"Determined"

"What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?" (Psalms 34:12) I don't know why, but every time I get to verse twelve in any of the Psalms, I always think there is something that it has significant with the completeness of mankind. Another way to view "the fear of the LORD" is from the perspective of 'reward', as in the benefits that come with doing what you know is right. I heard a very strong message yesterday about why Jesus needed to come and die on the cross; actually, the message was, Why did God need to do what He did the way that He did it? I have shared this before, but I believe that God knew all along that Adam and Eve were going to fall in the garden; But God had a plan! Because man was created with free will, and the right to choose whom he would obey, God needed to show the fullness of His love for man, that man could choose properly, and willingly. There is really nothing else in God's creation that demonstrates His love; there is demonstration of His might and power and glory, but nothing screams out His love for us, besides the cross! He gave us His all; all that He could do to demonstrate how much He loved us was to give of Himself; to come into this fallen world, in the form of fallen man, and to die on the cross for fallen mankind. The tree of knowledge of good and evil had to be a tree, or something that was able to be desired and partaken of, in order to give man something to choose from; in other words, there needed to be something about that tree that would draw a man or woman to it, thereby making a choice as to eat of it or not. As of that point, all man had to go on that he was loved of God, was all the stuff God had provided for him in the garden; try that with your kids, and see how much they understand love by what you give them; it pretty much just spoils them and makes them disobey you, because it doesn't demonstrate love, it just demonstrates appeasement. Once you start trying to demonstrate your love by giving stuff to them, they will expect more stuff to continue your loving expression; and when you do not give it, they ask you why you don't love them anymore. And yet, God had given them all this stuff, yet in the midst of it, He planted a tree that was to be desired, but was off limits to eat thereof. And what about 'knowledge of good and evil', do you think our minds will be wiped clean once we get to heaven? Although there might not be a tree that represents it, I am sure that we will have knowledge of it; we will just be so equipped by His love, the choice to do right will be overwhelming... "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:20-25)