Encore - 976 - How To Get Right With God - Habakkuk 2:4

Hey, it's Mike Henry with Follower of One and today's passage, still in the Old Testament, Habakkuk 2:4, "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by his faith." I love the last phrase in that verse. I love an old Rich Mullins song that he wrote that was about this verse: The Just Shall Live.   And, I want to talk today about how we get right with God. I think it's interesting because I always thought that getting right with God meant that I had to live according to a bunch of rules. I had to check the boxes and do the right things. I had to be baptized and go to church and do this and do that.   And I love the way now that I think about this verse, because I think Jesus has flipped it in my mind. When I live by faith, I do what Jesus says. There are days when Jesus tells me I need to go to church, or I need to tell the truth, or I need not to eat that extra dessert. When I'm living by faith, I listen to Jesus. I follow him. I am a Follower of One.    When I'm living by faith, I'm righteous. I'm doing the things that Jesus would have me do. I'm following Him and I'm in line with Him. I'm in the Jesus groove, doing the things that Jesus would have me do. It's not that I'm trying to obey a certain set of rules. I'm trying to conform my life to the direction set for it by my Creator, by the person who gave me life and who put me here. And we're also told in Ephesians 2:10 that He gives each of us a job to do, that He created us for good works that He prepared beforehand, that we would walk in them. "Behold as for the proud one," the one who goes his own way, which is what I tend to do.   I can be one of the most arrogant, proud people I know, and when I do, my soul is not right within me. I'm wrong, I'm broken, I'm off track. I'm out of the groove. I'm not operating according to those things that I was created to do. But when I live by faith, when I put my trust in Jesus and I do what He tells me to do on a moment by moment basis, I'm righteous.That's how you get right with God. It's not about doing the things, the rules that other people cast on you, it's about following and obeying Jesus.    Today in our workplaces, I would like to challenge us. Today, let's listen to God, ask him what He would have us do. Remember, our first prayer is to punch in. Here I am lord, put me to work. Let's punch in and ask him to show us what He would have us do for the people that we will interact with today. And then when we hear a word from him, when we get an idea, if you pray and all of the sudden you get this wild idea, you can pretty much bet it was Jesus. If that wild idea lines up with scripture, find a way to do it, find a way to solve for that.   Whatever idea came into your brain, find a way to implement it. You can believe that you're following Jesus. You're living by faith, living by trusting Him. Listen also to other believers in your life, attend church and listen to the leadership of your church. Have other Christians who are involved, and read the scripture.   But when we talk to Jesus and He gives us ideas, let's find ways to do them. Today, give away a little bit of your life to the people that you work with. Ask Him, ask God to show you what to do, and then do it. Thanks for being a marketplace minister. And thank you for following Jesus at work for living by your faith.   That makes us righteous. Let's do that today so that Jesus will be visible in our world. Thanks very much.