May God help us devise good

Proverbs {14:22} Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth [shall be] to them that devise good.

Mercy and truth.

Jesus came to earth as a human and with Him He brought mercy and truth personified. Our Savior's mercy saves us, the truth sets us free.

All through the Bible we hear of mercy and truth. God is love and love holds mercy and truth.

We might joke and say 'everything' good, but it's true. God is everything that is truly good.

'Mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.'

Good- devising good.

Here we go once more, the 'action' of a Christian.

Devising good. We need to devise good, so many devise evil.

Devise-
'To form, plan, or arrange in the mind; design or contrive'

What did Jesus say- Matthew '{5:27} Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: {5:28} But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.'

Devising evil.

We need to pray to God to help us, to guide us, to forgive us and never leave us. We need to trust in Him whole-heartedly as a child trusts. God alone can enable us to be His, but we have to choose to let Him enable us. We have to focus on the good, dwell on the good, not *US* and our good works, make no mistake there. Pride is a sin. When we focus on the good, when we devise good, we are allowing God to live in us, work in us. If we find ourselves devising evil, if our thoughts are embroiled in thinking more bad than good, we need to shift our thought process or at least be willing to ask God to help us do that. It can be a problem for a lot of people- bad thoughts, very rarely do bad things take place without first having bad thoughts. I call them bad as if I've softened the real word and maybe I am. Evil. Very rarely do evil things take place without first having evil thoughts. The thought comes before the action. Jesus says just lusting is as bad as committing the act, so many might think that if they're guilty already they might as well do it. Is the 'act' worse than the 'thought'? It's the heart that matters. Evil thoughts need to be treated as sinful and we need to ask for forgiveness for those thoughts. We can't pat ourselves on the back and say- well at least I didn't do it. We have to realize the thought is evil as well and seek forgiveness for the thoughts.

It seems so hard sometimes, and 'too' hard at other times and that is what Satan wants. He wants us to say, this is just too confusing and too hard, I can't control my thoughts and everything, I just can't.

Well, that's true- we CAN'T. But we also can't give into Satan. We can't give up, we have to trust God and keep on trusting him. If there is a fight to be fought it's in keeping on trusting, keeping on with the faith, even when things seem the darkest. Giving up is automatic defeat when we give up to Satan. Giving up to Jesus, trusting in Jesus, is life, it's winning that race. We only win because Jesus won and we're trusting in His victory for us and not in ourselves.

If we love Jesus, we'll want to please Him. When you love someone you want to please them. Maybe you love only yourself- you want to please yourself, right?

We need to devise good.

May God help us devise good, by the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Amen.

Loves instruction. Hates Reproof.

Proverbs

{12:1} Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof [is] brutish.

Loves instruction.
Hates reproof.

Most of the time we do hate reproof. Why? We hate reproof because it points out our wrongs, our faults, our failures. In a world that praises success from the moment a child does something good to reprimanding them from the moment they do something wrong it's easy to see why we become that way isn't it? We associate reproof with being bad and being bad is worth punishing and punishing isn't sometihng meant to be fun and nice it's meant to be teaching us not to do bad. I think somewhere along the line we don't start out learning it's to teach us to be good, we learn shame of having faults. We learn shame and that feeling of shame isn't something we want so we come to hate reproof, wanting to be thought good and right all the time.

Okay, so maybe this isn't a 'we' thing, maybe this is a 'me' thing.

I know that from a personal standpoint the feeling that I get when someone points out I've done something wrong, something bad, messed up something important, forgot something I needed to remember, that I feel horrible.

Am I brutish? If I am, God help me. I know I need to learn to love instruction and God is helping me- despising not the 'chastening of the Lord'. It's a process of unlearning really because of the ingrain belief I've held for so long that chastening, the reproving is a bad thing. If we can learn that *learning* from our mistakes is a good thing, that no one is above making mistakes it's the aftermath we have to deal correctly with then maybe it'd be something less than brutish. I know I say 'we' but I mean 'me', because for all I know anyone reading this has a handle on this.

Read on... Proverbs is full of instruction-

{12:2} A good [man] obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.

{12:3} A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

{12:4} A virtuous woman [is] a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed [is] as rottenness in his bones.

{12:5} The thoughts of the righteous [are] right: [but] the counsels of the wicked [are] deceit.

{12:6} The words of the wicked [are] to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.

{12:7} The wicked are overthrown, and [are] not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.

{12:8} A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.

{12:9} [He that is] despised, and hath a servant, [is] better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.

{12:10} A righteous [man] regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked [are] cruel.

{12:11} He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain [persons is] void of understanding.

{12:12} The wicked desireth the net of evil [men:] but the root of the righteous yieldeth [fruit. ]

{12:13} The wicked is snared by the transgression of [his] lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.

{12:14} A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of [his] mouth: and the recompense of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

{12:15} The way of a fool [is] right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel [is] wise.

{12:16} A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent [man] covereth shame.

{12:17} [He that] speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

**
There is the truth.

Speaking the truth.

Not lying.

Speaking the truth is righteous.

Speaking lies isn't.


{12:18} There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise [is] health.

{12:19} The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue [is] but for a moment.

**
That is so beautiful really.
The lip of truth shall be established for ever.
Lying tongues are but for a moment.

Forever.

The truth is forever.

Lies aren't.

In the grand scheme of eternity, the wicked will be gone and the righteous will live forever.

Truth.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

It's through Jesus we live forever.

Let's finish this chapter of Proverbs....


{12:20} Deceit [is] in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace [is] joy.

{12:21} There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

{12:22} Lying lips [are] abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly [are] his delight.

{12:23} A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.

{12:24} The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

{12:25} Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

{12:26} The righteous [is] more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them.

{12:27} The slothful [man] roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man [is] precious.

{12:28} In the way of righteousness [is] life; and [in] the pathway [thereof there is] no death.

**

So much is said here, so much.

We need to take it to heart.

We need to take instruction.

Jesus loves us, and we need to love Him with all our heart.

May God help us all learn to love truth, to love instruction, to love Him by the grace of God our Lord and Savior now and forever.

Amen.

Lean not unto thine own understanding.

Proverbs
{3:1} My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments
{3:2} For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
{3:3} Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart
{3:4} So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

**
We studied this yesterday a little bit. The next couple verses don't have the word 'truth' in them but I wanted to touch on them any way.

{3:5} Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
{3:6} In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

**

Lean not unto thine own understanding.

We can try as hard as we want to.
We can glimpse into the understanding as we seek to walk with God.
We can do all in our power to find clarity with all the answers, but we won't find them fully, ever.

The whys and hows of God are mysteries.

Scientists can rip apart the smallest part of a human being in an effort to find all the answers. We can read in the newspaper, or hear on the news that 'another great discovery' was made in the advance of mapping the human genome, we're one step closer to understanding, but you know what it's lies. No, not that the advances aren't being made because they are. What is a lie is that we're closer to understanding. Every discovery made only produces more and more questions. We want to understand, we think by explaining away things we master them, that we gain some control over them. Having to rely on anyone but ourselves goes against the grain of our pride. We *should* be able to have control. We *don't* want to rely on any one else to decide our fate. We do have that control in the power of our choice but beyond that we have to have faith in God.

We can't lean unto our own understanding.

When life turns upside-down and we cry out that we just don't understand why all that is happening is happening, we want understanding but God want us to trust in Him beyond our understanding.

'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.'

That covers so much of how to live in God.

Trusting with all our heart- as a child trusts, never suspecting their parent could hurt them in any way and even if they do, the child will time and again forgive a parent and love them, trusting them once more. Leaning not unto our own understanding. We can't understand the ways of God, they were by faith and truth beyond our comprehension. We have to have God in our lives in every way possible. There isn't one single part of our lives we shouldn't have God in, not a single one. In all our ways we have to acknowledge him.

Lean not unto thine own understanding.

Our cries of not understanding are in fact understandable, in just knowing we *can't* understand. Such a wonderful paradox, but so true and so relieving being able to trust in God and not our own limited understanding.

May God help us to acknowledge Him now and always and trust in him not ourselves or our own understanding.

Amen.

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee

Proverbs
{3:1} My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments
{3:2} For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
{3:3} Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart


**

Forget not God's law
Let our hearts keep His commandments
Not forgetting God's law and keeping His commandments can only bring good to us in a personal way- no guarantee there for an easy life but rather peace and that can be found in turmoil of circumstances. People crying for peace some times miss the mark. They're looking for peace of circumstance, not peace inside, not peace with God.

You hear the term-- 'inner peace' and people associate it with mystism and such, but God offers us peace in Him too. An inner peace, because if we look for it outside ourselves in our day to day lives the occurances that step in to rock our worlds will throw things at us that even the most calm person would have a hard time dealing with it all.

We can't look for it outwardly, peace has to come not from within us, but from God, God who puts it inside us, in our hearts, God who is the source of peace.

God's law and His commandments will give us this peace, this life.

Mercy and truth- we can't let them forsake us.

We can let them forsake us make no mistake that it is possible. They don't have to stay with us, they're not forced to be with us.

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee...

How can we keep mercy and truth?

'Bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of thine heart'

Binding anything about the neck is what? Something that can take our breath away, our lives away, or it is something we want to keep close to us, something so important we want it to be close to our hearts. In fact we're to write them upon the table of our hearts.

God's law, His commandments are to be on our hearts!

Yet these are the very things that people want to say are gone! They want to say they're no longer valid. They want the very things that God wanted written on our hearts and hung about our necks, destroyed. They don't see the love in them, they only see the restrictions. They only see them as 'works' and yell out we're not saved by works. We aren't that is true, there isn't a lifetime of works we can do that could pay for our sins. We could live a million years and we wouldn't live long enough to pay for any sins. There is only one that can do that for us and that is Jesus. The thing is... we don't keep the commandments to save ourselves, we keep them out of love for the one who made them and found them worthy enough to want them to be bound about our necks; and written upon our hearts.

Keeping mercy and truth is all tied up with having the love of God in our lives. There is so much we have to learn, to much to realize.

Happy are those who... keep truth for ever.

Psalms
{145:18} The LORD [is] nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

**

Calling upon God in truth.

Can we call upon God in falsehood? In lies?

I think we can. I think just as we can call upon anyone in truth, we can also call upon them in lies. Our intentions hold the key to which, right? Our intentions are honorable when we are being truthful, and not honorable at all when we are trying to deceive. If we pray to God with a heart that is wide open, hiding nothing at all it's in truth. If we pray to God thinking that we can hide things from him what does that say?

The Lord doesn't promise to be nigh to those who call on Him without truth.
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

See...

Not nigh unto all who call upon him.

But nigh until all who call upon him in TRUTH.

Truth.

Throughout Psalms we've learned a lot about truth. We've one last verse in this study in Psalms--

Psalms
{146:5} Happy [is he] that [hath] the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope [is] in the LORD his God
{146:6} Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein [is:] which keepeth truth for ever


Happy are those who have God for their help.
God who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that's in them.
Those which keep truth for ever.

Happy are those who... keep truth for ever.

The truth isn't something to toy with, to have one day toss aside the next, to play with on a whim.

You can know the truth but it doesn't necessarily mean you will accept it. Knowing and accepting it is what is most important and keeping it close to your heart always is equally important. Being able to come to God, to call upon Him in truth is very special and necessary because God doesn't condone anything but the truth. We shouldn't either.

The truth is the love of God in all its glory, revealed in His law, revealed in His Son, love.

“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”- John 3:20-21

Child Like Believing

Psalms
{138:1} I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
{138:2} 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.
{138:3} In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, [and] strengthenedst me [with] strength in my soul.
{138:4} All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
{138:5} Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great [is] the glory of the LORD.
{138:6} Though the LORD [be] high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
{138:7} Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
{138:8} The LORD will perfect [that which] concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, [endureth] for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

**

Praise God's name for his lovingkindness, for his truth.

'In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, [and] strengthenedst me [with] strength in my soul.'

Strengthening with strength in the soul.

Strength in the soul.

Most times isn't that where we need strength, in our soul more so that any other way.

Hope gives us soul strength. Hope gives our will a chance to carry on when all seems lost. When there is so much heartache and pain in our lives we can find the will to carry on. Strength in our souls.

'Though the LORD [be] high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.'

Respect to the lowly.

The proud he knows far off.

God knows. He does. God loves us and He will guide us.

**

Yesterday as I was studying some it hit me once again how far from being 'Christ-like' I am. We're to strive to walk the walk in Christ, we can't say that once we accept Jesus that's it, we can be as bad as we like because we're not saved by works. That's not how it all goes.

For many, many, many years before Christ, God guided his chosen people and many times they broke the covenant they made with Him. They'd repent and He'd take them back and it would start all over again. God is a forgiving God. During that time there were many punishments for the breaking of the covenant as well.

Christ came and revealed the law more fully. The law pointing to Christ's saving grace was realized in Christ. Through Christ we are saved and no other. Out of that saving grace we are to follow Christ's ways. We are to love God and to love man, so often we love ourselves more than either of them. Selfishness being totally against all that is God.

I grew up with two older sisters and one older brother, I was the fourth child. I'm not making excuses for who I am, I'm sure there are many that grow up the same. Growing up with the expectation of wanting to be special.

Wanting and never seeming to attain anything special in a good way within myself. I could focus on the bad in my life, I could see how plainly I was 'bad' and it only made me want to be something, someone different.

I can honestly say that it's part of me still and it's that part that I look at and need to get rid of, or need to give to God and have Him get rid of, I'm not sure how it all works.

Yesterday as I studied I realized how alive and well that desire to be 'special' is in me and how contrary it is to being 'the least', to being 'lowly', to being a 'servant', to putting others 'first', to being 'last'.

In making the realization part of me started to feel that old despair that tells me I'll never be right with God. Clinging to Jesus I know my hope has to be in Him and Him only, not me. And I started to think about this verse--

Matthew {18:3} 'And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'

The thing about children is their ability to trust. Little children, not big children, but little children had that innocence about them a sweet innocence that life beats at as they age and the distrusting begins. A little child doesn't know how to worry. Worry is another thing growing older gives to us.

We can watch little children at play and while they can be selfish in the sense they want 'that toy', they can also be very giving, very loving, very trusting, and they don't worry.

'Except ye be converted, and become as little children,'

Become as little children.

It's only with that complete trust in Jesus, that child-like trust, that inability to worry that we can get into heaven. Why is that?

Heaven isn't going to be a happy place for those who find happiness in worrying and distrust.

As a child trust its parents, we have to trust God.

We can't pick apart God, we can't be rebelling older children, we can't be obnoxious teenagers and we certainly can't be jaded, cynical adults and hope to be happy. The older we get the more we question authority, the more we form our 'own' opinions and take stances that please us and our senses of right/wrong, regardless of what others think. We become very opinionated, we take great pride in our beliefs. Pride in being the 'adults' we've become.

While we bask in that pride, or lament our inability to be able to take that pride in ourselves, we miss the whole point of being like children.

A child's trust. A child's inability to worry.

We have to tap into that child-like part of us.

Ha! I sound like a psychologist- tap into your inner child. But you know it's true. Christ said it Himself.

'Except ye be converted, and become as little children,'

How is that possible? Only through Christ. Only through really accepting the fact that He and He alone can save us. Believing in it with a child-like trust that doesn't question it, that doesn't worry over it, but believes.

I'm tempted to say as a child believes in fairy tales, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and you know I think that might be true.

A child doesn't question their reality why should they, they've seen what Santa and the Easter Bunny brings, they see a rainbow and a fairy tales tells them there is gold at the end, they believe, really believe and adults nod and smile at the happiness the deception brings to them in their innocence. We have to believe contrary to what our senses tell us about our unworthiness. We have to be child-like in our belief, our trust.

Jesus is the way, the truth, the life.

And we have to believe in Him beyond doubt.

Hebrews {11:6} 'But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him:] for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.'

Faith, trust, hope. Child like believing. Child like love. May God help us all as we each struggle in our own ways to find the child we need to become so we can enter the kingdom of heaven with Jesus when He returns to take us home with Him. In His name.

Amen.

Life Now - Temporary to Eternity

A song...

It's a Christian rap song, probably not something a lot of people would listen to and all, and even the lyrics are a bit odd but read it through, please.

**

Separated, I cut myself clean
From a past that comes back in my darkest of dreams
Been apprehended by a spiritual force
And a grace that replaced all the me I've divorced

I saw a man with tat on his big fat belly
It wiggled around like marmalade jelly
It took me a while to catch what it said
Cause I had to match the rhythm of his belly with my head
'Jesus Saves' is what it raved in a typical tattoo green
He stood on a box in the middle of the city
And claimed he had a dream

What will people think
When they hear that I'm a Jesus freak
What will people do when they find that it's true
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak
There ain't no disguising the truth
[There ain't no disgusing the truth]
[I don't need to hide it... The truth]

Kamikaze, my death is gain
I've been marked by my Maker
A peculiar display
The high and lofty, they see me as weak
Cause I won't live and die for the power they seek

There was a man from the desert with naps in his head
The sand that he walked was also his bed
The words that he spoke made the people assume
There wasn't too much left in the upper room
With skins on his back and hair on his face
They thought he was strange by the locusts he ate
The Pharisees tripped when they heard him speak
Until the king took the head of this Jesus freak

What will people think
When they hear that I'm a Jesus freak
What will people do when they find that it's true
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak
There ain't no disguising the truth

People say I'm strange, does it make me a stranger
That my best friend was born in a manger
People say I'm strange, does it make me a stranger
That my best friend was born in a manger

What will people think
When they hear that I'm a Jesus freak
What will people do when they find that it's true
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak
There ain't no disguising the truth

What will people think
When they hear that I'm a Jesus freak
What will people do when they find that it's true
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak
There ain't no disguising the truth

What will people think [What will people think]
What will people do [What will people do]
I don't really care [What else can I say]
There ain't no disguising the truth [Jesus is the way]


**

So true!

There ain't no disguising the truth!

There isn't.

You can choose not to believe the truth, you can turn from the truth, but the truth is bold and there in our faces as a reality. You ask someone what is the truth, and they might shrug and say 'I dunno.' Or they might come back with, 'Truth about what?' a logical question. So you answer and say, 'What is the truth about Jesus?' Now you might get a lot of replies to that, a lot of possible answers. 'How should I know?', 'Who cares?', 'He lived and died.', 'He's God's Son.', 'He's our savior.' Yes, there are a lot of answers to that question. The truth is...

Jesus is the truth, and that is the truth. There is no disguising that truth, that fact. Should we care what people think of us if we're living the truth? Should we care at all what they might think or say? No. If we have the truth in our lives there isn't any hiding it is there?

I like that verse in that song a lot- 'There ain't no disguising the truth'

We're almost to the end of our study of the word 'Truth' in the book of Psalms. Here's a whole chapter for the next little bit--

{145:1} I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
{145:2} Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
{145:3} Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness [is] unsearchable.
{145:4} One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
{145:5} I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
{145:6} And [men] shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
{145:7} They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
{145:8} The LORD [is] gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
{145:9} The LORD [is] good to all: and his tender mercies [are] over all his works.
{145:10} All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
{145:11} They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
{145:12} To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
{145:13} Thy kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion [endureth] throughout all generations.
{145:14} The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all [those that be] bowed down.
{145:15} The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
{145:16} Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
{145:17} The LORD [is] righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
{145:18} The LORD [is] nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
{145:19} He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
{145:20} The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
{145:21} My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

*
{145:18} The LORD [is] nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Call upon him in truth.

No matter our lives here and now we can be assured that God hears us when we call upon Him in truth.

If there is sincerity within us he knows it's there.

People scoff and say that God isn't helping all those innocent abused, so there can be no God. I say, we live for a different world. This isn't our final home, this isn't the world we live for. We are passing through this world on the way to the heavenly world to come when Jesus returns and takes us with him, those living in truth will go with him and those dead in the truth will rise to meet him in the air. This isn't our final home and with that as the outcome, the here and now suffering is ours for reasons we cannot begin to understand. The horrors of this life for so many are temporary no matter how long they last- 1, 2, 10, 50, years they are still temporary to eternity.

Easy for me to say, I'm not being tortured? Yes, easy for me to say.

But each individual endures a private torture. Seriously. Even people who seem happy-happy all the time might cry themselves to sleep every night. We can't begin to judge the pain people go through as they endure life where sin is bashing at them all the time. No one is exempt, not a single person. Some are called to endure a lot more physical torture, others more mental torture, others more emotional, and there are combinations of all of them as well. We can speculate about the atrocities of life and we can blame God for not being with those people if we want, but we can't even know that, not really.

Heartless? Hardly.

There is only love with God, an eternity of love.

If we are looking to find that perfection on earth now then we're not looking in the right place. The perfection of life will only come when Jesus returns. Happiness now? No. That can't be our goal, that can't be the standard we judge God with. Happiness and peace here and now, all good things right now are not feasible.

The truth is our Savior Jesus Christ and all He offers us which is life eternal in Him, in His love.

Maybe we should make it our mantra- Truth Jesus, happiness in heaven.

Happiness in heaven.

Jesus knew...

Phillipians {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
{3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Eph. {1:3} Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ

Luke {18:22} Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Matthew {6:19} Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
{6:20} But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
{6:21} For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Treasures in heaven.

Can we put our 15 dollars of extra money in a heavenly bank? How about that diamond necklace? Is there a safety deposit box up there for that sort of thing? No. Why, because those treasures are not important.

Tell that to the poor woman who can't feed her children because she has no money here and now?

Alright, I will.

Maybe life here will be filled with horrors and trials beyond our imaginations, but we can't change that, not by much. People have lofty ideas of ridding the world of corruption and evils, poverty, abuse, and while it's not wrong to try and help those caught up in all that, seeking to make life here and now perfect isn't our ultimate calling. Our ultimate calling is heaven with Jesus. We need to live here and now trusting in Him no matter our circumstances, and I know... I know! I'm not the poor widow left with a babe in my arms and no roof over my head so it's easy for me to say that from my comfortable place where I have food for the taking and a roof with no leaks over my head. I can't deny I live a life of comfort where so many live lives of despair. Rich or poor, those who have a little or those who have a lot ultimately there is only one life we all should strive for and that's a life in the truth, and the truth is Jesus Christ.

Faith that stretches out and grasps Christ's hand no matter where we are, as we live for heaven with Him when He returns for us- dead or alive- he'll take us with Him. He's our heavenly treasure now and forever.

Call upon Jesus. Call upon Jesus. May God help us to call upon Jesus in truth, in the love that He personifies.