Righteousness

If you haven't noticed - this blog is not so much about me or my everyday life but I just write about my discoveries in God and especially misunderstandings I have had about Him and different spiritual realities.

My latest discovery (not that I have it figured out, but a few thoughts...) is about righteousness. I have had some wrong ideas in my head about righteous people that is probably more self-righteous people. Self-righteousness is an appalling thing in the eyes of God (and men) and not to be confused with the real thing. Self-righteous people are absorbed by being right and are constantly watching others to see if they measure up. There is no peace or joy in self-righteousness.

Righteousness on the other hand is overflowing with joy.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

Ps 45:7

Jesus personifies a righteous person and He was (and is) the happiest person in the universe. Never a wrinkle on his forehead.

A righteous person is not nervous about being wrong but there is a profound peace and confidence coming with it.

The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.

Is 32:17

Righteousness is playful and not all serious. Like a passionate couple in love kissing, righteousness is completely absorbed by the joy of being loved that there is no room for concerns about other people's mistakes or failures.

righteousness and peace kiss each other...

Ps 85:10

Righteousness - together with joy and peace - is what constitutes the kingdom of God. They come together as a holy trinity.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

God's kingdom isn't a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness' sake. It's what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy.

(The Message)

It is not about what we do (eat or drink)! It is about experiencing the mystery of being utterly loved and accepted by the living God through Christ. Righteousness looks down from heaven. Like a playful hide and seek. Welcome into the joy of the mystery of God.

Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.

Ps 85:11

...about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
John 16:11

Power

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

God's power also looks different than we are used to in this world. His throne that He sits and reigns on is not a threatening throne with any need to show off its power, strength and authority to make us bow down, fear and submit Him. Quite the contrary - it is inviting us. Come boldly! Come with confidence before the throne of God as His children.

It is a throne of GRACE.

I wonder what a throne of GRACE looks like? Grace extended towards me, overflowing, inviting, covering all of my shame, drawing me in to His majesty. His power doesn't try to squish me. He doesn't need to prove anything. He HAS all the power, because of who He is and He KNOWS who He is. And His throne is a throne of grace. Grace, not justice, punishment or judgment. All those power words that we are used to they are also included in God's nature but we have to start in the right end - in God's heart! After all - He is HOLY, different and "other" than we think.

He is sitting on a throne of grace.
And we are invited.

Majesty

Ps 45:4

In your majesty ride forth victoriously
in the cause of truth, humility and justice

Whatever we think about God we can always be sure there is more to the story. He is more and bigger than we ever can imagine or think.

“Deus semper major” in Latin

I have had some issues with God's majesty and power and bowing down to Him, calling Him Lord and King and all that. I am sure this is related to wrong ideas of authority and I have just never seen a perfect example - like none of us has! People, even the most good hearted ones, tend to misuse power sooner or later, at one level or another. But not so God! He is not like us! He is Holy, different, Perfect Love. That is why Jesus came, to show us how and who God is.

Interestingly enough - the word "humility" is in the center of this verse. I picture this majestic king riding forth victoriously, defending truth and justice, I get that, but wait a minute - how do you ride forth in the cause of humility? I am going to ponder on that for a while. There is always more to the story.

Thesaurus

My new best friend is thesaurus.com. I punch in a word and - bam - it opens up a world of synonyms. I use it for scriptures and it has rocked my world already. For example with Psalms 45:11. This Psalm has been a special Psalm to me the last few years and I keep returning to it and find comfort and amazement. Take this verse:

Let the king be enthralled by your beauty.

How crazy is that? God taking delight in a human being, his creation, to the point of "being enthralled". Of course it makes sense when you think of your own children and how you are mesmerized with their beings, just with them being who they are, but I am not usually thinking about myself in those terms and God going bananas in His love for me and how cute He thinks I am... But that is what this verse tells me. Enthrall means:

absorb, beguile, bewitch, charm, enchant, engage, enrapture, enslave, entrance, fascinate, grab, grip, hold spellbound, hook, hypnotize, intrigue, mesmerize, preoccupy, rivet, spellbind, subdue, subject, subjugate

Now, this is the kind of attitude God has towards me. And viceversa. As I am digging into His heart for me, words like "subdue" and "subject" get a new meaning. I am not bowing down to Him because I have to, but because I WANT to. It is not a relationship of power but one of LOVE. God doesn't want servants, or subjects. He wants lovers. Now that is crazy.

C'mon ye people stand up for your love

Holiness and resting

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:3

Apparently holiness is connected to RESTING.
We usually think the other way around in our distorted ungodly ways of thinking, turning everything upside down when God many times is the exact opposite to our beliefs... At least if we have been poisoned with any kind of religious thinking which very easily happens in this world we are living in. We tend to think that holiness has something to do with our behavior and we start measuring ourselves and others to see how holy we are. When it actually has nothing to do with us but everything to do with GOD. He is holy. And He invites us into His rest and the enjoyment of His completed work. We cannot add anything.

Rest and Silence

Wow. I just felt an urge to pick up my blogging again. It has been a year of silence. I guess I am slowly waking up from my hibernation.

11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.


I have been sick for a few days. Just a regular cold but it can be very annoying when you want to get stuff done and your body is not quite following your mind. It took me longer to get over the cold because I just didn't rest enough. I felt so much better after a couple of days and then I spent the whole day running around, going to the store, cleaning the house, going to the park when it probably would have been much more effective - in the long run - if I would have rested some more and done less of running around... The best way to fight an infection is to BE STILL and REST and let God work in mysterious ways inside of you through His servants the white blood cells. This became a powerful testimony to me as I was telling somebody I was planning on fighting this cold through resting - when I finally took a day of rest this last Sunday. That is how we should fight every war I thought to myself. That doesn't mean being irresponsible but to let God do His job. Let God be God. "Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady" as U2 puts it in their brilliant song "Stand Up Comedy". That is the most effective way of living. Although it might not look like it from the outside.