A Heart Condition

First of all let me start by saying that I hope to begin blogging on a more regular basis again. Life is crazy this time of year. Regardless of whether I blog or not - I hope that you have been keeping up with the bible reading. Spending time with God and in His Word is the biggest source of Hope that we can have - and in a time when our economy is struggling and people are losing jobs and money is tight - that is a pretty big deal.

We have been reading for the past few days in Romans - which happens to be my favorite book of the bible. No other book of the bible so clearly demonstrates my need for a savior and God's faithfulness, grace, and mercy being offered to me.

Romans 3:1-20 explains to us the importance of obeying God. God loves us and wants what is best for us - true He is magnified by His willingness to forgive our sins - but that doesn't mean that we should just keep sinning so that we can be forgiven for more.

The fact of the matter is that God IS GOING TO JUDGE US. One day we will all be held accountable for our lives. But when we are covered by the grace of God - we are judged by the condition of our HEART - not so much by our actions. Our outward actions are simply a reflection of what exists on the inside.

If we lie and say - I can do whatever I want - I can sin and do what I want because it makes God look good when he forgives me - the truth is that the condition of our heart in that case is selfish and sinful.

If we struggle and fight against sin - we will still sin from time to time - but in that case the condition of our heart is to serve and follow God. We can never follow all of His commands on our own - but the question that we need to ask is - what is the true desire of my heart. Is it self-serving and self-pleasing - or is it God serving and God pleasing?

Nothing that we can DO will ever disqualify us from the forgiveness of sins. God will forgive us of ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS - everyone sins - so what separates the righteous from the unrighteous on judegment day? The condition of the heart.