"For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart." (Ecclesiastes 5:20 KJV)
"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trails, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." (Romans 5:3-11 NLT)
It might seem like a lot to take in, but it is the hope we have in the work Christ did, not in anything that we do; especially not anything which we might be going though! Seriously! We must never believe that God is against us, or that He has abandoned us, due to something we might have done, or might be doing. This line of thinking is just what the enemy wants, that is what he uses the most, and it is the most used tool he uses against us: discouragement!
We should never think that we are lost, just because we might have messed up, or we have fallen away from where we should have been, somehow makes us unworthy of His forgiveness; He is always there, waiting for us to come home, even if it has happened again and again! This might be the most important thing that we need to know: That God will never give up on you!
If Solomon was going to express something which he cherished deep within his heart, then this is that which he held unto, more than anything else, even more than wisdom. As wise as he was, he still lost sight of being obedient and following God's commands. But he never lost sight of God, because God never left him.
Pastor Bryan reminded me of that last night, saying, "Where we go, He goes!" That is why we are always looked at so strangely when we might be somewhere we do not belong, or doing something we should not be doing; God's light is never extinguished, you are always never alone...
"What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one - for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then can condemn us? No one - for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us." (Romans 8:31-34 NLT)
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