God Desires the Best for Us
God's heart for us is that things will be well for us and for our children forever. He also knows that the only way this will happen is for us to fear Him and to keep all of His commandments.(Deuteronomy 5:29) Therefore, He longs for us to have such a heart that we would do just that, so He can bless us. God's heart is for us, but is our heart for Him? That is the deciding factor in life.
Often, we want to live as we want and ask God to bless us. That does not work. God created everything, and He established truth. He established right and wrong. He is holy, so He can't bless sin. Therefore, He has revealed His commandments to us to show us truth and right, so we can follow what is right and receive the blessings because of our obedience. Sin produces hurt and death. Obedience brings life and wholeness. This is why Jesus told us that we have to deny ourselves to follow Him.(Matthew 16:24) When we fear God, we will trust Him and love Him enough to do things His way, instead of our way.
The reason all of this works so well, even though we might think it would make us unhappy, is that God is love, too. He wants what is best for us. His commandments are what is best for us. He gave us His commandments to lead us to joy and fulfillment in life. He does not want to punish us. He wants to see us happy. He knows it all depends on our hearts, so He pursues us constantly. He urges us to turn our hearts to Him. He will not go against our hearts, because He gave us choice, and we must choose to fear Him and to love Him. Then, we can have what is best for us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 6-8.
Often, we want to live as we want and ask God to bless us. That does not work. God created everything, and He established truth. He established right and wrong. He is holy, so He can't bless sin. Therefore, He has revealed His commandments to us to show us truth and right, so we can follow what is right and receive the blessings because of our obedience. Sin produces hurt and death. Obedience brings life and wholeness. This is why Jesus told us that we have to deny ourselves to follow Him.(Matthew 16:24) When we fear God, we will trust Him and love Him enough to do things His way, instead of our way.
The reason all of this works so well, even though we might think it would make us unhappy, is that God is love, too. He wants what is best for us. His commandments are what is best for us. He gave us His commandments to lead us to joy and fulfillment in life. He does not want to punish us. He wants to see us happy. He knows it all depends on our hearts, so He pursues us constantly. He urges us to turn our hearts to Him. He will not go against our hearts, because He gave us choice, and we must choose to fear Him and to love Him. Then, we can have what is best for us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 6-8.