July 28, 2026 Devo

July 28th, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets
“For the time is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: ‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.” – Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NLT)
“The Lord Is Our Righteousness!”

Today, I have been working on my sermon for next Sunday on Self-Control. It’s the last message in my series on the Fruit of the Spirit. What’s interesting is that as I was working on it, I realized the term “self-control” is really a bit misleading. The “self-control” that Paul is talking about in Galatians 5 is actually surrendering to “God-control” in every area of our lives. It’s not us having more willpower. It’s recognizing we need more of HIS power! That’s why Paul prefaces the list of the fruit of the Spirit with this statement, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives…” We need His strength, not more of our own.
I thought about that as I read our passage today. Jeremiah prophesies here about the coming of Jesus. He will be the King whom Israel and Judah long for. He is The One who can do what no other king has done. He will be the Good Shepherd. He will be Just and Right and Good. And He will be our Savior. What a beautiful prophecy about our Lord.
But I want you to catch His Name. “The Lord Is Our Righteousness.” In other words, Jesus is not only the vehicle through which we are made right before God, but He is also the Only One through whom we can LIVE righteously before God. I am not saved because of anything I’ve done. I am saved only by putting faith in what Jesus has done for me! Likewise, I can’t live a righteous life. No matter how much I desire to do right, to be obedient, or to exercise self-control, I can’t. But Jesus can! Just as He has erased my sinful past, He can live victoriously through me each day as I stay humble and surrendered to Him. I am not a righteous man. But I AM wrapped in the robes of my Righteous King! To Him be all the glory!!
Soak this in today. You who have been beating yourself up because you “just can’t get it right,” hear me. You never will. You can never make yourself righteous enough before God or yourself. But the good news is that you don’t have to! This Righteous King, of whom Jeremiah prophesied about, has come to do what you cannot. Surrender your heart and your past to Him. HE will make you righteous. Surrender your life and yourself daily to Him and to the control of His Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus has come, His Spirit lives in us, and HE is “The Lord Our Righteousness”! That’s God’s Word for you today.