"Just Because"

"Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth." (Psalms 78:1) There are certain things in life that cause us to stop and think about the big picture, as in, life outside of our little bubbles. I know there are times when we get so caught up in surviving that we don't think about anything else but ourselves, but it's the selfish and self-centered living that causes us to feel miserable and alone. Before we start this journey, I would like to get a few things off my chest. First of which, is the fact that we have become so independent in our lifestyles that we hardly think we need anyone else to survive; almost as if we could be left alone on a deserted island and be perfectly fine by ourselves. Well, I am here to tell you that if that is what you think, your nuts! We need each other far more than we could ever know; if for no other reason than sharing our thoughts, we need to be encouraged and to encourage others. That said, there are only really two laws to live by, to love God and love others; that's it! You get those two laws down, and you're going to do just fine. But there is one little problem with our ability to pull those two things off: self! We always seem to get in the way of loving God and others! Secondly, we can be so stubborn when it comes to judging ourselves; it's almost as if we have a magic mirror that only lets us see ourselves as the fairest in the land, or that removes all of the blemishes from our faces. God requires that we confess our weaknesses and come humbly before Him for strength; something that requires us to judge ourselves first; realizing that we are in need and lack what it takes to make it on our own. Not only is the Bible a instruction manual, it's also a love letter from our Creator; written from His heart to provide us understanding about what we are and how much He loves us, still, regardless of what we are! I am such a sinner, but God loves me! He knows me better than I know myself, and yet He is still right there holding out His arms to hold me and tell me how much He loves me! What an amazing God we serve! This is likely to end up being a pretty interesting ride, so I hope you stick around. "God Loves His People" is the title above this Psalm in my Bible, but I am sure you figured that out by now. If only His people loved Him back; that's the point to be made in all of this: If only His people would love Him back... "Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. "Listen to me, Asa!" he shouted. "Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The LORD will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the law to instruct them. But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him out, they found him." (2 Chronicles 15:1-4) NLT