"Make It Count" -2

"Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright I will show the salvation of God." (Psalms 50:23) I really do think it is interesting how this Psalm is followed by one of the greatest passages in the entire Bible concerning confession and forgiveness; it stands to reason that we need to know how God operates before we can totally understand how to ask Him for forgiveness; at least to ask Him in a way that gives us assurance that we have been cleansed. Confession is not just spewing out some sins that we have committed before God, as if we are coming clean before Him, it is a heart felt sorrow that takes place within us because we have sinned against God, which is remorse for having wronged the One that loves you more than you even love yourself; if you can understand the importance of what that means. When we truly understand why it is that we must praise Him, then we can truly give Him the glory that He deserves, without actually trying to impress Him or anyone else! If there is anything we must take away from Psalms 50 before moving ahead into Psalms 51, it is that "God Is the Judge" of not only your eternity, but He is the Judge of your internal character; and He not only loves us more than we love ourselves, but He knows us better than we know ourselves; in other words, we need to be perfectly honest with Him, because He knows what we are thinking, what is in our hearts, and even what we don't know we are capable of doing or thinking, He already knows! Not that it matters, but how do you think you could handle loving someone with unconditional love, even though you knew in advance that they would hurt you, or turn against you? I don't know if I could do it, especially if I knew what God already knows, because He really deserves more of my love than I have offered Him. I guess the reason for my title, "Make It Count", has more to do about the way that we are treated than the way that we perform; which really comes down to the way that we are loved by God, regardless of our performance or response to His love, just knowing that He loves me is the most important part of my relationship with God. I mean really; who can actually say that they can love God with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength? We always come up short, but He never does; His love never fails, so doesn't make since that it should be His love that we must focus upon and not our own? That is the only way we are going to make His love count... "Ho, every one that thirstest, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money on that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." (Isaiah 55:1-3)