bit is when we talk about what it truly means to ‘put your faith in Christ’. Just saying you ‘believe’ in Him and that is all that is required…is to leave out a whole lot of other ‘parts’ or verses that is in your bible. 

 We are not saved because of ‘righteous acts’ that we do. 

 But, let me offer up these verses found in 1 John that deserve attention. Take your time with this and note the repeated use of the word ‘practices’. 

 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him ( 1 John 2:29) 

 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. (1 John 3:7) 

 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:10) 

 I am not posting this to get in to a debate on who is saved and how are you saved and who is not saved. I’m leaving that up to God. I just want to share scripture here that has been laid aside or looked over that may have more implications than we dare to examine when it comes to our walk with Jesus. You do know that 1 John 2:6 says “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” And 3:6 reads: “ Whoever abides in Him does not sin.” 

 Now before you glare at me, let’s remember, we are not talking about mower parts here. We are talking about people’s souls and their eternal destiny. I don’t think we have to be afraid of God’s word, let alone angry at Him for writing it.

 I am nearly convinced that the primary reason people are not experiencing or walking in the peace of God’s presence nor experiencing the fullness of joy that comes from being in that presences is because they have been mislead or deceived or led astray from walking in God’s righteousness. 

I would even go as far to say that many of the afflictions and sorrows and pain they are suffering needlessly, is due to them not walking in God’s righteousness. They ended up doing what Paul feared might happened and turned instead to ‘another Jesus and another gospel’. (2 Cor 11:3-4) 

 If the Lord is truly your ‘shepherd’, Psalm 23:3 says He is ‘leading you in the paths of righteousness’. There’s that word again. If He is leading, then we should be following, and it will be evident by the fruit we produce. You just can’t get around it. Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven but those who do the will of my Father’. (Matt 7:21) 

 This week, while visiting my oldest daughter/husband and their new twin sons (my grandsons) we had a good friend of hers over one evening. She is more mine and Kathy’s age and we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know her over the years. I’ll call her ‘G’ as I relay this story. ‘G’ recently has had her own spiritual awakening/conversion that has truly transformed her life. It’s hard to deny.

 She was sharing with Lisa and I the other day about an incident that took place in her Condo complex and a run-in she had with a new tenant. By her own admission, the exchange of words got tense and she grew defensive and ‘haughty’. When ‘G’ returned to her place she felt miserable, convicted, had lost her peace and joy and was wrestling with what had transpired. She ‘prayed’ about it and knew she heard God tell her she needed to make this right and apologize. 

 Her pride was not wanting to cooperate but her newly repentant heart wanted to obey Jesus, so she swallowed her pride (or maybe ‘put it to death’) and made the first step. She humbled herself, found the grace of God present to empower her to do what God wanted her to ‘do’, not just ‘believe’. 

 The new tenant not only received her apology but reciprocated and the new friendship was restored. But what really excited her was after that miserable night of restless conviction and misery, after she ‘put into practice’ what was ‘right in God’s eyes’, she immediately experienced a return of God’s joy and peace. 

 Sounds like kingdom living to me. Righteousness, Peace, and Joy, in the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t get any better than this. 

 What has God been nudging you to do that you have been reluctant or resistant to? I have a feeling you know already. 

 Want to experience the true power of God’s love and joy and peace? Just do…whatever He tells you. ( John 2:5). 

 There is nothing evil or maligned about ‘obeying Jesus.’  Have a great weekend :- )