"The Joy of Being Loved" -2

"Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: let such as love Thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified." (Psalms 40:16) Speaking about needing help, how about needing the 'joy of the Lord' in our lives, because we can all use a little more joy in these last days. Joy is closely related to hope, they are more a part of each other than we might sometimes realize; and yet, when we fail to experience the joy in our lives which should be established with our salvation in Jesus Christ, we sometimes fail because there is a lack of hope in our hearts. I believe this lack of hope is primarily the result of sin in our lives which needs to be dealt with; much the same as Adam had experience shame and fear, we too, if we carry around the weight of sin, will feel shameful and have a fear of being judged for that sin; which basically robs us of our joy, because deep down inside we have doubts about that salvation which is ours, which takes away from the hope that should be within us. God does not need us to confess our sins so He can know them, because He already knows what they are; He knows everything there is to know about us, much more than we even know about ourselves; but He needs us to acknowledge the condition of our heart, and the sin that we have placed before our love and loyalty for Him. Really, that is what it comes down to; have we like the harlot gone whoring after another? or have we been seeking fellowship with God? The more we play the harlot, the more we start placing our security in the ways of whoredom, and the less we place our hope in God; primarily because we begin to doubt His love and loyalty towards us is still there, and start looking for love in all the wrong places. He will never stop loving us, so we can squash that doubt right away! As interesting as this is, it still never ceases to amaze me; but God not only knows your past and current sins, He knows those sins which you will do in the future; so how can we ever think that God has stopped loving us? If He loved you then, then He loves you now; His love for us never changes. No, if there is any change in love between us and God, it is coming from our end of the relationship, not His... "When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments." (Habakkuk 3:16-19)