Showing posts with label righteousness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label righteousness. Show all posts

Set Up the Tent!

 


This morning, I found myself in Psalm 118. I was actually headed to Psalm 119. I know it's the longest chapter in the Bible, but man is it rich! But before I could get to it, my eyes fell on the column before. I read verse 15 of Psalm 118 which says this: The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. I paused to think about this for a little bit and focused on three words: rejoicing, salvation, and righteous.

It just kind of makes sense that rejoicing and salvation belong in the tents of the righteous. But I backed up a few verses and found out that the writer just stated that the enemy had surrounded him. Verses 10 through 13 painted a rather dire picture with a glimpse of faith and light. The psalmist says all nations surrounded me - but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They surrounded me, yes they surrounded me; but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees...

Talk about feeling pressed on every side! Ever feel that way? Boy, I do! Our tasks and responsibilities can feel overwhelming as caregivers. We can feel surrounded for sure - pay this bill, make this appointment, order these supplies, etc. At times, it can be our emotions that surround us - who needs an "enemy"? Caregivers can feel overwhelmed with pain, grief, and fear. It can seem like our emotions are pulling us this way and that. Now, obviously, we don't want to "destroy" our emotions. lol. But we do know that when we feel surrounded, we have a refuge. We have a safe place to go - and that is our salvation, isn't it? I can't tell you how many times I've dumped my emotional overload on God's broad shoulders. And you know what, He's never rejected them or handed them back. 

Even when we are surrounded, overwhelmed, or uncertain we can still rejoice. How is that? Well, I'm glad you asked. I thought about his phrase for a while this morning. The voice of rejoicing and salvation are in the tents of the righteous. Even the caregiver's tent! How could that be? Because our righteousness is His gift to us. His salvation is a free gift to us - it just costs us a bit of faith, which He also gave to us.(Romans 12:3) The things God gives us cannot be taken away or shaken by circumstances. No matter how dire or difficult our situations become while we are on this earth - His free gifts stand. And that is cause for rejoicing!

Nothing can remove His salvation, His hope, His peace, His righteousness. His work is complete and secure - and in that, I can rejoice!

Today, I will set my mind on the things He has done that cannot be changed. I'll meditate on His righteousness, His peace, and His love. I'll think about how He doesn't withdraw any of His gifts or promises from caregivers. There will be rejoicing in my tent today as I think about His great love for me. There may even be a little bit of singing and shouting as I realize that His love for me is so secure tragedy, trials, or tribulation cannot shake it! Man, that's awesome! I'll think about His steadfast love all day as I trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?


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I Got Your Back!

This morning as I was reading about some of Paul's hardships in 2 Corinthians 6, I thought about the caregiver. He really nailed a few things on the head for us even though our hardships take very different courses. He talks some about having patience and working to exhaustion and  sleepless nights as well as our sincere love, purity and kindness all through the power of God. Verse 9 says we are close to death, but here we are still alive! Sound familiar? In verse 10 he talks about how our heart aches, but we still have joy and many spiritual riches to share. As I was reading this passage I thought about how much all of this seems to apply to our situations as well.

But something else caught my eye - verse 7 says this - God's power has been working in us. We have righteousness as a weapon, both to attack and to defend ourselves. I thought about that a lot and even matched it up with Job and how he had to keep telling his "friends" that he was righteous before God. His circumstances did not indicate his standing before God. It's the same with us - There are times when I feel so faithless and occasions when well meaning church people have added to that burden. But think about it a bit - our circumstances do not alter God's righteousness in us. We are covered by the blood of Christ no matter what trials life brings our way. We wear his righteousness as a breastplate as it protects our heart (Eph 6) - and Jesus is our righteousness and He never changes.

Today I will continue to meditate on the title of today's blog - But I will remember that God has my back! His righteousness covers and is strong enough and unwavering enough to cover me in both good times and bad! Will you join me?

Now This is Good News

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I have loads of questions on a daily basis. Caregiving was not what I was planning to do with my latter years. I had other things in mind like traveling the world. If I am not careful I can get all bogged down in what could have been and then I cannot adequately deal with the day. But today I stumbled across a scripture as I was reading and it really hit me that even if life doesn't look like I thought it was supposed to...it does not mean it's all messed up. That was good news for my mind and heart this morning.

Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the Romans. What's significant about that is that he was writing on purpose to the Gentile population. He was writing to encourage them in this new walk of faith that they had embraced. In verse 16 of the first chapter he begins to tell them that he isn't ashamed of the gospel of Christ; that it is the power of God for those who believe. And then verse 17 was what grabbed my attention this morning: This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. (NLT)

Even if life does not go as planned and it does not look perfect - we do not lose our right standing  (righteousness) with God. Through faith He carries us and keeps us in right standing with Him. Even in all my whining, griping and thousands of questions a day - He keeps me in right standing with Him. Now that's some good news! Our righteousness is not disrupted by the rough days or the smooth days that life throws at us. We just have to keep trusting in Him!

Today my meditation will be on the righteousness He has provided for me to walk in.

The Easy Stuff

It can be quite the battle to keep from being cynical or hard for lots of people these days, but especially for those who are in a constant daily struggle. We can wonder where God is and if He is still watching us why some things happen. And add to that being abandoned by people we loved and trusted and you have the makings of an emotional mess. Then on top of all that - we have to deal with the crazy health system; some people who are just doing a job with no heart and some who are not even doing the job part! It can be so easy to just feel like we are mad at everyone and if we are not careful we can turn our "expectors" off...it's easier that way.

In the midst of all the struggles we must endure each day there are times when we can feel like we suffer great loss. The lives we used to know and enjoy have passed away and many are prisoners in their own home...or that's the way it feels sometimes. Some days we count these losses; others we adjust and smile and just trudge on through.

Hosea 10:12 talks about breaking up the "fallow" ground. (that's old KJV!) I always thought that fallow just meant hard. But a little more study and I found out that it means ground that's already been plowed and then has sat and become hard again. If we do not guard our hearts carefully our hearts can be fallow.

The end of verse 11 says that Judah  must break up the hard ground and then the Lord will rain righteousness. Judah means praise...When we praise Him even in the hard times, it will keep our hearts from being hardened. But that's not always easy - even though it's doable. Sometimes there doesn't seem to be a place to start.

Two things are mentioned in verse 12 that are unchangeable: righteousness and love. In these crazy worlds caregivers live in where things can change dramatically from one second to the next, these two things will never change. They are the easy stuff. We do not have to work at all - they will not leave us! He is our righteousness no matter what life throws our way; and His love for us cannot be changed!

Today let us  praise Him for His steadfast love. Let us praise Him that He is our righteousness and we do not have to work to please Him. He is happy with us and we are hidden in Him.

Where Did the Kingdom Go?

Sometimes it seems like we can be so cut off from the rest of the world. We just have to face it - our lives are different. We cannot always come and go like others. It's not always possible to just jump up and run to the store just because a necessary item is running low. Trust me - it even takes careful planning to not run out of toilet paper and trash bags! Many times the caregiver may feel like we live in a cave and totally separate from the rest of the world. For many, going to church regularly, or even at all, is out of the question. This morning I was reading Romans 14 and came to verse 17 which says this: the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. I found this very comforting.

We are not missing out on the Kingdom of God just because we live separate lives. Actually, we may be closer to the Kingdom than many common church goers. These three things righteousness, peace and joy are ours because we not only live in the Kingdom - but the Kingdom is  in  us as believers. No matter what our lives look like to ourselves or to others the Kingdom is near  us - the Kingdom is in  us.

We have His righteousness which covers us and this is how we appear before God. As caregivers we can understand living in His peace- as ours was robbed long ago. And when joy seems far removed and pain seems so near - we can rejoice that we are His. It's interesting that these three characteristics of the Kingdom of God remain when the rest of our world has been so shaken. The Kingdom of God is still within us. It is a choice whether we walk in it or not each day. Today let us dwell on these three aspects.

Let's meditate on the truth that His righteousness covers us no matter what life throws our way. And dwell on the truth that His peace fills our hearts even in the midst of this present turmoil.Then let us rejoice that there is nothing in time that can take these away- nothing that can reduce the level of righteousness He covers with, nothing that can remove us from His kingdom - we are permanent residents! The Kingdom is in us - let us rejoice!

Sow What!

The life of a caregiver does not include enough time to get bored. And although the loneliness can chip away at our soul, there are never two days alike and plenty of chores that simply must be done every single day to keep us plenty busy. Sometimes I look at how much I need to get done in a day and wonder if I will make it. Many times I wonder what it is that God wants from me...from here. Life looks so different now. Years have been spent doing the religious things and sadly enough it seems I am so guilty of mistaking those activities for relationship. But these circumstances did not take Him by surprise - He sort of planned ahead for them.

In Psalm 97 there are a couple of very interesting points. Verse 10 reminds us that we are to hate evil and love God. There are no stipulations for when times get tough or situations change; it's always the same. But the next part of verse 10 says that He preserves the souls (not the bodies)  of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. This is so comforting I think. He will preserve and protect my soul. No circumstance, no situation, no occurrence can harm my soul or my salvation. Salvation cannot be altered by trials or tribulations; my soul is safely secured in Him.

Verse 11 is what really caught my eye this morning. It says light is sown like seed for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart. Of course my first thought was how does that work? After a little meditation I think I got an answer. He sows seeds of light for those who are righteous so that when it is dark - we can still find our way. He sows gladness for the upright so that when trouble abounds - we can still be glad in Him. He planned ahead for our adversity. It does not say that He handed us light or gladness; it does not say that he gives it out when we come to Him. No - He planted it and allowed it time to grow and mature for the exact time we would face our darkest hour. He prepared light for us to be able to see Him in the darkness life brings our way.

He has equipped us to walk this journey hidden in Him no matter what troubles present themselves along the way. Today rejoice in the truth that you are a child of the light - and that He has removed you from the kingdom of darkness and placed you in His kingdom of light - the light He prepared for you to walk in!

Looking for Peace?

The caregiver's life is never dull. There are all sorts of activities and duties that demand our time and at times it can be very hectic. Some days come and go peacefully without any huge mishaps; and some days there can be one thing after another that occurs to disrupt our peace. Some think that just because we are basically home bound we sit around bored all day with nothing to do! The caregiver doesn't even have time to think about getting bored most of the time! We are more likely looking for 5 minutes to grab here and there where we can just sit and breathe! Peace can seem far away...

 I stumbled across this scripture in my reading this morning and it have given me much to think about concerning peace. Isaiah 32:17 says this: and the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness quietness and confidence forever. 

 How does one do the work of righteousness? We are righteous by the blood of Christ...this is not speaking of getting righteous; but the work of righteousness. When I yield to the work of righteousness in my heart, then the fruit will be peace. Even though the world around me is full of stress and many activities - in my heart I am full of peace. And as I am yielded to the full work of righteousness that Christ has done and is doing in my heart and life, righteousness will serve me up a full serving of quietness and confidence!

 This kind of quietness and confidence brought about by His work of righteousness in my life will reveal a strength to carry me peacefully through my day! Isaiah 30:15 reminds us that through quietness and trust  we find our strength in Him. so walk confidently through today - trusting in His work in you. He will never fail to carry you through your day! Want peace? Rest in His work...

The Stare

  Do you ever just find yourself sitting and staring at the wall? It doesn't really happen too often because, quite frankly, who has tim...