Life is good.
I am not going to lie and say it was “warm”, because that would be…. less than the truth. Get this, I gassed up at Chevron – pumped PREMIUM gas – filled the tank and…. (((( drum roll )))) …. $4.97 cents.
Life is good. A motorcycle that gets 60 mpg is much more fun to gas up than a pickup that is lucky to manage around 23 mpg.
Now, part 2 of my amazing day in the sunshine. Join me in reading Psalm 97….
He protects the lives of his godly people
and rescues them from the power of the wicked.
Light shines on the godly,
and joy on those whose hearts are right.
May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord
and praise his holy name!
The heart of this Psalm is, “Love what God loves and hate what God hates.”
If you say you are a “spiritual person” – then the Spirit of God lives in your heart and will, every day, draw you closer to God – and that will be revealed in what you love and what you hate.
If you say you have “faith in God” -- then your faith will be grounded in your love for God and your love for His Word. And your faith will, every day, draw you closer to God, making you naturally love what He loves and hate what He hates.
If you say you have “made peace with God” – then that simply means that you spend every moment of every day walking in step with Him and you love what He loves and hate what he hates.
Your spiritual take-away from this is obvious,
“What do you love and what do you hate?” of your relationship with God.
Now, lets go back and reread Psalm 97…..
You who love the Lord, hate evil!
He protects the lives of his godly people
and rescues them from the power of the wicked.
Light shines on the godly,
and joy on those whose hearts are right.
May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord
and praise his holy name!
Psalm 97:10-12 NLTHe protects the lives of his godly people
and rescues them from the power of the wicked.
Light shines on the godly,
and joy on those whose hearts are right.
May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord
and praise his holy name!
Who does God protect? Those who hate evil.
Who does God rescue from the wicked? Those who hate evil.
Who does God make His light of blessing on? Those who hate evil.
Who experiences the JOY of God in their hearts? Those whose hearts are right.
So the obvious question is: “What is evil?”
If we make a list of the most reprehensible, offensive gut wrenching sins that offend us on every level THEN compare our list against God’s list of terrible sins – how do you think they will match up?
There are six things the Lord hates—
no, seven things he detests:
haughty eyes,
(egotistical, arrogant, condescending)no, seven things he detests:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
(deceptive, manipulative, less than the truth)
hands that kill the innocent,
(babies, children)
a heart that plots evil,
(self centered, destructive, divisive)
feet that race to do wrong,
(enthusiastic, willing participants)
a false witness who pours out lies,
(intended to destroy, divide, deceive)
a person who sows discord in a family.
(talks in dark corners spreading disunity)
Proverbs 6:16-19
So, what do you love AND what you hate?
What does this reveal about you and your relationship with God?
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