There is a certain righteousness that we can attain...but it is futile and dangerous. It has all the right "looks" but it leads me and all others who observe me AWAY from true life. MY righteousness is a heavy load and it is actually quite ugly. It leads others to idolize me, compare themselves to me...look AT ME. And it grieves your heart.
Wayne Jacobson writes: "Jesus knew that the only way to live is by following the voice of his Father, initiating nothing out of his own desires or even need. This was a life lived in trust, and that trust only had expression where it responded to God's voice alone......The sin of assumption is probably the most deceptive of all sins, because it allows us to act in God's name, thinking we are doing his will when in fact we do things that harm his work in us and others at the same time. But the only way for us to overcome such temptation is to live the same way Jesus did. That is, we stop doing anything just because it sounds good, meets our need, is Biblically justifiable or because someone is pressuring us to do it. Instead, the only question we need to ask is whether or not God has spoken this to us.....Without an ear that listens to God's voice what we call trust is nothing more than presumption; what we call obedience, nothing more than legalism."
There is only one way to life. There is only one way to lead others to your streams of living waters. To listen, trust and follow your voice! It is all about intimacy with you.The righteousness FROM GOD that depends on FAITH has this result : ".... that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. " Phi 3:10,11
"All the appetites, attitudes and anxieties that held sway in my life all resulted from the fact that I did not trust that Jesus was big enough to watch over my life and lead me into his fullness. Because I couldn’t trust him to do it without me, I always found myself wandering back to the trail of self-effort......He does not conform us by obligation, but transforms us by sharing his love with us and showing us how we can trust him.......The righteousness that flows from trust is incredibly resilient. Once you’ve tasted of it, everything else loses its appeal.....trusting a Father’s love and depending on him is the only way to walk." (Wayne Jacobson)
It all comes back to trust. In trust we surrender completely because we know his deep love for us. Why would I want any other way?
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