New Blog by Rocky - Bring it to ME!
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22 (ESV)
The scripture I’ve referenced is a wonderful promise from God. Just think about how this is such an open-ended blessing for His children. God “will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Don’t we want to live in this promise from Sovereign God, and benefit from such care? If so, are we willing to play our part to benefit from this promise? If so, then we must focus on the stipulation of being righteous. What does the word righteous mean, for some of you might think that it is perfection, or a higher state of nirvana, such as Buddhism, or some sort of spiritual achievement that we can attain to? It’s none of that. If we go down that path, we leave the path of grace and return to a legalistic requirement thinking that we become righteous by our works. Jesus gave us a better way, a more secure way to be seen as righteous by Holy God. Let’s consider it:
There are scholars who will provide definitions from the Hebrew language, the Greek language, and the Old English language. If you are interested in that l encourage you to do your studies, for there’s plenty of information out there. But if you are interested in a simple guy’s explanation, I’ll share my thoughts on it. Basically, I see “righteous” as being right with God. I feel that this “rightness” is not something that I can achieve. Rather it is a state of being made right in God’s eyes because of Jesus and His Spirit living in me. I’ve been sealed with this righteousness ever since Jesus came into my life. By grace I’ve been made righteous, and by faith I received it. Where do I get this in scripture? Here it is. Simply put here is what the Apostle Paul said:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)
As I study and meditate on this verse, I see unconditional love and a grace given that I cannot attain or achieve by my own effort. It’s a gift. But I also see that I’ve been “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” What does this tell me about being righteous before God? It tells me that “in Jesus,” not because of Jesus, or for Jesus, or to live for Jesus that I find my purpose and the promised fruit from this relationship. Those things are definitely part of my relationship with Him. But it is living in Jesus … to live in an abiding relationship in Him and Him in me … that the righteousness that God declares as good becomes evident. It is where grace and relationship merge with works and evidence. It is “in Jesus” that our good works are produced.
Lately I’ve been carrying some unnecessary burdens of responsibility. I’ve mistakenly allowed myself to feel this when Jesus has never put that on me. Each of us has a tendency from our flesh nature to be enticed willingly or not, to a responsibility burden that puts us in a less than “right” place before the Lord. It’s an issue of control, or maybe feeling out of control that causes us to embrace this state of mind, or state of distraction. When this happens, I don’t feel like I’m in Jesus, even though by grace I’m right with Him. I can be right with Him, but not right in Him. It was in this state of burden carrying that I felt the strong invitation to come close to Jesus and give Him that burden. In a way, I thought before that my time with Him in The Inner Chamber, or the Secret Place, as Jesus calls it, required that I lay my distractions aside before I came to Him. Then I heard spoken to my heart, “Bring your burden with you. Lay it at My feet. Entrust it to me and I will carry it for you. This is where you do this. I’m not offended that you brought it with you. I want to help you.”
Wow! There have been times that I felt completely right in Jesus and right for Jesus, and this was one of those times. Not only was my burden transferred and lifted, but I also saw the burden resolved by Him. This release by me enabled His Spirit to do His work in and around my life, for I was now in a right standing relationship with Him, for I was right in Him.
I took a chance to share this personal discovery and insight in case some of you read and hear something that resonates in your heart. I feel that Jesus is calling us close to Him, and it is there that we find the rightness with God that we long for. Abide in Him and Him in you, and you will find it.