Above Only Daily Devotional june 29 2019 By Archbishop Margaret E. Benson Idahosa Topic: Never Stay Down

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1 John 2:1-2 (NIV) My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Proverbs 24:16 (NIV) For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

 Your consciousness of your righteousness (your right standing with God through Christ) has a way of pulling you back up if you fall into sin. Many people in the Bible like David fell many times, but they did not stay down. If you fall into sin, don’t stay down in sin. Repent, receive God’s mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, get back up and fill yourself with so much more of God’s love, His word and His Presence so as to cause you not to fall again. God has made provision for you in Christ so that you do not stay down if you fall into sin. He has not only already forgiven us of our sins, He has also cleansed us from every tendency to go back to that unrighteousness, 1 Jn. 1:9.

Don’t define yourself by your weaknesses and failures. Focus on Christ and define yourself by what God says you are in Christ. The Lord is your strength. God has delivered you from sin and He has made your righteous; as righteous as Himself. The more you identify with your true nature, the more it will manifest in your experience. The angel that appeared to the women that came to Jesus’ tomb told them to tell His disciples and Peter (who had just denied Jesus three times) to meet with Him in Galilee, Mark 16:17. Jesus Himself had informed Peter that the devil had desired to have him and sift him as wheat, but He Jesus had prayed for him that his faith would not fail him. Jesus even told him to encourage and strengthen others after he was restored, Luke 22:31-32. God will lift you up, stabilize you and use you to encourage, lift up and stabilize others also.

Prayer Focus:

Come boldly to God’s throne of grace and receive His abundant love, grace and mercy to rise and be strong in Him.

Bible in one year reading plan: Job 14-16, Acts 9:22-43.