"The Blessed Heart"

"The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry." (Psalms 34:15) If you what something to look for as motivation to do good, how about considering this simple, yet complex verse? Simple because it is right to the point; complex because it involves righteousness, which means we are not capable of achieving it on our own! That said, we do have choices we make that are contrary to following Jesus, and when we make those kind of choices, we fall from grace. These are the harsh realities of God's holiness and righteousness; the fullness of His grace is upon those that seek after and pursue righteousness in their daily lives. Does that mean we will fall out of His grace? No, I do not believe that a true believer in Jesus Christ can ever fall out of grace; however, I also believe a true believer will not succumb to a life of sin; sinning by trespass is one thing, but living in sin is something different all together. I know for a fact that I am saved, because I can not allow myself to sin enough to be comfortable in a life of sin; I might have a day or two of naughtiness, but then I feel the stain, and I need to repent and be washed; and wash me He does, each and every time that I earnestly ask Him, He takes the stain away! We are only made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ, but that does not mean we can live the way we want to and still be righteous. There might be things in our lives which we might not consider to be sin, but that might be sin in another person's eyes; and there might be things which right now we don't consider to be sin, but later, the Lord may convict our hearts that it is. If God convicts our heart of something being sin, then we had better stop doing whatever that might be; if not for the simple fact of what this verse says! Again, we are talking about the pursuit of holiness, which what we are instructed to do; and when we find ourselves giving into sinfulness, then we had better repent and ask for forgiveness. When you cry out to God, don't you want Him to listen? Hello! (I think I am talking to myself more than anyone else.) Sometimes I can get myself pretty dirty; so dirty I feel like a pig in a pigpen; but like the 'Prodigal Son', when I come to my senses, God is waiting there to welcome me back with open arms. I believe that, and I have a blessed heart because of that fact; just as our hearts are blessed by not leaving in the first place; which is the better of the two, because we never have to experience hunger and despair... "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:12-14)