Joy In the Lord

Psalm 119:7-8

When I learn Your righteous laws,

   I will thank You by living as I should.

I will obey Your principles. 

   Please don’t give up on me.  (NLT)

     A lot of people think it is more difficult to obey God’s ten simple, yet life-saving laws than it is to comply with the thousands of complex, man-made laws that people cannot even understand, little less obey.  This is not because God’s laws are more complex or harder to understand, but it is because we are all born with a sinful nature that loves to rebel against God’s timeless and perfect laws.  And even though our conscience tells us that our sinful behavior will cause us shame and guilt and possibly death, we go ahead and do it anyways.  One of the best lies of the Enemy is that obeying the laws that God wrote in stone takes the fun out of life—that it is impossible to enjoy life when we are bogged down with a bunch of righteous rules that we cannot bend to fit our desires.  This cannot be further from the truth, my friends, because our obedience to God leads to an amazing peace and an amazing joy that the world cannot take away nor compete with.  It is not easy living against the swift currents of this fallen world that threatens to pull you down into its utterly cold darkness, but with the life-vest of salvation, you are held safely above the darkness.  When obeying God and submitting to His will becomes your first priority, you begin to discover what the joy of the Lord is all about. 

     The righteous ways of the Lord are always perfect and true and when followed, they will, in return, give you the desire to please the Living God who created you to live and reign with Him forever.  The Lord has given us many things to enjoy while living on this earth, but in our fallen state we often take the very things God gave us to enjoy and turn them into our only reason for living. And many people end up doing almost anything to get them, often ignoring what is right and what is not.  The first command that God gave Adam and Eve was to be obedient (which they weren't), least they die, (which they did).   The first law that God wrote down in stone was to love Him above all else, but we quickly become lovers of self and the world instead.  But for the children of God who have learned and accepted His Truth, they not only find it easy to love the God who saved them, but they also develop a burning desire to follow His Way, which pleases Him and gives us pleasure as well.  God not only teaches us the right way to live and die, but He also points the way to Heaven as well. 

                                   A Whisper of Hope

Unlike this world, dear child…I do not enforce My Way upon you, nor do I force you to obey.  But know this, child, when you blatantly disobey Me with glee and without remorse you will receive the death penalty.  Ignoring My Ways to embrace the ways of this evil world is both foolish and short-sighted.  For when you live in the world, life is short, but when you live in Me, life is never ending. 

Jeremiah 7: 21, 23

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel says;

“Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My

people.  Only do as I say, and all will be well.”  (NLT)

  If the righteous are barely saved, what chance 

          will the godless and sinners have?

                               (1 Peter 4:18)