"Hoping for Redemption"

PSALMS 130 [A Song of degrees.]

  Maybe I forgot to mention this before, but these are steps; like stepping from one stepping stone to another, we are learning how each step relates to life, to our relationship with one another, and how we should relate with a Holy and Just God. This Psalm is one of those Psalms that leads us to examine where we stand with God; more importantly, we get to examine how God stands with us! We can try over and over to try and figure out why He loves us so much, and time and time again we come up with the same answer: Because He loves us so much! That's it; no rhyme or reason, other than the fact that He loves us! Yesterday Pastor Rick gave us a taste of what Revival looks like, trying to show how true revival is much like a free-fall, where nothing else matters but what God wants; even if the end result hurts! Amazingly, the end is not the end! I remember hearing the story about how Pastor Chuck decided to devote his whole life to the ministry, that it was a quote from a famous poem: "Only one life, 'twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last." This is one of those Psalms that expresses the hope for the soul, that which is beyond the great unknown, the by-and by, the Life Ever After. As with every great Revival, the power behind the movement is not based upon the movement, or even the people within the movement; the power behind it, is God's love! Getting lost in His love, where nothing else matters but pleasing Him, because He loves you more than you could ever know! That is what happens to make a person what God the most, is they discover that God loves them the most! Nothing or no-one could ever love us like God loves us; so why waste any time on anything else but pleasing Him? It is a little unfortunate that we don't get to keep that desire going; but it is a really good start...

"You and I are Jews by birth, not 'sinners' like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law" But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law -I stopped trying to meet all its requirements -so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die." (Galatians 2:15-21) NLT