Sunday daily devotional by Pastor David Okoye (Ambassadors Word Diet, 4th FEB. 2018) – Right Standing

… Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:33-34

Today, we would be looking at the latter part of our opening text; RIGHTEOUSNESS. This is by far one of the most important subjects in Christendom.

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Righteousness doesn’t mean acting right, or being sanctimonious. It means right standing with God. Through our opening text, we see that when one is righteous, he is exalted.

The word, nation, as used in the scripture above doesn’t just mean a country. When God talks about a nation, He refers to an individual that has gone through several generations. A nation starts with one man. For example, the nation of Israel started with Jacob.

This invariably means that if you would be exalted, you must be righteous. Righteousness would exalt you. But for everyone who lives in sin, there is a reproach on their life. Sin is the contradictory term of righteousness.

A reproach means a rebuke; a curse. The blessings of God would never be evident in the life of a man that is a reproach. This is why the first step in harnessing the blessings of the Kingdom is destroying the root and fruits of sin.

So many Christian deals with the root (which is important), but they forget the fruits of sin. The root of sin is completely different from the fruits of sin. Every natural man is born into sin. Sin has dominion over everyone that comes into the world.

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This is why no one ever teaches a child how to sin. It is because sin is a part of his genetic encoding. But when Jesus was crucified, the Bible records that He took the sins of the whole world and died with it.

So for everyone who identifies with Christ; every man who gives their life to Christ, the root of sin is destroyed. That sin no longer lords Him. The root of sin has been dealt with through Christ, but the fruits of sin are your responsibility to deal with.

David said in Psalms 119:19,

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Sin  can never function in a heart that is flooded with the Word of God. This is the only way you can deal with the fruits of sin.

The frequency of the Word of God in your heart would determine how victorious  you would be over the devil and over sin itself. Righteousness is your protection; without it, your heart and all your vital organs, are left exposed (Ephesians 6:14).

DECLARATION
I am exalted in life because I am righteous! Sin has no dwelling place in my life. I keep the Word in my mouth all the time.

SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE

Romans 7:4-5; Hebrews 2:1; Joshua 1:8

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