"Uprightness of Heart"

"I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I have learned thy righteous judgments." (Psalms 119:7)

 If you were wondering how being ashamed is such a big factor in the road to redemption, it has much to do about humility and surrender. It is not until I see my need to be helped, that I will actually ask for help. If people don't think that they need to be saved, they will not cry out for a Savior. Here is the other point about any sort of law, whether it is a law of nature or it is God's law: If tested, there is going to be a result. I know what you might be thinking, that is nothing new, everyone knows that. Yes, but do you know that it is both for good and the bad? When it comes to our relationship with God, there are things we need to be tested in, just as there are things God will want us to test Him in. In Psalms 34:8, David uses a challenge to express how trust is realized, saying, "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." When we are learning how to trust God, there is absolutely nothing we can learn about trust unless we have a reason to trust Him. If I pray for patience, especially with dealing in matters of my heart, God will bring issues into my life that cause me to loose my patience. If I pray for the ability to love, God will give me an adversary to bring out my hate, so that I see more the love I lack in my life. I seriously believe that nothing comes easy; it might be simple, but nothing simple does not mean it isn't hard. God simply says, "Love your enemies," but it is hard to love those that hate you and want to despitefully use you. This word "uprightness" is a word that speaks of evenness and integrity; two words that require a conscious thought, where someone needs to think about what is the right thing to do. That is where we learn how to trust God, by learning what it is that He wants us to do! There was a little footnote in the NLT for John 3:21, it was regarding Jesus' statement, "But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants." The footnote said, "Or can see God at work in what he is doing." It is really all about Him, not us...

"But Jesus replied, "Stop complaining about what I said. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the Scriptures, 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.) "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I offer so the world may live, is my flesh."" (John 6:43-51) NLT