Blood Bought; Justified

May 28

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Anonymous

It may be that you are weary of trying to make things right, to make things work in the situation you face every day but Jesus is the buffer between you and the circumstances that confront you. Jesus is your Strength, Jesus is your Hope, Jesus is your Defender, Jesus is the Lover of your soul in whose eyes you are completely acceptable because you—like everyone who purports to be a Christian—wear HIS robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). Jesus is your Justifier. HE makes you right before God!

Not because you are perfect; not because you are unflawed; not because you are free of sin are you able to stand holy and perfect—justified before your holy and perfect Jesus—but because you are washed clean in Calvary’s flow and you wear the robe of righteousness that He has placed upon you, you stand justified before Him.

If you are perfect in Jesus’ eyes, the opinion flawed men have of you is of little consequence to you. When your accusers are looking upon you with eyes of disdain that are veiled in thinly applied courtesy or decorum, remember that their eyes are blind to their own sin and they are swallowed in smug self-satisfaction that will cause them great grief when they stand before God. Be ever mindful that the praise of God is of infinitely more value than the praise of men (John 12:43.)

So try again to convey the power of the forgiveness and the love Jesus has lavished upon you and the settled peace that comes to you because you know you are clean and righteous in HIS eyes. Try again today to reveal to those who feel justified in themselves that the only true justification they have for their sins of omission and commission lies in their placing those sins at the feet of Jesus and allowing themselves to forgive and love as the Lord does.

And if their hard hearts will not allow their blind eyes to see that truth today, try to reveal it to them again tomorrow…and the next day after that...and the next…and the next. Why? Because their souls are in the balance. The hardness of their hearts, their self-righteousness may cause you distress in time, but they are robbing them of eternity. The Word is clear: no man can be forgiven if he does not forgive (John 20:23).

So, be the Lord’s blood-bathed, justified, beloved child before your enemies and persecutors today and for all your tomorrows, because first, that is WHO you are and second because that is what your accusers must finally come to recognize if they are to ever be blood-bought and justified.