"BLESSED!"

"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." (John 13:17 KJV)

  "Aleph - Joyful are the people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. I will learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! I will obey your decrees. Please don't give up on me!" (Psalm 119:1-8 NLT)

 Guess what I know, that I hope you know also: God does not give up on us!!! So we aren't perfect and always obedient children; don't you think He knows all the things we do? Even before we think about doing them, He already knows. There is nothing that we can do that will make Him give up on us, because He knows the end, where it is that finally have us: In His presence! 

 There is nothing that I can do that will cause God to abandon me, because I know I have been called and chosen to be His child. Those that have been chosen, we know who we are and believe what He says is true and faithful; there is no doubt within us that He is faithful in every way! We, on the other hand, lack the strength and integrity to be completely faithful; we might try harder and harder to be perfect; but the closer we are to perfection, the more sinful we see that we are! 

 I really hope by now that we can all just quit judging one another and start loving each other as we should! They will know that we are Christians by our love! That's not just a saying, it is truth! (1 John 3:14) This is what I know, with all certainty: if we are following the Lord's instructions, then the things of this world which might come against us, do not harm or disrupt our joy and happiness; everything just rolls off of us like water on a duck's feathers. 

 When we do not follow the Lord's instructions, we feel vulnerable and fearful about the things we otherwise would not care too much about. In other words, we do not feel protected! That is a pretty scary place to be, but it does not need to be that way! Turn and go the other way! God is always for us, so He will never leave us or forsake us; but you do need to turn back to Him! 

 Basically, I truly believe that is what He wants, more than anything else, that we know how much He loves us! If we know that, everything else will work out on its own...

"Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I'll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace. But we who live be the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love." (Galatians 5:2-6 NLT)