"No one will be declared righteous through obedience to the law." The New Testament writers state this time and time again. Yet we've all tried to live up to the law, and we've all fallen flat on our faces under the law's harsh judgment. We don't have what it takes to carry out the laws stringent requirements. But Jesus did. And he followed it both in letter and spirit. Which qualified him to stand in your place and take your punishment. To be the sacrifice that would take away your sin once and for all. He did this so that you could be declared righteous in his sight through faith not having a righteousness of your own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

Are you right with God? If you are a believer in Jesus, you are. He made you that way. Listen to Paul's words, "God made him who had no sin" that's Jesus "to be sin for you, so that in him you might become the righteousness of God." Jesus took your sins and unrighteousness and in exchange gave to you the righteousness of God. This was his gift, freely given by grace. Which means you are right with him right now. And because of Jesus's death, burial and resurrection, you will always and forever be right in God's sight. This status will never change. So take your stand on this truth. Rejoice that you have been made right with God. And you will see the fruits of his righteousness transform your life.

Here is an astonishing truth God wants to reveal to you exactly who he is and what he thinks about you. This is so important to him that he sent His Spirit to take up residence in you. Paul explained that as a believer in Jesus "you have received the Spirit who is from God, so that you may understand what God has freely given you." What this means is that through the Spirit of God, you now have the mind of Christ. You can understand the Word of God. Why? Because you have his teacher living inside of you to guide you into all truth and to take the things of Jesus and makes them known to you. As you read the Bible, depend on the Spirit to open your eyes to see and experience the truth that will set you free.

At the beginning of my freshman year at the University of Georgia, I made a vow to be God's guy. The first morning I picked up my Bible and started reading Matthew four chapters that day, and four the next, and so on for several months. I have to confess, I didn't get very much out of what I read back then. Honestly, it was nothing more than words on a page. Maybe you have had the same experience. Here is what I discovered. I was reading the Bible like the Pharisees, who diligently studied the Scriptures to have eternal life, but they missed Jesus. And I did too. I tried to make the Bible about me. But it is his story, God's testimony concerning His Son. Next time you open the Bible, read it to grow in your knowledge of Him. It will change your life.

Sheep need a shepherd. They constantly go astray without one. It's just their nature. You and I do the same thing when we try to figure out life on our own. We go astray. That was me. Regardless of how smart I thought I was, or how much I believed I was in control, I had a hard time staying on the right path. So often, I leaned on my pride and ego to shepherd me through life. But they don't make very good shepherds. But Jesus is different. He is the good shepherd, your good shepherd. He laid down His life for you and secured you as His own. He knows you and you know His voice. So let me encourage you today to follow him, the Shepherd and overseer of your soul. He will lead you down the right paths. He will restore your soul.

Cardo is a Latin term given to the main north-south thoroughfare in all ancient roman cities. It was the heart of the town, the center where all the activity happened. Now for the Romans, the activity wasn't so good. Their motto was everything to excess. It's a good picture of the unregenerate heart. Think about it. Before you knew Christ, your life revolved around the things of the world. As Paul wrote, you lived to gratify the desires of the flesh. But all that changed the day you received Christ. He gave you a new heart where Christ now dwells through faith. He cut away that old life ruled by the flesh, buried it and then raised you to live a new life. One with a heart that is now centered in him.

Life is filled with troubles of every kind. Trials and tribulations come at us like waves to the sand. And with each trial we wonder how will we get through will Jesus be enough? We're not always sure, are we? Sometimes our doubts and worries tell us otherwise. But time and time again, Jesus proves that he is enough. And that His grace is sufficient for any and every situation. And as that truth deepens in our hearts and minds, it prepares us for the next trial to depend of Christ whatever life throws our way. This is how we grow and mature. James put it this way. "You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1: 3-4).

Do you know that God has given you a ministry? He calls it the ministry of reconciliation. Paul explained it this way "that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them." This is the message of reconciliation he has committed to you to share. Sometimes it's hard to do, because we hold people's sins against them. And we want judge them for what they have done. But not God. He has already dealt with every sin through the shed blood of Christ. Now he is in the business of giving life His life to anyone who will receive it. And he uses you to make that offer to urge others on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God.

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to have an audience with royalty To stand in the presence of a king or a queen? Have you ever thought about how an occasion like that could happen? Well it could of course, but only at the royal's initiative. He would be the one to grant you access and then, at the appropriate time, to summon you into his presence. The same is true with God. But here is the good news. He has already taken the initiative. He has summoned you into his presence through the good news of Jesus. It's news that makes you part of his royal family. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "you have access to the Father by one Spirit." What are you waiting for go boldly in. That's where you belong.

Listen to these encouraging words from the Apostle Paul "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." You maybe having a rough time right now and things aren't going the way you want them to go. You may even feel like God is a million miles away. If that's the case, will you stop and thank God that you have been justified through faith? Think about it, right now you are in right standing with him Why not give thanks that you are at peace with Him through Jesus and thank him that you are standing in his amazing grace. There is no better place to be.