My Life Here Is Temporary to Eternity- When Jesus Returns.

 

*******2022-

I stand by everything written last year on this same day. (Copied Below)

God is love, and many people will choose not to love God. Some believe that God is cruel, and that couldn't be further from the truth. God is ONLY cruel when you believe that this world is all there is- that there is nothing after this world. I can understand people believing God is cruel and downright evil if all there is in this existence we live in right now. There is simply too much horror in this world not to believe God is cruel if you are living here and now ONLY for the here and now.  We need to LIVE for heaven, for eternity, for the day our SAVIOR returns for us! We need to live for all of that RIGHT now, not when we are older or infirmed, but right this second! We are strangers in this world of horrors, knowing that this world is an awful place that we don't belong in. We are pilgrims seeking a BETTER world knowing the world we live in now is bitter, cruel, evil and something to be hated. Harsh words, but it's true. We catch GLIMPSES of love in this world. We have tiny windows into LOVE. We find joy for a moment and then it is torn from us as we witness (even if just in a news story) the brutality of this insidious existence. I'm NOT going to write about the horrors- YOU KNOW they exist and are lived by SO many people every single day of their lives!  I can say GOD IS LOVE because He has made this horror existence TEMPORARY to ETERNITY! TEMPORARY! TEMPORARY! This isn't all there is to be! There will be an END to ALL EVIL one day! That is a LOVING GOD. A hateful, cruel God would have it never, ever, ever, end and offer NO hope whatsoever.  We have HOPE. 

We are to place our TREASURES in heaven right now. When we place our treasures on earth they will be torn from us. When we place our hope in this world, it is horribly misplaced and leads us to despair! Only when we place our hope, our source of our happiness, our joy, our endurance, our love in HEAVEN do we not despair. Thousands of years ago men and women placed their hope in God and then they entered death's sleep with the expectation of a new world with God, and they will be rewarded with that new world, just as we will, and when we are- when our SAVIOR RETURNS FOR US. Hope for a better world to come! Our treasures in heaven with our Savior of hope!

We live now, and by the grace of our Lord, we do all we can to be witnesses of God's love, not our love, but His love. May God use all who choose to be used by Him, for His purposes now and always! All through His love!

All glory to GOD!

From 2021----

The Time of the Gentiles Fulfilled-

Luk 21:24 … Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 

Historically Jerusalem was out of the control of the Jews for about 1900 or so  years. In 1948 they warred with those Gentiles in control, and won parts of Israel, but not Jerusalem. In 1967 they won Jerusalem. In 1980 they moved their government to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Jerusalem was effectively under the control of the Jewish people once again. 

1948 the sign of impending change in the status of Jerusalem- did people comprehend what was to come.

1967 a change took place.

1980 the change was complete.

Signs unfolding, signs fulfilled.

Jesus said this-- 

Luk 21:25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 

Luk 21:26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 

Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

Luk 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 

We've had signs in the sun.

We've had signs in the moon.

We've had signs in the stars.

There have been distress of nations- with perplexity- the sea and waves roaring.

Men's heart fail them for fear- for the future.

We await for the powers of the heaven to be shaken… and then we will SEE the Son of Man coming in the cloud with power and great glory.

We are watching as these things are coming to pass…

We are looking up…

We are lifting up our heads…

Our redemption draws nigh!

We are close, so very close to our redemption.  

1980 -  41(42-2022) years ago. I was 17 years old in 1980. I'm 58(59-2022) years old and I'll be 59 (60-2023) years old this soon coming year- 2022(2023).  I don't know how long it will be but I know there are very few unfulfilled prophecies left except for those that will be very rapid ones lest everyone be wiped out of existence and there is no one left alive when our Savior returns.  The Mark of the Beast has not been given yet, after it is given to all that are going to accept it, then the plagues will come and at that time probation will have been closed, and the just who are deemed just will remain so- and the unjust will remain unjust, their chance to accept salvation closed. As the plagues begin some might recognize them for what they are and if they aren't Christ's the fear will be overwhelming for them. If they are Christ's, they will be praying and watching, living in the Holy Spirit. As a plague falls in one place, then another plague in another place, soon all the plagues- one after the other- will take place and such a horrific time of trouble that will be. You won't - let me emphasize this point- YOU WON'T be able to accept Jesus as the plagues appear, even if you recognize them for what they really are and you suddenly comprehend the truth of God's word and wish to have a change of heart. By that time it's TOO LATE. Just as in the days of Noah, the people watched Noah build the ark and then get on the ark and close the door with all those animals on board. They didn't try to get on that ark then, they weren't knocking on the door telling Noah they believe what he said and they want to be on the ark with them. Not a single person did that, not one. However, when the rains began, the torrential downpours such as never were known, as the water burst up from the ground itself, they suddenly wanted to be on that ark but it was TOO LATE. They screamed, they cried, they wanted to be saved! It was TOO LATE. It will be the same way as the plagues fall, people who wanted nothing to do with God when they could have called upon Him and been saved, will suddenly want God to save them.  

People don't want to imagine such a time.

People want to believe there will forever be enough time to accept the Lord as their Savior- they'll do it when they're ready. Or, when they get enough proof to believe, then they'll make the choice. 

People have to realize probation will RUN OUT! Time will RUN OUT! There is coming a cutoff point!  God's forbearance is LONG, but not endless.

We are watching, we are praying, please, Lord, please help us to be YOURS NOW AND ALWAYS! Please, Lord! Thank You for Your amazing LOVE! Thank You for Salvation! Thank You for Life Now and Everlasting!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior NOW and FOREVER!!!!!!!

All praise, glory and honor to our GOD!

Are Your Heavenly Bags Packed?

 In the movie Ten Commandments we are given the false impression that Moses simply left the people and went to the mountain for 40 days. This is NOT what happened, in reality, and it’s important we understand this. The people of God made a covenant with God PRIOR to Moses’ ascension into the mountain for forty days and nights. The TEN COMMANDMENTS were given VERBALLY before they were ever written on tablets of stone, before Moses left for 40 days. The people HAD the ten commandments before they had the tablets.  So, while agreeing to obey God’s ten commandments before Moses left to be given a hard copy of them, the people KNEW very well what they were doing when they chose to BREAK those commandments while Moses was gone. They KNEW, they just didn’t want to keep waiting for Moses- he was taking TOO long, they thought he wasn’t coming back.  Sound familiar??? 

Too many today do NOT truly believe Jesus Christ is returning and they live day to day as if He isn’t REALLY returning. They live their lives NOT with their heavenly bags packed, but rather just going about their business with Jesus’ Return as something still far off. They believe they will be given plenty of TIME to get ready, to get packed, to be waiting for when His return is imminent and not some far off unrealized, supposed happening.  TRUTHFULLY, we do NOT live as if our Savior could return at any moment. We impose our conditions that must be met, NOT realizing that we may MISS all the signs because of our true LACK of faith, lack of belief in the realness of Christ’s return, the realness of a LIFE with Christ and not with all our earthly treasures we’ve surrounded ourselves with.

We can’t imagine our lives without all our THINGS our EARTHLY things. We say we would give them up in a heartbeat to exchange them for heavenly riches, but ONLY on the day we have visual confirmation we are getting a better deal, not now. We will cling to our earthly treasures LOATHED to do without because why deprive ourselves if we don’t have to? We make so many excuses for ourselves. We pat ourselves on the back and say ‘the Lord knows me’, but does He? OR have we so hidden ourselves beneath our earthly treasures that the Lord can’t even see us let alone know us.  WE want to deceive ourselves that we are the Lord’s and as such we won’t miss the signs of His second coming. But truly we have to realize that deception doesn’t discriminate. Deception will work on so many different levels.

If we shun ANY spiritual light given to us we endanger our spiritual lives. If we block out the spiritual truths that are a little too hard to hold on to, then we are guilty of rejecting truth. The people in Moses’ day were given deliverance in a miraculous manner and they STILL rejected truth in favor of their own self-serving.  Why would they hold fast and wait for forty whole days and nights for Moses, that was way too long for them to wait. Moses obviously was gone and wasn’t coming back, everything he’d said to them was void. That VOICE of GOD they heard and feared – asking Moses to step in for them to be a go between- was a lie too? How did they shrug off having HEARD for themselves the voice of GOD?  HOW?! They HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD! And still they turned their backs on Him as soon as waiting took too long.

Is it ANY WONDER at all that when ETERNITY is the ultimate end, that we as a race of human beings are having to WAIT an exceptionally long time in human reckoning? Moses was bringing the people just led out of captivity a new way of living life on earth and they couldn’t last 40 days. God is giving us – a people being led out of SIN EXISTENCE- into a new ETERNAL EVERLASTING SIN FREE LIFE- and we can’t seem to wait for Him either- not in the realty of waiting! Not in the reality of being willing to live our lives as HE would have us live them right now for Him in all things. 

We want OUR things, and our Savior is an afterthought to our lives not a forethought!  Do you wake up hoping today is the day Christ returns, or are you too busy waiting for those signs you HOPE you’ll see so you can truly get ready? Are you willing to WAIT IN CHRIST, or are you content to wait outside of Christ until He gets here, thinking you’ll belong to Him?  

What does it mean to belong to Christ in the reality of our day to day lives? That’s something we have to study the word of God for and figure out as individuals. But truly GOD has to be FIRST in all things in our lives, ALL THINGS, something we have not been brought up to believe. 

GOD HELP US ALL! PLEASE LORD GOD HELP US! We don’t want to be like those wayward children of disobedience who couldn’t wait, we don’t want to be so caught up in our present life that we have no real room for the life of eternity. 

Please let our Heavenly Home to come be FILLED with treasures we’ve LAID up there right now while we are on earth, because that’s where you’ve told us to lay up our treasures NOW in our present life. You want us to fill our Heavenly Home NOW with our PRESENT life, not waiting until we get there. Our mansions should be filled before we arrive, when Christ comes to take us all to heaven with Him at the last trumpet sound! If you want to know what treasures you need to be placing in heaven right now, they are SPIRITUAL, they are LOVE, they are of GOD, they are the SELFLESSNESS we reveal NOW while LOVING our God first and OTHERS before ourselves! The treasures are LIVING for CHRIST NOW, not waiting to live for Him when we are with Him, if you wait to live for Christ, then you are NOT living for Christ. We wait for HIS RETURN, as one waits for a LOVED ONE they cherish, a LOVED ONE THEY KNOW and KNOWS THEM! You won’t be getting newly acquainted to Christ when He returns, YOU WILL BE VERY well acquainted beforehand! You are NOT WAITING for a stranger, and if Christ seems like a stranger to you right now, then STOP everything you’re doing and start to get to know Him truly on a personal level! Get to know Your Savior, NOW.  

Your heavenly bags are packed if they are bags you've already placed in the mansion above and you're filling them with spiritual treasures!

May God help us all to be HIS, for HIM to know us and us to know HIM. ALL through His mercy and grace His love, now and forever! In HIS NAME, in the name of Jesus Christ! AMEN!!!!!!!)))

Wisdom of Man

 

Blessed Beyond Measure.

 I've always, for as long as I can remember had a fascination with the clouds, the sky. My mother would tell me often in the last few years of her life just how much she loved the clouds. We'd be driving to one appointment or another and she'd say, "Just look at those clouds, aren't they something?" I answered her that they were beautiful. And she'd proceed to tell me of her love of them. I come by it honestly. I wonder if a lot of  people have this same fascination, I imagine they do. There can be such beauty in the sky, in the clouds. The Maker of the heavens and earth, this is what comes to mind when I see His handiwork, His artistry for it could be no others. Looking at the wondrous living, vibrant canvas of the sky I have to bow my head and give thanks to my Creator. He made all these things for us. We get to see the beauty- as we live through life's many sorrows. We are touched with the hope of a future without sorrows. We can catch mere glimpses into glory, we are so blessed. 

Mountains were a fascination for Jerry and I both. He had such a great love of the mountains. We'd always hoped to one day return to the mountains, to a place where we could get onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and just drive and drive, for miles and miles. When we lived in Virginia for those few years, we'd pause at overlooks and at rest areas with picnic pavilions where we'd have a little cookout. We'd watch the deer as they drew closer but still had enough wariness to stay away, but oh so close. We'd spend a whole day in the mountains. We'd go on hikes in the trails. One day we even buried a little time capsule on one of those mountains and now where it was buried is long gone from my memory- I bet Jerry still would have remembered. It was never meant to be uncovered, at least not by us.

God's goodness, His greatness, His glory, His promise for our future with him when He returns for us, we can know it all, we can believe it all, it is our hope and it's all around us. The hope we can find in the world- are all signposts towards our Savior.  I've been blessed with the generosity of a few loved ones, and my heart overflows with the love I know it comes from. I see our Lord in the hearts of others, and it's overwhelming. God has bless me, and I hope He richly blesses all who are His servants doing His will, His work in my life and the lives of others. 

All glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!!!!!! 

Have a blessed Sabbath everyone!

******* (The following is from December 9, 2022) 

My God, the God I serve, the God I love, the God I worship- created the sun, the moon, and the stars. 

My God created the world I live on. 

My God created me.

The glory of God- the very heavens declare God's glory. We see His glory all around us if we'd but look and allow ourselves to comprehend His glory, His wonder, His righteousness!

(Excerpt- EJ Waggoner)

'The Heavens Reveal Righteousness. 

With the knowledge that that which the heavens declare is the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, we can easily follow the nineteenth psalm through.

Psa 19:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 

Psa 19:2  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 

Psa 19:3  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 

Psa 19:4  Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 

Psa 19:5  Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 

Psa 19:6  His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 

Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 

Psa 19:8  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 

Psa 19:9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 

Psa 19:10  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 

Psa 19:11  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. 

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 

Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 

Psa 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. 

It seems to the casual reader that there is a break in the continuity of this psalm. From talking about the heavens, the writer suddenly begins to speak of the perfection of the law of God, and its converting power. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Vs. 7. But there is no break at all. 

The law of God is the righteousness of God,

and the gospel reveals the righteousness of God,

and the heavens declare the gospel;

therefore it follows that the heavens reveal the righteousness of God.

"The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory." Ps. 97.6.

The glory of God is his goodness, because we are told that it is through sin that men come short of his glory.  Rom. 3:23. 

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Therefore we may know that whoever looks upon the heavens with reverence, seeing in them the power of the Creator, and will yield himself to that power, will be led to the saving righteousness of God.

Even the sun, moon, and stars, whose light is but a part of the glory of the Lord, will shine that glory into his soul.'

Except ye be converted, and become as little children

Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

He's got the whole world in His hands.

Give me oil in my lamp keep it burning.

Jesus loves the little children.

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

The B-I-B-L-E that's the book for me.

When the saints go marching in.

The wise man built his house upon the rocks.

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war.

A trip down memory lane for me and some of you. Taking trips down memory lane can be pleasant, but they can also be very sad. I have a lot of good memories singing those songs listed above, I can remember teaching them to my kids when they were very little- then… here comes a sad memory… I stepped away from the narrow path and started down the broad one and God forgive me, I fear that in a lot of ways that affected my children.  See- good memories from those songs and then sad ones. My kids were instrumental in bringing me back to the narrow way though, through my sister taking them to church- not me. (Thank you, Elizabeth.)  I've written about it before and I'm writing about it again, and I will promise you right now as time goes on I'll write about it yet again. In the car, flipping through radio stations and my kids said, "STOP" They wanted to hear the song I was passing by- the song- 

 "You've Got Me and Jesus" By Stellar Kart. (Look it up- listen to it!)

Cue the tears, the joy, the anguish, the repentance, the sorrow, the happiness, the prodigal come home, the entire life beginning to change once more as the darkness turned back to light. 

I was so far down that dark path, that broad road I was entertaining thoughts that it didn't matter at all if you accepted Christ, as long as you had a good heart you were okay. See, I told you, I was way down that very broad way leading to eternal and everlasting darkness. No, my world hadn't been dark- most of the time- that broad road was filled with plenty of light, laughter, happiness but it was all deception. That's how the broad way gets us, it looks like the narrow way! It's all decked out in narrow way neon signs flashing at you constantly telling you that you're doing the right thing believing as you are. Those signs take whatever it is that will soothe you into a state of complete spiritual blindness- while all the time they are telling you that you have great spiritual light in your life! Deception.  This is why we are given so much truth (all of it we need) in God's word, so that we aren't deceived! 

Ah, when we were little and we sang those songs… did our hearts believe them as a reality as children, or were they just mere words to us? I remember singing them loudly with great passion and excitement, especially if there were hand movements too.  Jesus loves me this I know!   (I knew!) For the Bible tells me so!  (It did tell me! I read Bible stories for children) little ones to him belong! (I belonged to Him!) They are weak but He is strong! (I was soooo weak and He so strong!)    This is true today too, for I am ever a child of God's. The Bible is forever telling me so! As an adult without children's stories, but the adult comprehension of its truth, I am told by the Bible of Jesus' love for me!  I belong to Jesus! He wants me to belong to him! And I will always need His strength, because I will forever be too weak and in need of His salvation!   And, I want oil in my lamp to keep it burning! And I want to march in with the saints! And I want to have joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart- to stay! I want my house built upon the rock - Jesus Christ! The Bible truly is the BOOK for me! I want my light to shine bright! And I am a Christian soldier in a very spiritual war with the cross of Jesus going on before me! I am a child and Jesus loves me and this thrills me so much right NOW as an ADULT.  So, like it or not, maybe we need to dust off those old children songs and start singing them for a while to remind us that we are still children of GOD and we will always be children of God and…. JESUS said- 'Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'  

Whose with me!  Jesus loves me this I know! For the Bible tells me so! Little ones to Him belong! They are weak but He is strong! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so!!!!!!!!!!

 May God bless us all in this most holy Sabbath time as we worship and honor Him, giving him all the glory and thanksgiving on this the day He made holy and blessed, setting it aside for us to be with Him!   In the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior! Amen!!!!!!!

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war! With the cross of Jesus, going on before! Christ the royal master! Leads against the foe! Forward into battle see His banner go! 

Read God's Word.

 I timed the following excerpt (after my rambling) just to see how long it took me to read it so when someone thinks something might be too long to read, often times it isn't, it just appears that way. 

We can choose not to study God's word, it's in everyone's power to choose how they spend their time. Let me ask you something though, is time ever wasted when it's spent in God's word? We are Christians, and as Christ followers He led us by example. He was constantly in the Word (the Old Testament) during His ministry on earth. His apostles were constantly in the Old Testament too bringing the new light on the truths as they unfolded in light of our Savior's appearance, ministry, life and death, and life again- bringing us the New Testament.

Ask yourself why you don't want to study God's word for yourself. What answers have you come up with? Do you suppose there is a great, powerful force that wants to keep an honest searcher for truth from the word of God? Just as all day long we *force* ourselves to do things we might not particularly like to do- but we do them because our health needs it or it's the right thing for us to do. I'm not going to list things here, you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes simply forcing ourselves to get up out of bed is bothersome, but we do it because we know it's best for us regardless of how we feel about it.  If we took the Word of God and made it into something we have to do regardless of how we're feeling, what do you suppose would happen?  Do you think it'd become stale and boring, a chore, a bother, a chain about your neck?  It could become those things, Satan sure wants it to become all of those things.  But if we go before our God with an honest heart searching even a single verse from His word each day and truly reading and meditating upon it- not just reading it quickly and going on our merry way forgetting it. If we do this, we are recognizing that we are doing the WILL of God, and we aren't letting Satan have the upper hand over us- counting on our feelings of being too tired, too busy with other things, too not interested, too anything. 

I've blathered long enough, I do that all the time, but please take TWO minutes to read the following, please. 

*******(Excerpt - EJ Waggoner)

…Just as we live naturally by breathing, so we are to live spiritually by faith, and our whole life is to be spiritual. 

Faith is the breath of life to the Christian. So just as we naturally live from breath to breath, we are to live spiritually from faith to faith.

We can live but one breath at a time; so we can not live spiritually except by present faith. If we live a life of conscious dependence upon God, his righteousness will be ours, for we shall breathe it in continually. Faith gives us strength, for those who have exercised it "out of weakness were made strong." Heb. 11:34.

So of those who accept the revelation of God's righteousness "from faith to faith," it is said, "They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." Ps. 84:7. 

Let us not forget that it is from the very words of the Bible that one is to learn. All the real help that any teacher can be to any one in the study of the Bible is to show him how to fix his mind more clearly upon the exact words of the sacred text. 

Therefore, first of all, read the text over many times. Do not do this hastily, but carefully,  paying particular attention to every statement. Do not waste one moment in speculating as to the possible meaning of the text. There is nothing worse than guessing the meaning of a text of Scripture, unless it is the acceptance of somebody else's guess. Nobody can know any more of the Bible than the Bible itself tells; and the Bible is just as ready to tell its story to one person as to another.

Question the text closely. Probe it again and again, always in a reverent, prayerful spirit, to make it reveal itself.  Do not be discouraged if you do not at once see all that there is in the text. Remember that it is the word of God,  and that it is infinite in its depth, and that you can never exhaust it. When you come across a difficult statement,  go back and consider it in connection with what precedes. Do not think that you can ever get at the full meaning of any text apart from its connection. By constant application to the words of the text, in order to be sure that you know exactly what it says, you will soon have them constantly in your mind; and it is then that you will begin to reap some of the rich fruits of Bible study; for at unexpected times new light will flash from them, and through them from other scriptures as you read.

*******

(Waggoner on Romans- God's Revelation to Man Nov. 14. 1895

God, Be Merciful to Me A Sinner!

 We have no righteousness of our own.

Sadly many are seeking to BECOME righteous, rather than accept God's righteousness.  We like to think we have a hand in our salvation. Right now, I sit here and know that  all the supposed 'good things' I do are meaningless, completely and utterly meaningless, unless… Yes, I said, unless.  Unless they are a revelation of Christ's righteousness.  Christ is the righteous One I am a filthy sinner dependent wholly upon His righteousness and I will remain a filthy sinner constantly dependent upon the righteousness of Christ until He clothes me in His righteousness upon His appearing. To forget that we are totally reliant upon Christ, and start to branch out testing the waters of our own righteousness, is dangerous, so very dangerous. To give ourselves pats on the back, thinking we are doing good, is dangerous. Puffing ourselves us starts out very small. Everyone can rightly agree that when a very arrogant, self-righteous person is being blatant about themselves that it's easy to spot the flaw in that. It's the tiny, hidden little bits of praise we place upon ourselves that start to form a secret belief we have a righteousness that is ours. It's so easy to take on praise for ourselves, people want us to accept their praise! People want us to say, thank you for this and that, for thinking well of the things I do. They want us to thank them for their praise and some even get a bit offended when you refuse their praise as if we are diminishing their goodness in even offering praise.  It's a very tangled, twisted web that is easy to get trapped inside of. We all like to feel there is something worthy in us, something good in us, that we do good things, helpful things. Satan is ever ready to give us all the praise we desire for every good thing WE do. 

We HAVE to give ALL the glory to GOD where it belongs. Any good thing I DO, should it be deemed good by anyone at all whatsoever, it comes by the glory of God! Any good thing in me has to be God in me or else… in seeps that sneaky self-righteousness, and the forgetting that ALL my righteousness' are filthy rags. 

Isa_64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Filthy rags- that is all our righteousness can be.

We need Christ's righteousness.

Mat_6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The people in whose heart is God's law- will know righteousness.

Isa_51:7  Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law…

All God's commandments are righteousness.

Psa 119:172  My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. 

May God keep ever before us the Righteousness of Christ! May we know that it is God who is Righteous! May we in the face of all who would praise us, turn and give the glory to GOD. And if someone thinks we are being facetious towards them and their desire to praise us, let them. We aren't negating their praise for us, we are telling them that it is Christ in us our hope and glory who is using us, working through us to produce whatever good that comes from us! I would rather incite the irritation of anyone, than neglect to give the glory to God. Even writing this right now, I hear whispers of Satan telling me, aren't I the self-righteous one for even thinking I can give the glory to God and take none for myself. That I am glorifying myself by glorifying God.  Satan is our enemy, ever there to twist everything He can!  If I AM being self-righteous… and we are prone towards that, really, we are… I pray for forgiveness! And if my prayer for forgiveness is self-righteousness, I simply lay down at the foot of the cross and ask God to continuously, forever crucify the self in me in all its hidden and blatant ways whatever they may be! 

All glory to God!

Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 

Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 

Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 

Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 

Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 

To God be ALL the glory! 

God, be merciful to me a sinner!