Thankfulness & Confession

This is a guest post from Brad Scheelke, manager of Oasis Books in Logan, Utah. 

Greetings in our kind and merciful Father.

“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God —that is our righteousness, holiness and
redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the
Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

Let’s thank the Father often that because of Him we are in
His Son.

When you think of wisdom, what do you think about? Is it
about how well or poorly you know the Bible?

When you think of holiness, what do you think about? Is it
about how consistently you obey God or how frequently you sin?

This passage states that the person of Jesus Christ is our
wisdom, holiness, righteousness, and redemption. It does not say that He has given
these to us, but rather that He IS these for us. It does not depend on
our performance, but only on whether we are in the Son. If we have Him, we have
all these things.

Therefore, let us boast (glory or rejoice) in Him. Many
believers I know experience significant discouragement because they have
difficulty moving their eyes from their failures to Christ. This does not mean
we should excuse our sin; but we should see it in light of His holiness rather
in light of a perfect performance. If you happen to be one of those saints who
has difficulty seeing beyond your failures, I suggest thanking the Father for
what you read or know from the Scriptures that He has done for you in His Son.
Thank Him often and even out loud.

Twenty years ago, I wrote a short booklet entitled Thankfulness
and Confession, which tells how God the Father encouraged the heart of a
believing friend who was nearly always severely depressed and hardly ever
smiled, in spite of spending most of his time listening to the Bible on tape,
Bible preaching, and Christian music. But as he began to thank the Father for
what He had done for him, his spirits began to rise, slowly at first, but
steadily. After a few years, he became one of the most cheerful saints I know.
The old temptations to depression, paranoia, rejection, and condemnation are
rare and easily resisted. For years, he had been fearful of speaking up in
Bible studies. Now he easily prays out loud and has led Bible studies. Our
Father certainly is patient with those who are weak. If you would like to read
his story, follow
this link to get a copy. The application is so simple that most readers
seem to neglect to make the choice this brother made.

Brad Scheelke