God Says "I've Got You Covered" (Part 3)

In Part 2, we read about how God covers us with the fine linen, clean and white. We can cover our bodies, but we alone cannot cover ourselves. We alone cannot fight the effects of this world.

Think again of the snow covered landscape that I saw. What happens to the snow over the next few days? The snow plows come out in full force. The leaf blowers are blowing snow off of the sidewalks. The shovels are scraping against the sidewalks and parking lots. And the previous appearance begins to change from the beautiful white snow-covered landscape to piles of plowed-up snow at the edge of the parking lot or on the sides of the sidewalks and the roads.

The exhaust of vehicles will dirty the snow that is piled in the parking lots. The dead grass will cling to the clumps of snow on the sides of the road. The tire tracks of vehicles will leave dirt where it once was white. What was once a beautiful white covering of snow has become dirty and dingy with the effects of this world.

But God says to us, "I've got you covered"! He has clothed us in the robe of righteousness as we begin the journey of living into His image - becoming like Him, taking on His mind, and living into the purpose He has for our lives through eternal life.

As life happens, we face the dirt and hurt of this world and realize how easily it can become attached to us and try to ruin our fine, white linen covering. We go through tribulation; we go through trials; we go through the pains of this world.

Rev. 7:13-14 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

These are they which came out of great tribulation. We are not strangers to tribulation. It can take on different forms - dirt gets thrown into our faces; dirty and dingy grass stains are seen on our white robes; the peace we once had is interrupted by the sounds of gossip, complaints, or jealousy; the scraping sounds like the shoveling of the snow make us think that the white layers of our righteousness are being scraped off of us, and we begin to wonder if we can hold onto the threads of our white linen robe and what Jesus did for us.

But that's why God has given us His armor to fight off the evils and hurts of this world. Because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

...have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb

Have you ever had a spot of blood on your clothes? It's so much easier to get the blood out if you can rinse it under cold water right away. If not, it takes some work to remove it and sometimes it will not come out. But that is how “man” washes blood and other stains out of our clothes.

God did just the opposite. He used the blood - Jesus' blood - to wash our sins away and make our robes white. How does that work?

We know that the blood is critical to our life because there is life in the blood; but does our blood have redemptive powers? Think about it: it is not the blood of man but the blood of the Lamb that can wash away sin and make the soul clean and white in the sight of God.

Religion preaches that we are "going up yonder in the blue" to put on the robe of righteousness, but we already have it! We have it because it is this righteousness of God that He gives to us when we accept Him and manifest Him within us. Just as the butterfly emerges from the cocoon as a new creature with beautifully colored, exquisite wings, we are transformed within by Him and become a new creature with the robe of righteousness covering and enveloping us.

The next time you witness a snow storm, I pray you will remember this message. But regardless of the weather outside, regardless of whether you are feeling the effects of this world, always remember: God says: “I've Got You Covered!"

Thanks for stopping by,

Rachel