And it was credited to him as righteousness

I have a story. There was this guy in the Bible called Abram. Later on, God changes his name to Abraham, but for now, he’s just Abram. God though he was pretty cool. Now, before Abraham was born, the world was pretty nuts. Adam and Even sinned way back in the Garden of Eden, and since then, there was this constant struggle of God remedying the world and then the people in the world messing up again and taking advantage of God and his love. After Adam and Eve, people got mad and violent and evil, so God sent a flood that destroyed everyone except Noah and his family. Things were ok for a while but then people started to get really proud and likened themselves to God himself. That really pissed God off, so he confused their language, creating multiple languages, and scattered everyone from the middle east into the whole world. This story is called the Tower of Babel. This kind of sorted out for a while, but then people got really bad. God really loved people, but so long as they chose to be proud and violent and evil, he couldn’t be friends with them. Enter Abram.
Abram, like Noah, was different to everyone else. He wasn’t violent or evil. He had a healthy self image and view of the world around him. And he knew God. 
-Interruption–  So God has this trend of using people. It’s not like God is weak and can’t control the universe without our expert help and direction. God just loves us so much that, although he could do everything perfectly and quickly on his own, he just wants to be near us and let us get involved every now and then. And what better way to speak to people than through people themselves? Ok back to Abram.

So you see now how God loves people but not many people love God? Well, God talked to Abram and said to him that he wanted to use Abram to make a difference in the world. And not just any difference. Abram was going to be called, ‘The father of many nations.’ His descendants would be famously large. God said they would outnumber the stars in the sky. 
There was one problem. Abram was old. And his wife was old. They had passed the point where they’d be able to have kids. It was impossible. 
But even though this looked crazy,looked like a lie, even looked like God was being cruel to promise something that couldn’t naturally happen, Abram knew God. He knew that God never makes promises he can’t keep. He knew that God had a best plan for his life. He knew that God was good, not mean and distant. And he knew he could trust God. 

And there it is in Genesis 15v6:  And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
It might not sound amazing, but it is. God considered him righteous. You see, in the world that Abram lived, and for the many years before that, God had searched to find righteous people and he saved them from the flood. It was the unrighteous that had hurt God and taken advantage off him. It was the unrighteous who rejected and disowned God. But it was the righteous that God trusted and used. 
God wants to use you, but you have to believe him. Take him at his word about what he has to say about you, the world you live in, and the things you can do to make a difference and really live life to the fullest. Believe him and be righteous. God won’t send fire from the sky or flood the earth and kill everyone or move you to some crazy place with a mad language so you can’t talk to your friends or family. But that’s not the point. These people that were so bent on doing their own thing couldn’t know God because their sin got in the way. Their doubt got in the way. Don’t let anything get in the way of your relationship with God. Not friends or family or work or fear or doubts or……….. You get the point. 
Lastly, have a think, and see where these three quotes from Jesus fit into your life:
Don’t be afraid, just believe.
Go, and sin no more.
I have come that you’ll have life, and life to the fullest!