Works of Righteousness?

Or works for righteousness?  There is a subtle, but very important difference.

"This living flame of love is so untouchable, so unquenchable, that it is virtually impossible for us to ever draw near without being consumed. This is why it is ultimately necessary that God Himself becomes our righteousness. We are incapable of reaching that place of purity and perfection which He requires of our own accord. And so Christ must positionally become our "right living" so that we can freely enter the love of God."      ~John Crowder

This has been a theme that's really been impressed on me in the last couple weeks.  I've been holed up at home, cleaning, organizing, sweeping, building, planting, vacuuming...you get it.  But there's been a lot of seemingly 'mundane' activities going on.  How to stay content?

Remember that Yahweh has gifted us fruit that remains (John 15:16).  And this fruit of peace, love and joy is found in His son.  It's found in focusing on Jesus.  

To 'do' works of righteousness, you need to abide.  And to abide in divine Love, you need to believe. That's why Jesus stated that the work of God could be boiled down to the effort of believing.  If we fall out of communion and try to earn our own righteousness, then we've fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4).  We've started to work for something we already have.  How crazy is that?

God wants us to be working into a labor of love.  He wants us to have such a divine sense of purpose in our lives that even sweeping the floor is fun.  There is a pleasure found in partnering with Him in even the smallest task.  You life may look pretty similar to that of an unbeliever.  The difference is that you are a friend of God within your mind (Colossians 1:21)!  The difference is that your joy can always be complete (John 15:11).  

Having your heart fixed on God, overwhelmed in Him, is enough to call the Glory down.  Staying in the Love of God is a training process, and we've got out entire lives to fully learn it (Luke 6:40).  I know I mess up sometimes.  But even our own failures ultimately point us to a greater reality, which is the limitless, immeasurable, too-good-to-be-true grace that we must be reminded to rely upon.  

"For we are Yahweh's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Yahsua Messiah, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."       ~Ephesians 2:10