White Coats and Christ our Righteousness

Well, the pain is subsiding a bit - I see the surgeon next Tuesday for a post-op visit. I think sitting at the computer has caused some of the pain in the area where the hernias were, but it is hard not to sit at the computer since this is the last week of classes for school etc. So, I still have pain but it is bearable with Tylenol, so you can see it has decreased a lot. Resting helps too. This is a challenge in my bedroom which has become a repository for items from the other rooms that are being worked on. The house repairs are very slow, due in part to the inconsistent showing up of the workers.

This week I attended the white coat ceremony at my son Stephen's medical school where the 1st year medical students make the transfer from their medical studies in the classroom to clinical on the wards. The ceremony was very inspiring as the professors reminded students that they are treating not a disease but a person. The white coat, they were told, is a responsibility to wear and carries with it the requirements of good character, compassion and care. It was really a wonderful ceremony, and I am thankful that through the faithful prayers of you all I was able to attend. My next goal is to be at his graduation in 3 more years, as well as my youngest son Andrew's graduation from UT!

Here is a picture of the actual cloaking event - it's a bit blurry since we were in the back of the lecture hall, but wonderful nonetheless.

I was reminded of these verses from the Old and New Testaments which I'd like to share with you:

Isaiah 61:10
10 I will rejoice greatly in Jehovah, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with the robe of righteousness; I am like a bridegroom who wears the headdress of the priest, And like a bride who adorns herself with her jewels.

Zechariah 3:4
4 And He answered and spoke to those standing before Him, saying, Remove the filthy garments from him. Then He said to him, See, I hereby make your iniquity pass from you and clothe you with stately robes.

Luke 15:22:
22 But the father said to his slaves, Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.

Galatians 3:27:
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.


These verses all speak about the exchange from the rags of our own attempts of righteousness, our sinful state, to be clothed with a righteousness which is God's alone. What an exchange! Even more, I realized that the righteousness with which we are clothed when we believe into Christ is a person, it is Christ Himself. In the booklet Christ our Righteousness, Watchman Nee writes:

How do we come to God? First Corinthians 1:30 is a great verse in the New Testament. This verse reveals that a Christian does not come to God through his own righteousness. Neither does he come to God with his many sins. Rather, he comes to God through Christ alone. A Christian's access to God is not based on his righteousness or his unrighteousness. This verse shows us clearly that Christ has become the righteousness of the believers. It is not something about Christ that has become our righteousness; rather, Christ Himself in His entirety has become our righteousness. Something of Christ can never be as absolute and perfect as Christ Himself. When Christ Himself becomes our righteousness, God receives us.

The experience of many Christians follows a certain pattern: If they read the Bible in the morning and manage to control their temper during the day, they can pray in a strong way at night. But if they fail during the day, their prayer at night is very weak. Actually, even when we sin, Christ is still our righteousness. The fact has not changed, because we are in Christ. If we behave well today and think that we are more qualified to come to God, we are coming to Him by our own righteousness. This is a wrong concept. God does not receive us based on our righteousness, much less on our unrighteousness. His receiving is based on Christ. A Christian does not become more unrighteous through sinning, nor does he become more righteous through doing good. Sin does not diminish a Christian's righteousness, nor do good works increase his righteousness. Our righteousness before God is not dependent on our conduct, but on Christ Himself. Our righteousness before God never changes. Righteousness is a person; it is not a thing. The righteousness that a Christian has is the living Christ; it is not some dead object. Even if we committed all the sins of the world, our righteousness is still Christ Himself. Sooner or later every Christian must realize who this One is who is his righteousness.

We have not put on a robe of righteousness; we have put on Christ Himself. We have not put on the garment of Christ; we have put on Christ Himself. Galatians 3:27 speaks of the putting on of Christ. The righteousness which we now have far exceeds our own righteousness. It is Christ Himself becoming our righteousness. Hence we are perfect, and God can now accept us....

I come to God through Christ as my righteousness, not through the righteousness of Christ. Before the Lord I have my own righteousnesses as well as my own unrighteousnesses. Of course, my own unrighteousnesses cannot be reckoned as righteous in His eyes, but my righteousness cannot be reckoned as righteous in His eyes either. This has nothing to do with me loving Him but with Him loving me. I do not preserve myself; He preserves me. It is not my hands that are holding Him but His hands that are holding me. It is not a matter of my faithfulness but His faithfulness." I may have sinned more than all of you sitting here, but I can be bold before the Lord because my righteousness is Christ alone.

Isn't this wonderful? Our righteousness is not just a cloak or a robe but a living person Christ Himself. How amazing is this fact!

1 Corinthians 1:30 says But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

The hymn I am reminded of is truly one of my favorites by Count Zinzendorf. Here is a link to the tune:

1 God's Christ, who is my righteousness,
My beauty is, my glorious dress;
Midst flaming worlds, in this arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

2 Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which, at the mercy seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead,
For me, e'en for my soul, was shed.

3 Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full redemption made.

4 Bold can I stand in every way,
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully, by Thee, absolved I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

5 This spotless robe the same appears,
When ruined nature sinks in years;
No age can change its glorious hue,
Its glory is forever new.

6 Thou God of power, Thou God of love,
Let all Thy saints Thy mercy prove;
Our beauty this, our glorious dress,
Jesus the Lord, our Righteousness.



What a mercy! We are clothed with Christ. He is our white coat, our garment that is forever new!

Much love to you all,
Joanne

Hungering and Thirsting

Hello everyone,
I have been slowly recovering - I stopped taking the pain meds and have been experiencing pain - sometimes it is really uncomfortable. This forces me to lie down and rest, so it is not a totally negative thing. Please pray for the continued healing of all those incisions and that I will be restricted from lifting or doing anything strenuous - and rest. Also, this past week a lot of work was done on the house (to repair flooding damage) and there is a lot of dust around which causes coughing...which causes pain. We found some air purifiers and have them running so this will help. Also no one has been working for the past few days so the dust has settled, so to speak.

Since the surgery I have been very thirsty, waking up many times during the night with parched lips and dry throat. I'm not sure why - but this morning the spiritual significance of this state of being really struck me. I was reminded of the scene in John 7:37-39:

37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The scene prior to Jesus' speaking these words was that the Feast of Tabernacles was near. This feast, in Exodus 23:16 is the last feast of the year, the feast of ingathering to celebrate the labor of the field. It was the culminating feast of the year. After the full harvest of their crops, the Jewish people observed the Feast of Tabernacles to worship God and enjoy what they had reaped (Deut. 16:13-15). Hence, this feast signifies the completion, achievement, and success in man's career, man's study, and other matters of human life, including religion, with the joy and enjoyment thereof. At the end of such a feast, which had such a background, Christ cried out the promise of the rivers of living water, which will satisfy man's expectation for eternity (vv. 37-39). (from the footnote for 7:2.) The phrase in verse 37, on the last day, has this significance:

Footnote 37-1 The last day here signifies that all the enjoyment of any success in the human life will end. There is a "last day" to every kind of material thing of the physical life.


What really touched me is that Jesus is there at the last day, at the end of all the enjoyment of any success, not condemning us for our enjoyment, but realizing that we will be thirsty and encouraging us to come to Him to drink. He knows our condition. I read the Life STudy of the Gospel of John, message 17 and found that this case in John is the 6th case and is a continuation of the 5th - which is Jesus meeting the needs of the hungry in John 6. Here is a most encouraging excerpt from that message:

The sixth case is a continuation of the fifth case, because the matter of food is related to water. In this connection, there is also another contrast. In the scene of the fifth case, there was the feast of the Passover. In the scene of this case in chapter seven, there is the feast of Tabernacles. The feast of the Passover is the first of the annual Jewish feasts, and the feast of Tabernacles is the last (Lev. 23:5, 34). The feast of the Passover, as the first feast of the year, implies the beginning of man’s life (cf. Exo. 12:2-3, 6), which involves man’s seeking for satisfaction and results in man’s hunger. The feast of Tabernacles, as the last feast of the year, implies the completion and success of man’s life (cf. Exo. 23:16), which will end and result in man’s thirst. In the scene of the feast of the Passover, the Lord presented Himself as the bread of life, which satisfies man’s hunger. In the scene of the feast of Tabernacles, the Lord promised that He would flow forth the living water, which quenches man’s thirst.

The feast of the Passover occurred early in the year, when the people were working and laboring hard. The case of the feeding of the five thousand finds the people working to fill their hunger, but failing to be satisfied. They labored, they worked, they sought something to satisfy, but they failed. The feast of Tabernacles, on the contrary, occurred at a time when the harvest was over. The people had reaped the corn and the wine (Deut. 16:13-14). Everything of the harvest had been reaped, and the people were to come together at the feast of Tabernacles and enjoy everything with their families and even with their servants. We must realize that during the feast of Tabernacles the people do not labor because the work is over, the crop has been reaped, and the corn and wine have been harvested. That was the time to rejoice in their enjoyment—but they were still thirsty! The sixth case reveals that their thirst was not quenched even by their success...
However, the Lord is the food to the people who labor and He will afford living water to those who rest. Actually, humanity exists in only one of two conditions. One is that because they lack something they must seek, work, strive, and labor; the other is that because they have everything they may rejoice and enjoy their riches. In other words, at first you find that you do not have anything; therefore, you must work and labor hard. For example, perhaps you are in the first year of college and you have to labor over your studies. This is like the feast of the Passover. After you have graduated and received your degree and have an excellent occupation, you are rich. This is like the feast of Tabernacles because the work and labor are over. Now you are at rest and are in the position to rejoice and enjoy the benefits of your labor.

Which feast are you attending—the feast of the Passover or the feast of Tabernacles? Regardless of which feast you are attending, you are still hungry or thirsty. Whether you are in a poor or rich condition, whether you are in a state of poverty or plenty, you will realize that you are either hungry or thirsty. Many foreign students come to the rich country of the United States for an education, but in reality, they are simply hungry. After they work hard for several years and finally achieve their Ph.D. degree, some will become very wealthy, but they will still be thirsty...

Praise the Lord that Christ is the bread of life for those who are laboring at the feast of the Passover. A college education can never be the bread of life. Only the Lord Himself can be our satisfaction. Furthermore, only Christ can quench the thirst for those who are resting and rejoicing at the feast of Tabernacles. Even when people have everything, the corn and the wine, they realize that an inner thirst still persists. They may rejoice and enjoy the produce that is in their hands, yet only the Lord has the living water to quench their thirst.

If you see the thought concerning these two feasts, you will see the two phases of man’s condition and the two aspects of Christ as our supply of life. On one hand, He is the bread of life while we are laboring; on the other hand, He supplies us with the living water while we are resting. Once you see this thought, you will understand the whole of John 7. Although it is a long chapter, it is brief in thought. The thought is that when you have succeeded in all of your achievements, when you have enjoyed all of your possessions, when you have rejoiced in all of your best circumstances, you will then realize that your thirst has not been quenched. Nothing is adequate to quench your thirst. Only the Lord can quench your thirst by affording you the living water.

How wonderful the Lord is - whether we are hungering for something or thirsting because we are not satisfied with what we hungered for, He is the unique solution. He is the bread of life and He is the water of life.

Here is a hymn I hope you will enjoy with a link to the tune. The original has 8 verses, I have only included a few:

1 My heart is hungry, my spirit doth thirst;
I come to Thee, Lord, to seek Thy supply;
All that I need is none other but Thee,
Thou canst my hunger and thirst satisfy.
Chorus
Feed me, Lord Jesus, give me to drink,
Fill all my hunger, quench all my thirst;
Flood me with joy, be the strength of my life,
Fill all my hunger, quench all my thirst.

2 Thou art the food and the water of life,
Thou canst revive me, my spirit upbear;
I long to eat and to drink here of Thee,
Thyself enjoy through my reading and prayer.

3 Thou art the Word with God’s fulness in Thee,
Thou too the Spirit that God my life be;
Thee in the Word I enjoy as my food,
Thou as the Spirit art water to me.

4 Thou from the heavens as food camest down,
Thou to be drink hast been smitten for me;
Thou as the food, my exhaustless supply,
Thou as the water, a stream unto me.

5 Thou in the Word art the Spirit and life,
Thus by the Word I may feed upon Thee;
Thou dost as Spirit in my spirit live,
Thus I may drink in the spirit of Thee.

8 Here, O my Lord, may I feast upon Thee;
Flood with Thy Spirit and fill by Thy Word;
May, Lord, Thou be such a feast unto me
As man hath never enjoyed nor e’er heard.

Flood us with joy, today, Lord, be the strength of our life! Fill all our hunger and quench all our thirst.

Much love,
Joanne

Our Hoarded Resources

Hi Everyone,
It's me, Joanne, up at 4:30 due to a number of issues, one being the pressing issues of life that keep me awake, another being the pain at the incision sites which requires that I take medication which makes my mind fuzzy. Oh Lord. So, this morning when I woke up, I was reminded of a line from one of my favorite hymns - "When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our Father's full giving is only begun."

I also considered the instance of the wedding at Cana where resources ran out and they came to Jesus for the answer. Here is the account of that wedding:

John 2:1-11
1 And the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

2 And Jesus also was invited, as well as His disciples, to the wedding.

3 And when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine.

4 And Jesus said to her, Woman, what do I have in this that concerns you? My hour has not yet come.

5 His mother said to the servants, Whatever He says to you, do.

6 Now there were six stone waterpots lying there, according to the Jews' rite of purification, holding two or three measures each.

7 Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

8 And He said to them, Draw some out now and take it to the master of the feast. And they took it to him.

9 And when the master of the feast tasted the water which had become wine and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom

10 And said to him, Every man sets out the good wine first, and when they have drunk freely, then that which is worse; you have kept the good wine until now.

11 This beginning of signs Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed into Him.


Many years ago, as a young Christian, I always pondered this incongruity of being at the end of hoarded resources, yet being indwelt with the limitless, Eternal One! Why was I at the end of my rope? Why was I not able to go on? Wasn't I a Christian? Wasn't this a poor testimony? Well, I found the answer when I read something about this passage. It has continued to supply me all through the years and supplied me again this morning when I was faced with the end of the line of my hoarded resources again.

The footnotes for these verses really explain the situation. The fact that the wine ran out is significant. Footnote 3-1 says: Wine, the life juice of the grape, signifies life. Hence, the wine's running out symbolizes that the human life runs out. Ran out - literally the translation means fell short.

Verse 6 talks about the 6 stone waterpots lying there which signify man, who was created on the 6th day. That they were used for the Jewish rite of purification:Footnote 6-2: The Jews' rite of purification with water signifies religion's attempt to make people clean by certain dead practices. But the Lord changes death into life. The water that the waterpots were filled with signified death - (we are baptized in water into the death of Christ).

So far, the 6 waterpots, signifying man, who was created on the 6th day, are filled with water, i.e. death. The wine, the human life has run out. But hallelujah, Jesus is there! At that juncture, Jesus changes the water into wine. The head waiter appraises the wine as the best. The end is not the end when Jesus is there. That is because the Lord’s changing water into wine establishes the principle of life— changing death into life. The Lord Jesus can change death into life. So when we reach the end of ourselves, and we come to the Lord at the end, He can fill us with Himself and become our life.

I know in principle, we are Christians and the Lord is our life. But we will depend upon and live according to our natural life (the first wine). This life will come to an end, it will run out.

So while I have extenuating circumstances that require much prayer, I also have the confidence that as long as Jesus is a factor, the running out of my human life, the end of my human capacity is the door of opportunity for Him to become my life, and my all.

Here's the hymn that I enjoyed and a new way of singing it
(http://www.hymnal.net/Hymns/NewTunes/midi/e0723_new.mid):

1 He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase,
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men,
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

2 When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half-done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.


Isn't it wonderful that His love has no limit? His grace has no measure? He is giving all that He is to us - Praise Him.

Please continue to pray that we can get the house issues taken care of - they are very pressing and it is getting increasingly difficult to find places for all the stuff. Please also pray for Paul - he is in the middle of all this and the burden is crushing as times. Please also pray that the incisions from the surgery would heal and that the Lord would continue to take care of every detail.

He is so wonderful.

Much love to you all,
Joanne

Update on Mom

Yesterday, Mom had a 3 hour hernia repair surgery. The doctors were able to complete the procedure laproscopically, but did so through 14 incisions. They inserted a 27X30 cm mesh to repair what the doctor called a double hernia. Dad and I were able to meet mom in the recovery room. Unfortunately she was in a lot of pain. After a couple of hours in the recovery room, she was moved back to the 7th floor of the Connors building which was a pleasant surprise. Dad and I brought her stuff up to her room and met her there. She was in a lot of pain last night but was able to manage it with dilaudid. She had one of her old nurses, Erin, who remembered her and took good care of her last night. She walked a lot today and is waiting for her bowels to wake up. Even though a hernia repair is a fairly standard procedure, the size of mom's hernia may extend the recovery time. She is moving around but is still on a liquid diet. She may be released on Saturday but it will likely be Sunday. She is just enjoying resting for a few days. She is no longer taking dilaudid and is doing much better. She went into this surgery much healthier than surgeries in the past and it is remarkable how good she looks. Please pray that she would have less pain and be ready to go home soon. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Songs in the Night

Hi Everyone,
Lately (for the past few months actually) I have been waking up at around 3:30 or 4:00. Sometimes I can get back to sleep but other times sleep just slips away and I am left in my bed with my thoughts. I usually am reminded that this is a good time to pray and spend time with the Lord. Today, I got up and remembered a line from a hymn by Fanny Crosby - the line was "And giveth me songs in the night." Here is the hymn which is an old favorite and really enjoyable to sing:

1 Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.

Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child, and forever, I am.

2 Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.

3 I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

4 I know I shall see in His beauty
The King in whose way I delight;
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.

I wondered if this phrase was in the Bible or just a symbolically poetic phrase. Here are a number of verses about songs in the night.

Job 35:10: But no one says, Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,

Psalms 42:8: By day Jehovah commands His lovingkindness, And by night His song is with me, A prayer to the God of my life.

Psalms 77:6: I remember my song in the night; I muse with my own heart, and my spirit carefully searches.

Psalms 119:62: At midnight I rise up to give thanks to You Because of Your righteous ordinances.

Acts 16:25: And about midnight Paul and Silas, while praying, sang hymns of praise to God; and the prisoners were listening to them.

Many times last year I would awaken in the middle of the night because of a beeping IV pump, or pain, hot flashes, or the nurse checking vital signs or I was just awake. I can't remember ever feeling completely alone and desolate - rather, I was comforted by the Word of God and by songs in the night. Sometimes I would listen to a cd of the Bible or else I would listen to a hymn - but most of the time, the Lord would remind me of a verse or hymn or someone to pray for. Each time I had a strong sensation that the Lord was there with me, giving me songs in the night. Praise Him.

So again, this morning at 4:00, I was awake and praying for a dear sister I know who is fighting a similar cancer battle (only she is at the beginning) and the Lord gave me a song in the night! He is too sweet, too rich, too wonderful! I had to share the song with you all.

Much love,
Joanne