Meditation on Righteousness

A few months ago I was reading Isaiah chapter 11 when I began seeing some things in a new light. I had read this chapter before a few times but failed to see what I saw this last time. Below is my attempt to articulate the beauty of God's holiness that washed over me as I marinated in this scripture. As most things of the spirit, it transcends language because our human language is too small to communicate such realities. But I tried!

Isaiah 11:2 “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD- and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.“He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears…”

Can you see it? I see it anew, afresh, by the Spirit of God, the beauty of righteousness and holiness filling this earth. Can you imagine a world where “no harm is done”? This is the manifest wisdom of God, that by His Spirit working in me, I will always return evil with good. This is the wisdom and power of God, to give double the amount that someone tries to steal from me, to return curses with blessing, and give to all who ask a favor and not turn away in fear or selfishness. His wisdom and righteousness is blindingly beautiful. I want to know, to really know, not in the human intellectual sense, but in the experiential shake-me-to-the-core reality, about the beauty of God’s perfection. Holiness, righteousness. My human mind shrinks back from those words. My fallen "lenses" view God's righteousnes as confining, boring, restricting, deadening even. I could not be further from the truth! Those words have been taking on new meaning for me as the Lord slowly pulls back the veil and I see a spotless lamb walking courageously to the slaughter for love. Jesus Christ, his heart the purest white because he has no guile, no guile in Him. What does it mean not to have guile in you? Oh my! He never, ever, for a second had a demeaning thought about someone. That is holiness. Can you imagine having no accusations in your heart towards anyone? I have a friend who once had a vision on Jesus while in prayer. She wept as she described how he walked among the people in the room, bending down toward each one and interceeding for them. With tears she described how Jesus had absolutely no accusation in him, no criticsm or put-downs. That is holiness.

Jesus never once acted in his own interest, not even once. When called a demon possessed liar, his ego was not bruised. He did not strick back from his wounded pride. Yes, he called a thing what it was because he was Truth in the flesh. He was not weak, no, he was a LION with eyes of molten, liquid love ready to avenge every form of hatred that fills the darkened heart of fallen man. Only a man of peace would react so violently to such evil. Holiness is not a dullness, a boring adherence to a system of rules that leaves one dead and lifeless. Righteousness is what the earth longs for; it is what every trafficked, abused child longs for; it is what every spouse who has been betrayed prays for in the darkness; it is what the massess of starving Africans can only dream about; it is what the outcast, the social reject pines for. Righteousness, justice, peace. And from where does this peace come? From the Spirit of God that rested on Jesus. Jesus was full of the Spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, and might. This is the wisdom that “comes from above” and brings such peace to the earth that the lion and the lamb will cat nap together. Into the wicked earth comes the True Vine, the "Branch", a planting of the Lord God that will give life to the whole earth until the knowledge of God covers the earth like the waters cover the sea. Do you want in on this?

Comments

Those Who Are With Us Are More Than Those Who Are With Them

In 2 Kings 5:21, the King of Aram sends his army to surround the Israelites who were camped in the town of Dortham. Elisha the prophet was also there with his servant who awoke to discover that they were surrounded by a mighty army of horses and chariots intent on capturing them. “Oh my lord, what shall we do?” he said to Elisha. “Don’t be afraid.” The prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Oh, we need the vision that Elisha had! Paul prays that the eyes of our hearts would be open to see the things that God has for us in Christ. In every trial, temptation, and tribulation facing us, we can say with Elisha, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” This is true for every child of God, in all circumstances. Howev...

Growing in Revelation

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26 It is so important that we approach scripture as children, expecting the Holy Spirit to open our minds to Truth. As “churched” believers, (I so dislike that term, it sounds like something that is pickled), we are in danger of approaching the word as if we fully understand it. This attitude shuts off revelation, dulling our spiritual vision and curbing our knowledge of God. We are called to be spiritually quickened, not to pickle in the stagnant pools of familiar church doctrine. This is not to say that church doctrine is a not good and helpful. No, the problem comes when doctrine becomes a wall that shuts us out from Spirit led revelation. But when viewed as a door, doctrine can serve as an invitation, beckoning the hungry heart to come in and explore. It is interesting to note...

Searching for Simeons; be still and know

Be Still, and Know. This word came to me after I quieted my heart this morning and felt that it was the Lord speaking a word of caution and encouragement. "Practice solitude often. Solitude increases your spiritual perception. The spirit knows and perceives while the natural mind ponders, divides, considers, reasons. Guard your mind from distraction. Knowing in the realm of the spirit is much like a man who looks into a calm pond and sees his reflection in the stillness of the water. He can see his image until a pebble is cast into the water and he loses the image just as it is taking shape. In the same way, silence is the calm water that allows you to hear my voice, for I speak to you in the silence. Emails, T.V., talk shows, intrusive cell phones are the little pebbles that disturb the water just as knowledge is forming in the depths of the spirit man. You may guard yourself against the "giants in the land" but miss me in the distractions of life. It is death by 1,00...

How Faith Grows: Labor to Rest (and Tear Down Those Beliefs that Steal the Word!)

Your word is my shield and buckler. No matter what enemy David was facing, he consistently fled into the refuge of God's word. He meditated on it day and night until He saw God move. “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” (John 6:57) How do we eat Jesus? “Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat that which is good , and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” Isaiah 55:2 We hear him, and we keep hearing him until faith is born. When faith is born, we enter into the substance of the unseen. When faith has been born, some work or experience will follow. Until then, it is dead. Like a tiny seed, the promise yields its peaceable fruit in due season; new fruit of the Spirit, or freedom from some opression. But first, we have to chew, and chew, and chew. This is actually the biblical metaphor for how we are to labor to enter into the rest of God. “Let us therefore fear, lest, a PROMISE being left us ...

The Crowned Virus

The entire globe is held in the iron-clad grip of a global pandemic. This life altering virus has brought the world to a screeching halt as the earth reels under its cold, dark shadow. Recently, I began to really wonder about the name, Coronavirus. Where did it originate? Who named it? What I found was interesting. There may be more to the name of this virus than first meets the eye. Just like everything else about 2020 and beyond, one must look beneath the surface to understand. The word corona is of Latin origin meaning “crown.” It was coined by a Spanish astronomer, Jose Joaguin de Ferrer y Cafranga (1763-1818) who journeyed to New York to observe a total solar eclipse in 1806. Due to its crown-like appearance, Jose named the spikes of light appearing around the eclipsed sun, “corona.” The first coronavirus was identified and named in 1968 by a team of 8 researchers at the Common Cold Clinic in Wiltshire, England. The researchers named the ...

Seeing God

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.” In his book, Prayer, Richard Foster points out that God waits and longs to be loved. He goes on to make the bold claim that God is more tender hearted than anyone, though we do not often see him this way. And yet, how could he be less tender than the most tender human heart? Foster emphasizes how easily moved is this Tender-Hearted One, moved by our tears, and moved by our loving gestures towards him, weak as they may be. He surrounds us with tender mercies. Foster’s reflections on the character of God caused me to consider, once again, the consequences of that fateful day in the garden, when we chose to eat from the wrong tree. I am familiar with the idea that our shame and sense of condemnation caused us to hide from God. However, this morning, I saw that there is more involved in the reason why our ancestral parents hid from God, and why we still dive for the nearest thorn bush when have missed the...

Elon's Fire Dragon From Heaven and Revelation 13

The Christian world, what I will call "Churchianity", has chosen to overlook things that are inconvenient to see. We all do it, when we want something badly, or believe something, we rationalize, overlook, and dismiss information to the contrary. We are doing it again, and I believe we will see very grave consequences. However, scripture tells us it will happen, mass deception in the church, that is, and my hope is that God will work it all for our good. He orders all things according to the counsel of His will. He is training us for eternity, so maybe it's one last divine lesson that we will never, ever forget. This will be a longer post as I will talk about Elon's dark sentences, Elon's fire from heaven, and Trump and Elon teaming up from Revelation 13, so buckle your seat belts! And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. Daniel 8:23 Elon a...

All That Matters

I saw it with perfect clarity right after Steve died suddenly in a car accident, the very week that we were setting our wedding date. While I was tossing around wedding ideas with my sister on the phone one clear, fall morning, unbeknownst to me, Steve had already died in a wreck. In a few hours I would get the call. But through the violent tears of grief for the greatest love I have ever known, God kindly gave me a glimpse of eternity. I could see, not with my natural eyes, but with those unseen eyes of the heart. Those eyes are the only eyes that really matter. Satan opened the eyes of Adam and Eve to his selfish version of reality, his narrative. This is the dark sight that Jesus came to strike with blindness so that we can see the light of truth. He said he came to give sight to the blind, and to blind those who see. For a brief time after Steve's death, it was as if a veil was lifted and I could peer into eternity itself. Everything becam...

Come, Drink of His Grace

We have been issued a divine invitation to partake of heavenly things. In 2 Peter we are told that we have "great and precious promises, by which we become partakers of the divine nature." (KJV). Scripture also speaks of the overflowing riches and overabundant grace in Christ Jesus our Lord. Many accept the truth that our salvation is by faith in Christ Jesus. We ask Jesus into our hearts and believe that we have experienced the fullness of this truth. But nothing could be further from the truth, for we have only just begun to understand what it means to have "this treasure in earthen vessels." What is this treasure? As a young believer I was very much in love with the Lord. I had a deep desire to please Him. Not having an understanding of the nature and power of grace, I struggled within myself to please Him. For a few years my own strength was enough, and my private sense of righteousness went untouched. But in time, I was pulled away from my relation...

Going Forth To Conquer: The First Horse and Rider

Before I start this, I want to say that I believe strongly that we are in the midst of Revelation 6 where we read about the four horses riding forth into the earth. Consider these things by way of a tyranny refresher, lest we become numb to it all: (If you feel totally “woke” regarding the tyranny, feel free to jump down to the First Horse heading.) 1. Global house arrest. 2. Most or all international travel stopped and many places saw total restrictions on local travel. 3. Global arrests for working, or keeping your business open. 4. Global rules keeping people from gathering in groups. 5. Global rules keeping humanity from sick, elderly, and dying loved ones. 6. Global rules preventing humanity from holding weddings and funerals. 7. Global rules dictating the wearing of masks. 8. ...

Newness of Life

Search This Blog