"Tested and True"

"The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure." (Psalms 111:7)

 If there is one thing that is sure, it is the God does what He says He is going to do, without regret! Can you imagine what it would be like if it were any other way? If God reacted as we do, changing His mind and making new decrees based upon the actions of His people? God does not change! What He says then is what He says now, because nothing has changed in the knowledge that He has of what is happening today; He knows the end before the beginning. Pastor Mike always uses the expression, "God cannot learn," to illustrate His knowing all things; in other words, there is nothing that can be done that God did not know was going to happen beforehand. That said, we should take a little more thought into the what we do and why we do it, because not only is He watching, but He already knows what we will do. That is a little scary, don't you think? I can't remember who it was I was listening to yesterday, but they spoke about how God is looking for those that believe, not necessarily for those that do this or that. I know it is hard for us to understand it, because we are so stuck on rules; we have rules for this and rules for that; even the basic elements of life have been assigned rules that govern them. So is it any wonder that we get confused by our inability to keep all of God's commands? I constantly keep finding myself saying to myself, "What is wrong with me, why can't I just do what I know is the thing I should do?" All the while, God is saying, "But do you believe that I love you?" If there could be a test to prove that He does love me, then it is me, myself, and I. It is that fact alone, that despite all of my examples of falling short, in almost every area of getting it right, He still loves me. Greater things happen because I believe than the things that would happen if I just tried to do right...

"But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under the curse, for the Scriptures say, "Cursed is everyone who does not obey all the commands that are written in God's Book of the law." So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life." This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, "It is through obeying the law that a person has life." But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."" (Galatians 3:10-13) NLT