"Let the Son Shine In"

"Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood." (Psalms 132:6)

  Maybe I get a little over excited, but when I feel God tugging at my heart, especially when it is about matters of the heart, I am reminded of the purpose, that it is His, and His alone. This is a verse that addresses the hunting down of the Ark, as the children of Israel felt it needed to be in the Temple for God's glory and presence to be in that place. I am sorry if there might be days when I am not understood; I have got to admit, that there are days when I hardly understand it myself; but when it comes to matters of the heart, and my heart trying to understand the heart of God, I get a little confused in my understanding. Call it hard-headedness, which is what I have been told all my life: "Richard, you are so hardheaded!" Anywho; when it comes to our relationship with the Lord, there are some things that are hard to understand: no matter how much you think you know, it is not about what you know that counts; it is about Who you know! More importantly, that He knows you! You know, if you want to get to know someone more deeply, you have got to get real and truthful with that person; it is no different with our relationship with the Lord. He already knows everything there is to know about you, so it is impossible to hide anything from Him. This is touching on the point of mercy needing more faith than grace; we have got to get past the part about being forgiven, before we can accept the part about being justified. What do we have available to prove that God forgives us? First and foremost, we have His Word! Do you know why God magnifies His Word above His Name? We can see the reason written within writing: "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." (Psalms 138:2) You know that expression, "My word is my bond,"? Well that is why we can trust Him, because He has established it that way: His Word is Solid! Everything else you think that you know; the very existence of your being, that earth that you walk upon; even the air that you breath; it is all totally and completely just a figment of your imagination compared to the Word of God! I can't help but think of something Jesus said, three times He asked the people, "What went ye out for to see?" (Luke 7:24-35) We are such a fickle bunch, with our emotions controlling most everything that we do. The thing that makes us different from the rest of the world, is not our stability, because that is not within us: But He is the One that never changes, so if you are going to look for something stable and unchanging, instead of running around trying to find something that satisfies your interest, you had better start getting real with Jesus; because He is as real as it gets...

""To what can I compare the people of this generation?" Jesus asked. "How can I describe them? They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, 'We played wedding songs, and you did not dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn't weep.' For John the Baptist didn't spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, 'He's possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, 'He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!' But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it."" (Luke 7:31-35) NLT