It's Me Again God 2

35. Robe of Righteousness

It's me again God,

Thank You so much for the new day and another chance to follow You! I am so blessed to know that every step I take, You take great delight in! Lord I pray that I will bring You great delight today as I rely on You to guide my thoughts, words and actions:

"The steps of the God-pursuing ones follow firmly in the footsteps of the Lord, and God delights in every step they take to follow him. If they stumble badly they will still survive, for the Lord lifts them up with his hands."
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37:23-24‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Lord the reality is that although I want to keep my eyes on You at all times and please You throughout my life, there will be times when sin will cause me to stumble. When this has happened in the past, I could feel ashamed, hopeless and so unworthy but this verse says that You lift those who stumble —You don't abandon Your children and I'm very glad that no matter how far I have fallen, You have always shown Your great love and grace toward me. Nothing I can do can make You love me less and I am comforted by the fact that Jesus died for every one of my sins:

"For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;"
‭‭1 PETER‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Thank You Jesus that You loved me and exchanged Your innocence for my guilt so that I could come to You. Thank You that You suffered and died so I could live and receive Your righteousness:

"What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith."
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:8-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul's words show the great difference between me striving to be righteous and do the right thing according to the law and receiving Jesus by faith and having His righteousness! I love the Passion translation of these verses too:

"To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It's all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace him as Lord in all of his greatness. My passion is to be consumed with him and not clinging to my own "righteousness" based in keeping the written Law. My "righteousness" will be his, based on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—the very righteousness that comes from God."
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:8-9‬ ‭TPT‬‬

I am so blessed to have Your righteousness and praise You for the wonderful exchange that has taken place!

"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When I fall, I am still wearing that robe of righteousness and so I can have confidence that You will lift me up with Your hand! Thank You that in Jesus, I am clothed in garments of salvation —I am saved now and for all eternity!

Until Jesus returns,
Amen.