"The God of Jacob" -2

"Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob." (Psalms 81:1)
If you did not catch it, that's alright, because it's pretty much the same mistake we make in our everyday living: not realizing how much we have been forgiven, and assuming that God is always mad at us. I can't help using this new thing I learned within the last few months, but I can't believe after all these years it was something I either did not listen to, or could not see. Jacob was always Jacob, even after he became Israel, God would still call him Jacob, if he acted or trusted as if he was not God's chosen man. How hard is it to understand? If you are chosen by God, and if God is who He says that He is, and if He knows all that He knows, then you are not a mistake. Now, as to that question; you know, the one from yesterday; it's hardly even something that we could even consider, yet it is one we often try to pin on ourselves. Is the Lord really abiding in my heart? Have I offended the Lord so much that He has chosen to leave me? You can't!!! When I was a kid, every time I did something really dumb, my mom would refer to me as Knucklehead Smith. Usually it would be as a reference, saying, "Quit acting like you're a Knucklehead Smith." But once in a while, it was just point blank, "Knucklehead Smith, knock it off!" I guess we really can't tell anything by our own true nature, because if we try and base our relationship with God upon the way that we act, or by the things that we do, then we are always going to remain condemned. Isn't that the Good News that we have been given? It's not about us, it's all about Jesus! If we abide in Christ, then He abides in us; that's all there is to it! If you have been born again, then you have been born again! You can't undo your new birth, just as you could not crawl back up into your mother's womb and pretend your life never happened. Be that as it may, it is still our move... "Let the godly sing for joy to the LORD; it is fitting for the pure to praise him. Praise the LORD with melodies on the lyre; make music for him on the ten-stringed harp. Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing for joy. For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything he does." (Psalms 33:1-4) NLT