Righteous Because of Jesus

I've gone off the radar in a sense for a while now. I don't feel like I'm strong enough for the "public" eye but yet here I am writing again because there is a part of me that can't keep quiet about the story God is weaving in my life.

Also, I have quit a lot of things in my life,  but I don't want to quit blogging because it brings me joy. So here I am.

Of course it's late at night, because that's when I can hear my thoughts the clearest and when I believe God helps me make sense of things. It's my quiet time. One of my favorite parts of my day is slipping into my warm bed and praying myself to sleep while I mull over life, friends, and family.

Speaking of that, I used to get anxious at that point of the day, I use to feel guilt and shame for all the things I did and said wrong, but I don't anymore, thank you Jesus.

I'll share something with you that I shared with my connection group the other day...

On Monday of last week, (Mondays happen to be my favorite days because they are fresh starts to a brand new week),  I was doing family devo with the kids at breakfast. We came across a scripture about how God is watching over the righteous, and how His ear is turned against the evil.  Drew chimed in and said something to the effect of, "so when I'm good, god hears me, and when I'm not, He doesn't hear me."

I immediately shut the book, and scooted up real close to Dylan and Drew. I wanted then to hear me. I told them, "you are righteous. You are righteous bc you believe in Jesus Christ and bc He died on the cross for your sins. So you are forgiven. And that alone makes you righteous. When you make mistakes, it's because you are not complete. You are a work in progress. When God saved you, He didn't say,"ok, you're perfect now and you will never mess up!" No! He said, you're mine now, let me teach you and train you so that you will be fully equipped for every good work. You are righteous because of Jesus, and when you do bad, that doesn't make you evil. It means you are in training. God still hears you and always will once you are His. Nothing you ever do can take you from His grip."

And when I said all of this, it was as if I myself was hearing it for the first time. I am righteous. I don't have to live in fear of doing the wrong thing because I'm already His. I'm a work in progress and my maker isn't giving up on me or leaving me ever. I don't have to impress Him(He made me), and I don't have to earn His love, he already showed me how much He loves me because Jesus died on the cross for any and all who will believe in Him.

Thank you Jesus. Thank you so much. I earnestly pray that I can truly translate to my kids as I teach them, train them, and love them, that this IS true!

Ephesians 3:16,17, Philipians 3:9,  1 Corinthians 1:30, Philipians 3:12, John 3:16, Romans 8:38,39