Righteousness

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Gen 15:1-6

15:1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." 2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

NIV

This is not Yahweh coming down and speaking face to face, but in a vision, which could mean that Abram was in some kind of ecstatic state which could mean an altered state of conscience, almost in a trace, or out of touch with ordinary life and may not be able to communicate with others. We wonder if anyone has ever experienced that kind of communication with God today. Nevertheless, because of the way God came to Abram, he wanted to make sure Abram was not afraid of how this vision was taking place. God wanted to ensure Abram, as he does with us, that the I AM is his and our shield, his and our very great reward. There is no question we have no greater reward in this life than to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior for we will inherit eternal life. There is no other reward in life than to live forever in the presence of our God. However, we can also learn a lesson from Abram as he questions God about the fact he has no offspring, that God had told him he would. When we ask a question of God, even in our doubt, in our time of not understanding what is true, He assures us, confirming his truth to us, and that He is always with us, in fact, dwelling within as the Spirit, and that we can stand firm. God reaffirmed Abram and as we must also learn, Abram believed the LORD, and so God credited that kind of faith as righteousness. It takes that kind of faith within us to be credited as righteousness, although, it is slightly or maybe majorly different. For our faith must be in Jesus Christ. We must believe the LORD or as we call him, God, that Jesus came to earth as a man, was crucified, paying our penalty for our sins, and was buried and raised from the dead and then ascended back into heaven. We must believe that is true and accept it on faith, without any proof other than the word of God, the bible. We may never have a vision, we may never hear the voice of God, or be so inspired by the Spirit, nevertheless, we believe, we have faith in Jesus and because of our faith in Jesus, God credits us as righteous. He sees us as holy and blameless, because of the righteousness of Jesus and that we are in Christ, and He is in us. Faith in the LORD caused Abram to be credited as righteousness, and faith in Jesus credits our righteousness.