As I sit quietly in the presence of the Lord, he reminds me of his greatness through the gift of righteousness. God’s grace working in Christ is sufficient to make us right and holy before him in love. There was absolutely nothing we did nor could do to be counted righteous before him, except to say yes to Jesus. Even this is not of our own doing, but the Holy Spirit is wooing us to Jesus. This brings God great pleasure when we enjoy the beauty of Jesus. God went before us to remove the hard scales over our heart, the natural stubbornness of humans, just as a Father loves his child. Oh, what manner of love God the Father has for us! Do we walk with integrity in all manner of life? Do we live rightly and love the Lord and all rightly? Probably not! But the good news is that because of God’s gracious love toward creation and specifically for those who believe in his Beloved Son, he calls his very own children and now sees them with an upright and new heart.

What does this mean? From the beginning, God created us to live in a Genesis state of awe and wonder as being formed in his perfect image (imago Dei; Genesis 1:26-27). God formed Adam from the dust to create a physical being, but when he breathed his spirit into him, Adam, became a living being formed from the image of the Trinity. From the fall, man and woman’s image was fractured through disobedience. In God’s grace, he brought forth Jesus, the perfect image and exact imprint of his nature to fully restore creation unto completion and make us right before him for all eternity. Hallelujah! We now have received every blessing, good thing, from the heavenly places in Christ to live in the fullness of God’s promises that are Yes, and Amen!

Deuteronomy is a book of repetition. I love repetition because it is how we learn, grow, and cultivate our new life in Christ through the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. My kids would often say, “Mama, can we do this again, and again? In Deuteronomy 9:5, Moses repeats God’s words to the congregation, “It is not because of your righteousness or integrity of heart that you are going to take possession of the promised land, but because of the evil of the nation that God will drive them out.” The people needed to be reminded repeatedly that their hearts have been rebellious since the beginning. God alone would do the work; their responsibility was to obey his commands and then trust that he would act on their behalf. Jesus is our promised land who has taken our hearts captive to dwell within our being forevermore. To better understand this gift of righteousness, upright heart, we must seek Jesus Christ in every dimension of our lives. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have filled the chasm between what we believe and how we live. This is a practice and means our faith formation is key to seeking the things above. An upright heart is a fruit of the vine of Christ.

The more we spend time with Jesus, abiding in him and understanding that he defeated the enemy and drove him out of our lives, we can begin to integrate the depth of our faith, our new heart, within our emotions, our intellect, our relationships, workplace, health and wellness, and stewardship. We call this a right practice. Jesus is our praise and cheering us on through this arduous journey of life to become the person in spirit, soul, and body he has created us to become. We thank and praise you, Lord! Three simple tools to walk with an upright heart:

• Observe all of life and others through lens of God’s gracious love
• Praise God for Christ’s restoration in you
• Acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s breath and life moving in you throughout your day

Dear Father,

We praise you for our righteousness in Christ. Thank you for forming us through the perfect image of Jesus Christ so that we now witness and partake every day the breadth and depth of our new life in the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus name,

Amen!

Blessings

Dr. Caroline