For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:
{ Romans 7;18 }
I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is
concerned.
 
My dear brothers and sisters ,recently I was convicted by God by my behavior and
way of life as if I was accomplishing my own salvation .I was beginning to
become proud of my own obedience and performance with God .Slowly and subtle the
enemy crept in and I began to drift away from grace and began to fulfill my own
salvation by works .
I began to think highly of myself and prided myself in my own obedience as if I
was earning favor with God .I thought God was pleased with me because I was
doing well , and obeying him and from abstaining from vices and being celibate 
.I am truly blessed and was enjoying his blessings but at the same time I
thought I had to perform and do something more to be pleasing to God . 
 
God in his grace and wisdom showed me the error of my ways .When Jesus said on
the cross “ It is finished “ it was utterly and completely finished .Jesus
obeyed God completely and never failed ,never sinned .He is in me and i in Him
and his righteousness has been given to me .
God showed me that I was getting my eyes on myself and my own works which are
like filthy rags to God . But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our
righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags;..{ Isaiah 64;6 }We are all infected and
impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are
but filthy rags.{nlt}
God had to show me how filthy I truly am .I am a sinner saved by the grace of
God through faith .My eyes are back on Jesus the author and finisher of my faith
.For without him I am nothing but a worm and no man .
I learned a great lesson but an old one which I needed to be reminded  of .That
we do not win salvation by our obedience or performance .Nor do we gain favor
with God by anything we do or don’t do .Eternal life is a gift from God and a
gift can only be received, period. Again “ It is finished “ In Christ I stand 
and rest in God’s love for me.
When things are going well , we can become too strong , too full of ourselves
for God to use .We become self-righteous ,and imagine we are something special
.We lose our humility and become pompous ,proud and boast as if we are
indispensable. It’s easy to become self-reliant  , self-sufficient ,
self-confident  , and become independent of God  losing  sight of Jesus Christ 
.God often has to humble us or take us through difficult circumstances or places
to remove any confidence in self. The self-life must die and be buried . Nothing
,absolutely nothing is accomplished if I am trusting in my own works ,or my own
goodness ,or my own performance .It is all rubbish ,worthless .
 
 
 
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all
as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count
on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save
me.{ Philippians 3;8-9  nlt}
 
 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is
accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is
through faith that a righteous person has life.{ Romans 1;17 }.The just shall
live by faith ….Devotion by Fabian




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