July 5

“Faith is the law of spiritual righteousness, and righteousness is to be attained in no other way.  No amount of works, however religious, can bring about true holiness....the essential difference between the righteousness of faith and the righteousness of works.  The last is a righteousness put on from the outside; the first springs up from within.  The one is works; the other is fruit.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 7/5

Righteousness is all it takes for us to be saved and Christ imputes it to us.  So what’s our problem, then, with works?  Why do we persist in works?  I really don’t think Christians try to work for their salvation like those who are not saved.  There are groups who do not believe in the assurance of salvation and therefore rely on their works to finish getting them into heaven.  I’m not talking about them.  I’m talking about the Christians who feel they have to look like a Christian by what they do.  These are the very people who often are the least loving because they’re so busy working.  They have no time to notice the lonely elderly widow or the neglected child because they are busy “working for the Lord”.  Or they may be putting in long hours on the job, to the neglect of their family, so their offerings are large every Sunday for “the Lord’s work”.  Hannah has reminded us that the works we do should be the fruit of our faith.  It is our faith that is counted as righteousness.  First, it is our faith in Christ’s work on the Cross, but then it is our faith that God is at work in our lives--making us righteous.  Our gratefulness for all that God is doing in our lives should be producing the fruit that shows we belong to Him.

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;” Galatians 5:22, 23a

May 22

“....see what amazing characteristics are available to you when you begin to partake of this life of God within you.  It is not imitation.  It is realization.....We must let Him be Himself under all circumstances.  Even when it causes us great inconvenience.”  Eugenia Price, S.P.S., 5/22

What it comes down to is obeying the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  It’s that little voice we often hear momentarily telling us to do something for someone else, but to which we quickly have an answer like, “But I’m so tired (busy, need help myself, ....fill in the blank_______) right now and someone else will probably help them.”  Or it may be that little voice that’s telling us not to be in such a hurry, not to eat another piece of cake, or not to say that biting remark.  My excuse is usually that I don’t know if it’s the Holy Spirit or just my Self harassing me.  

I don’t think God is trying to make it that hard for us to obey Him.  That is why our obedience begins and ends with trusting God for everything.  If we are truly in that humble place and love Him with our whole hearts, minds, bodies, and souls we will know what to do and what not to do.  It will not be an effort to figure it out.  Our downfall is that we try to act like Christ because we think that’s easier than doing the real thing.   But if our hearts aren’t right with God, that’s all it will be--an act.  To do the real thing is to have no rehearsal.  To do the real thing is to love Him and let Him be Himself in us.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;” Galatians 5:22, 23a