Right standing or still stumbling?

One thing I have to always remember, I have become the righteousness of God, only through the sacrifice of Jesus. II Corinthians 5:21

To be in right standing with God, you have to have a relationship with Jesus. It was by His sacrifice on Calvary, the shedding of His blood for us, that we have gained access to God! We have been made righteous by the blood of Christ, only if we have accepted Him as Lord and Savior! That is something you cannot pretend to do, or think you have. It is a relationship you are confident you have!

I have been doing a series, Functioning is the midst of dysfunction for the past few weeks. We have been following the life of a man named Joseph. When you have a right relationship with God you can face life head on! Joseph had such a relationship. If you know anything about Joseph, he had less than a perfect life. No matter what the circumstance he seemed to always hit a wall or a snag in life somehow.

But Joseph never wondered, never turned to the world to seek answers to all his problems. He managed to maintain his integrity. He stood strong in the face of adversity when most would have fallen on their faces in defeat. He knew where he stood, and he knew without a doubt who stood with him. The God of righteousness. He knew he served a God who would never leave nor forsake him. He was never alone.

In reading, teaching, and relating Joseph's life to ours, I found that God today is no different. He loves us as much, He is with us through our trials and challenges, God is there! He will never leave us nor forsake us, He is always there, not when life is only good, but in the fiery trials times also. As Joseph needed faith in God to stand righteous, we are no different, for us to be victorious in this life we have to have a right relationship.

God paved the way to that relationship when He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us. So we would be able again to have a right relationship with the Father. To be put in right standing with God through the shed blood of Jesus to cleanse our sins. We are struggling in two ways here. One, if we do not know the Lord as Savior, we have no relationship. Two, if we are struggling in our Christian life we have no relationship.

Both are very simple to fix, so simple that people are struggling everyday to get to a place of repentance. A confession of sins are needed in both areas. One to get saved and be released form the bondage of sin forgiveness for all you had done, past life. Two to get set from sin that keeps you from a right relationship with God, a cleansing that takes place, present life.

The first is the prayer of salvation, Romans 10:9-13, the second the prayer of confession, I John 1:9, both will set you free and put you in the relationship God wants with you. How about you? Are you in right standing with God, or still stumbling around in life?

II Corinthians 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.