A Crown Of RIghteousness

When my Aunt Gini died, I wanted to do something special to remember her by. At the time, Isolino and I were almost daily up-loaders to a site called, "Flickr". Isolino had gotten me started into photography, because of this site.

I saw all the wonderful and beautiful pictures of God's Handiwork in nature, and I was hooked on trying to capture those things myself. With Flickr, it was easy to fix your mistakes as a photographer, and get a better picture with the tools they let you use. I put frames around pictures, did special effects, and basically had fun creating more from my photos, than I had gotten with just a click and a shoot. If you go all the way to the bottom of the pages, you will see some of the photos I've taken that are on "Flickr" right now.

So, for what I wanted to do for my aunt, I needed a crown. I had gotten some for Kaylee and Jolynn, so I asked to borrow them and asked Jolynn to help me out with this special project. The results of the photos were better than I had thought they would be( due to cheap props), and it touched both Jolynn and I in a special way. She even mentioned something about the "crown" shots just a few months ago. Now, I have a visual; when I think of my aunt, I see this crown in my mind, and I am blessed with knowing she is in heaven with Jesus. She has indeed received "her crown of righteousness".

In the Bible we are called "the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus". When I read that verse, I thought, how can I be the righteousness of God? I am not clean, I am not worthy, and I certainly am not perfect. How can I bring any good thing to God in Christ, let alone righteousness? How can I gain a crown of righteousness? Is righteousness even attainable? How can I live in this world, and keep my faith and heart pure with God's righteousness?

I am reminded of a time when I was feeling very alone and useless for God. Isolino and I had just moved to the Foothills of the California Gold Country, and we had come here in faith, believing this was where God wanted us to be. We had probably been here about six months at this time, and the loneliness was very real. The feeling of uselessness was real too. I could not be as active as I wanted to be, due to my health, and where we lived at the time, I would have had to drive 10 to 15 minutes to get to anywhere that was not country. Take into account, that we were budgeting our money, so I couldn't be driving all over the place, anyway.

I was sitting at my kitchen table, having a little pity party, when I looked out my kitchen window and looked at the beauty outside. I was reading my Bible, before I had been wandering off into "pity party land", and so when I looked out that window, God got a hold of me. He began to speak to me in the way He does with me. "Laura, what makes you acceptable to Me?" I thought about that for a moment, and then I started to get excited in my spirit, because I knew God's Truth was doing something for me. I answered God with "Only the Blood of Jesus.". God said, "That's right. Now, think of the most holy person you know, that the world thinks is righteous and good." I immediately thought of Mother Theresa, who gave her life to the sick and poor and needy of India, who prayed hours each day, on top of all she did in actions of love for these people.Who kept a humble heart and drew people to Jesus. Of course God knew who I had thought of, and He said to me, "Laura, even the most righteous person's righteousness is as filthy rags to Me." Now you need to understand that when God was saying filthy rags here, He is talking of ( I am getting graphic here, but this is the true context of this passage, so you need to know how gross it is in God's sight) menstrual cloths. The "time of the month brigade". I immediately thought, "Eeww!". God said, "That is right, Laura, 'Eeww!'" "Remember, it is nothing YOU do that makes you righteous. It is only Jesus' Blood, shed on the cross for you, that makes you holy in My sight. You can do nothing to make yourself more righteous to Me. It is your obedience to what I tell you to do, that pleases Me." My friends, I got on my face before God. I felt so humbled that He cared enough about my feelings, to personally help me through this "pity party mess".

So, I encourage you to remember this lesson I learned. May it help you in your times of feeling useless and alone. May it remind you that you are never alone, and you are not useless. Only the enemy of our souls, wants us to feel that way, because when we do, we miss out on what God wants us to do. Maybe He does want you home and alone, so you'll pray more or read the Bible more, or maybe write letters or notes of encouragement to those who come to your mind. Maybe you sew, or cook, or knit or crochet. You could do something for someone else you notice is alone, too. Maybe you garden and could share your "extra'sme's" and into "I can do all things through Christ, Who strengthens me." God bless you , and remember, when we get to heaven, we, too, will have a crown of righteousness to throw at Jesus' Feet. Those Precious Feet, that were pierced for our transgressions. Hallelujah! Doesn't that just want to make you shout for joy? It sure does me. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!