"Refining Hope" -2

"Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon Thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave." (Psalms 31:17) I don't mean to offend anyone who might be hooked on a recovery program; and don't get me wrong, there are some good programs that are out there, and those are the ones that stress the need to surrender your life over to Christ, not to keep living a life of bondage to your sin, but to be in bondage to the LORD! Anywho; this word 'ashamed' is a word that can sneak up on you, if you are not careful; and as hard as I might try not to, I will no doubt step on some toes as I try and explain what I am talking about. Think of it as if you were to be the victim of a bad marriage; you know, the kind where you thought the one you married was someone else, and then they turned out to be a monster. It's the type of a voyage where you are constantly looking for the exit door, and wondering how to jump off the merry-go-round that does not seem very merry. What I am talking about is something called 'disappointment'; a condition that is usually caused by wrongful anticipations of what you expected to happen, or who you expected a person to be. We all have something that troubles us, in one form or another; and we all have some sort of sin that keeps tearing at our quest for righteousness; which is precisely why we need Jesus so badly to take control of our lives! We can't do this! Don't you see that! God does, and that is what His grace is all about! The trouble is inside of you; not that Christ has let you down, because He has done everything possible to lift you up; it's your own foolish heart that has let you down, by thinking you could keep your life and give it away at the same time; like having your cake, and eating it too! Continually, we must cry out to Jesus! And when we are not crying out to Him, it is usually when we are not trying to do what we are to be doing, or doing something we are not suppose to do! Otherwise, we should constantly be reaching out for Jesus to guide us, to teach us, and to strengthen us in this new life we have been given in Him!
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by Whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations (to increase the misery of my imprisonment by causing me anxiety) also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet preadventure for a good man some would die. But God commanded His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, being reconciled we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." (Romans 5:1-11)