Show Notes: Shalom and welcome back to Fruit of the Kingdom Podcast! I'm your host Monica White. In today's episode we are talking about wearing the garments of righteousness in the Kingdom of God for the work of the Lord and the glory of the Lord. Before we jump into the deep and awesome treasures of scripture; I wish to thank Abba God in heaven for his son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and for the gift and indwelling of Holy Spirit. Father I pray (we) your people become increasingly and keenly aware of your presence reigning and ruling within us (that we become increasingly and keenly aware of the bounty of your love and wellspring of your living water flowing from our innermost being). Help us Holy Spirit to discern your still small voice; help us to stand in awe when you thunder from the heavens above. Let us not lose our sense of awe and reverence for your glory and majesty. You are holy, you are love, you are good. Holy Spirit teach us to clothe ourselves in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we bear much fruit, good fruit; and, bring glory to your name. Amen.
We know as children in the kingdom of God we are children of light and all that we are and all that we do in Jesus is by his grace, good measure of faith given unto us...with help from Holy Spirit. Once we seek the Kingdom of God and have come to learn what it means to enter into the Kingdom of God (or even to behold and perceive the Kingdom of God which could be a separate teaching); we can begin the process of seeking his righteousness. The first question I have for you is: How do we find the Righteous One, Jesus? Well, we can find him through his word; and today we will think of this process in the context of following a roadmap to get to our destination-unearthing the hidden treasures of righteous garments. So, we will look at Matthew 6:33 and then Romans 13. Matthew 6:33 instructs us to, "seek 1st his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well. We are currently in pursuit of this passage. Just for the purpose of context, Matt. 6:33 was written in the context of counsel (written to advise against the temptation and act of worrying and instructs the believer not to worry about what he/she will eat or drink for God knows what they have need of and he is their provider-in him they lack no good thing). Alright, so in pursuit of righteousness-we need to locate the garment of righteousness; which, happens to be the Righteous One...see Romans 13:14. The passage reads, "Instead clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh." That's an amazing truth to learn we can put on Jesus as a garment (in all that he is, in all that he represents: he is the lion of Judah, he is the Lord of Hosts, he is our Wonderful Counselor).
So, we're going to continue to identify additional garments of righteousness and then we'll get to my favorite parts of this teaching where we are going to discover the fruits produced from wearing the garments of righteousness! This is important so that we may come up with a game plan of how to apply this kingdom principle in our lives (our familial relationships, professional relationships, social, etc.). Go to Job 29:14, "I put on righteousness and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban." We are going to stay focused on the robe which speaks to our Kingdom Identity (our royalty with King Jesus); and, it also speaks to his covering over us. Next, we can locate the next garment in Isaiah 11:5, "righteousness will be a belt around his hips [referring to Jesus], and faithfulness the sash around his waist." The sash of faithfulness is a bonus garment for this teaching because it is our gift of faith (we exercise on a daily basis) that actually pleases God…we live, serve, and love through the good measure of faith gifted to us by God. Now, wearing the belt of righteousness speaks to the integrity of his righteousness versus unrighteousness such as self-righteousness. Like a belt the belt of righteousness of God will secure and uphold you having you to remain in God rather than in unrighteousness namely, self-righteousness. So, whether we are wearing any of the above garments of righteousness or the breastplate of righteousness located in Ephesians 6 regarding being dressed and equipped to engage in spiritual warfare on behalf of the kingdom of God...they will all yield fruit of the kingdom of God! So, I've located praise God 8 fruits produced from the garments of righteousness we can reap from the word of God and sow for the glory of God (*A method I'm referring to as P.R.S., which, we'll discuss later in this episode). **In this episode I used Strong’s Online Concordance and BibleHub.com for use of biblical references and terms.
So, the first fruit to yield from the garments of righteousness is, "God's unfailing love!" Hosea 10:12 records, "sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion (unfailing love depending on the translation).
Kingdom Authority! Isaiah 32:1 reads, “Behold a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
Wisdom! An additional route to gaining the wisdom of God is by wearing the righteous garments found in the kingdom of God. Psalm 37:30 reads, “The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.”
Peace! Isaiah 32:17 reads, “The fruit of the Righteous will be peace!!!
Quiet or Quietness as in Rest-quiet-undisturbed according to Strong’s Concordance Online Psalm 32:17
Confidence! In the context of safety… forever. Psalm 32:17
Deliverance in the context of Help. Psalm 37:39
Salvation in the context of Victory. Psalm 37:39
So, now let us move into the application phase for our growth and development and then we will finish with application for working as laborers for God’s harvest, amen!
To clothe yourself in Righteousness is to seek the kingdom of God as the bible instructs. This means we are availing ourselves to grow and mature by faith in the Spirit and word of God as a believer. This entails us taking on the mind of Christ which, (in essence) is being kingdom minded. The best example of distinction I would make regarding mindset could be that we move from a church mindset into that of a kingdom mindset.
Continue to do what we are doing now- seeking the righteousness of the Righteous One, Jesus Christ. This means we are pursuing those garments, we are wearing those garments, allow Holy Spirit to produce fruit from the garments of righteousness in us, our relationships-familial, professional, social, etc.
Actually, let us be about the Father’s business of clothing ourselves which requires us to include our heart, mind, soul, and spirit in the process of being clothed. This is not religion based; it’s about relationship and entering into a more intimate relationship with the Righteous One, Jesus Christ in our mind, heart, soul, and strength (which, is our display of our submission unto him). It is our act of obedience and our display of love toward him in spirit and truth.
One might inquire (now that we are dressed and ready for the occasion of Harvest to the glory of God!) What scriptures may we employ for the harvest wearing our garments of righteousness? This is where I will share with you all my strategy I call E.P.B.C. Strategy that I thoroughly enjoy and works for me! Feel free to try this strategy out and let me know how it goes for you. You can reach us at, https://monica-white.com.
E.P.B.C strategy stands for: Engage, Pursue, Become One With the Scripture (marry the scripture), and Conceive the scripture that you may produce fruit from it and sow for harvest! My premise for this strategy is found in Galatians 5:16-25
Application Time for Harvest-Things to Do! Employ P.R.S. Method. Pursue the word. Reap the harvest of the word found in the scripture, and lastly, Sow the word in the land- all to the glory of God that his kingdom come and will his be done on earth as in heaven!
When we take on the mind of Christ we are cognizant of the fact Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and King of kings, Lord of lords; then we can pursue peace, sow peace, and reap peace via of the garments of righteousness. James 3:18
We can sow for ourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of unfailing love. Hosea 10:12
Identify and rest living out truth found in 1 John 3:7-10; you are born of God. *If by chance you haven't given your life to Jesus Christ and you want a life of intimacy with him...then you can ask him to forgive you of your sins, to come and dwell in your heart, mind, soul, and spirit because you do believe and profess with your mouth that he is the true and living God, Savior, the son of God who died for your sins and rose to life on the third day that you may have abundant life in and through him, in Jesus' name. You can receive his love, forgiveness, and communion with Abba, our father in heaven. Please refer to Romans 8 as a point of reference for the above invitation. Folks please visit us online and communicate with us and share your journey. We are at: https://monica-white.com and https://fruitofthekingdom.podbean.com
Shalom Family.
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