Righteousness Leads to Flourishing Peace

“The work of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and assurance forever.” (Isaiah 32:17 NKJV)

    The Berean Study Bible says, “…the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.” That is what righteousness will give you – enduring quiet confidence, assurance forever!

    Faith is confidence in God. Peace is a quiet, calm confidence that we are living right before God and we are accepted by Him.

    The first epistle of John is filled with confidence-building statements. “By this you know…” and “By this we know…” are found 18 times in this one epistle! Please take time over the next few days to read through 1 John 1-5 and note these statements that give assurance to God’s children!

    When we do the things that John outlines, we can have peace with God! Living right before God – “keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22) – will result in “know”ledge (“By this we know…”), “confidence” (1 John 2:28), “boldness” (1 John 3:21), “assurance” (1 John 3:19), and “perfection” (spiritual maturity, 1 John 4:12-19).

    It is worth every effort to learn what is right and pleasing to God (Ephesians 5:8-10, 15-17)! You can experience true peace and quiet, confident assurance of hope through Jesus Christ! God promises it! He has provided all we need to know and to do in order to attain it! Use your time wisely, walk in the light and find out what is acceptable to the Lord, and come to understand His will so you can flourish in peace!

You can do it! So can I!! 

"God of... hope"

    Similar to the term “God of mercy” (that we studied last week), the term, “God of hope,” is alluded to throughout the bible but the actual term is only found once in the bible, in Romans 15:13.   

“Now may the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NKJV)

hope (from the Greek, ‘elpis,’ Strong’s #G1680) meaning expectation of good, joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation

    God is the author and origin of our hope, the very reason for our hope. It was by His plan, formed before the foundation of the world, that we have hope in Him through His Son: “…knowing you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold…but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot. He was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:18a, 19-21 NKJV)

    Consider Jeremiah’s words:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and it will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:1-8 NKJV)

    The prophet paints a picture of peace, contentment, and joy, as the ‘tree’ remains healthy and continues to develop and produce fruit even during ‘the year of drought.’ That is what the God of hope can do for us! He can fill us with joy and peace in believing!

    Why?

    That we may ABOUND in hope!

abound (from the Greek, ‘perisseuo,’ Strong’s #G4052) means to overflow, to have above and beyond ordinary measure, to exceed

    Think on this definition of hope – and consider the fact that God desires you to abound in it:

“Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future – it expects it to happen. And not only expects it to happen – it is confident it will happen. There is a moral certainty the good we expect and desire will be done.” - John Piper

    Hope is the great stabilizer – think again of the strong, well-rooted, and well-nourished tree, able to withstand the storms of life. When your origin of hope is in God, it gives you great peace and enduring joy even amidst the trials of life, because you are wholly confident in His power, faithfulness, goodness, grace, and mercy!

“For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You. I have become a wonder to many, but You are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day… I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.” (Psalm 71:5-8, 14-16 NKJV)

    God wants you to abound in hope – a hope that nourishes you with joy and roots you in peace through the good days and the bad, a hope that overflows and becomes evident, causing you to be a wonder to many, and giving you opportunity to proclaim the reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15)!

    Let your hope be in our loving God of hope – joying in His provision and living in true peace as you trust in His abilities – and develop a hope that absolutely ABOUNDS!!

You can do it! So can I!! 

"God of... my righteousness"

    This description of God is found only once in the Bible, it was penned by David, and found in Psalm 4:1.

“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.” (NKJV)

    As we have been learning in this study when we see the term “God of…,” we understand that God is the author and originator of whatever follows; He is the source from which we can obtain it in its completest and purest form.

    David praises God from Whom he has learned righteousness, by Whom he has been guided in the most proper way. God established what is right and has not left His creation to guess at what that is; He rose early and gave His commands and instructions, even having them written for accurate remembrance, complete with the reward and consequence that would come respectively from His followers obedience and disobedience.

    Because God has loved His people enough to provide knowledge of how to live right in His sight David could be calm and feel safe even in distresses (Psalm 4:1, 8). His adherence to God’s righteousness kept him focused on proper conduct when he was feeling angry (Psalm 4:4-5) and developed his desire for others to know of it and to follow it with him (Psalm 4:2-3, 6-7). Knowing he was doing his very best to align himself with God’s way of living, he felt assured of God’s promises to hear and to help (Psalm 34:17-19; 145:17-19, Proverbs 15:29, James 5:16).

    The psalmist who wrote the Hebrew acrostic known to us as Psalm 119 dedicated a whole section to righteousness. Verses 137 through 144 are under the title letter, TSADDE.

Side note: the Hebrew term, ‘tzadik,’ which means ‘righteous person’ is based on the Hebrew letter, TSADDE (or TSADE).

TSADDE

Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.

Your testimonies, which You have commanded, are righteous and very faithful.

My zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten your words.

Your word is very pure; therefore Your servant loves it.

I am small and despised, yet I do not forget Your precepts.

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth.

Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, yet Your commandments are my delights.

The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding, and I shall live.”

(New King James Version)  

    This is the conduct and attitude of a righteous person (1 John 3:7), someone who delights in the doing of God’s commands, who has learned the value of His instruction, and is continually discovering the wisdom found in His law.

    A righteous person also comes to appreciate the everlasting-ness of God’s righteousness. What God has called right and proper – and what He calls wrong and sinful - has not changed, will not change. We serve the God of righteousness just as David and the psalmist did, just as Jesus did, just as Mary, Martha, Paul, and Cornelius did!

    God gave His commands and instructions, having faithful men write them down, so that they may be preserved through the ages for us, and all future generations, as He wills.

    Is God the God of your righteousness? Do you look to Him for instruction in pure, absolute righteousness? Do you do your very best to align yourself with His instructions and commands? Are you assured of His comfort and help? Look to God for all that is right and proper, gain understanding of His way (Ephesians 5:15-17), and live with full assurance before Him!

You can do it! So can I!!