"The Up-Beat"

"But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted."
(Psalms 89:24)
I really hope you got that message yesterday, because for me, it all really came together with that last verse from the 2nd Psalm: "But what joy for all who take refuge in him!" Isn't that really what it's all about? To be perfectly honest with you, I do not realize that as much as I should; I mean, I know what I have been given, but maybe it's more taken for granted, more than it is actually lived out in my life. Think about what contrast was being put forth; the world powers being put under the mighty rule and power of God Almighty, while those who are eager to submit to Him are given liberty and peace. Not that it does any good, but don't you think their hearts might change if they just knew what they were up against? I was listening to a message yesterday about the Veil which was torn by God when His Son died upon the cross. That curtain was pretty massive, massive enough to require 300 priests to hang it; that's a pretty heavy piece of cloth. And yet, the moment Jesus died on the cross, that massive cloth was torn in half, from the top to the bottom. We know that this was done to show us that the divide between us and God had been torn apart, but we might not have figured out that the priests of the Temple most likely had sown it back together; after all, there was still about 40 years more that they would be performing sacrifices in the Temple. I can't but think what was going on inside their minds. How did they explain something like that to themselves? Moths? Lightning? How about the hand of God! Yes! It was the hand of God that had torn that curtain; just like it was the hands of God that were nailed to the cross! "I came for sinners," that is what He was saying! Sure, God was tearing down the divide, but He was also letting us in! No more would holy be off limits to man, because God had made the way for man to be accounted righteous and holy...
""Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more that I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I gave myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth."" (John 17:13-19) NLT