"You are all I want, O Lord..." Psalm 119:57-60

When King David wrote the Psalms he only had a partial glimpse of what was to come in Jesus Christ, his experience with the Lord, though unique, was solely based on trying to be good enough through works and make his efforts as something that might be pleasing to the Lord.

It is at that point today where our paths diverge, for we have a different paradigm in how we approach the Lord.  The beauty of coming to Jesus is that no matter what our desire for devotion to Him, He is always faithful to meet us where we are, not necessarily where our desires to please Him are. 

We are prone to consistently make promises to the Lord like David did which detail how we want to come to Him to curry His favor by either being obedient or just mindful of our ways.  The truth is we can’t make ourselves any more than we already are, and it is that that point where the Lord meets us.

The Lord has great mercies available to us by way of the cross and there is nothing we can do to add to His mercies other than just receive them.  The Lord describes our righteousness as no more than filthy rags which have no value, our only currency with the Lord is our bodies by providing the empty vessel for Him to fill.

 It is when we come to Jesus as an empty vessel that He fills us with what is right and true for He actually fills us with Himself to become our righteousness.  He makes us clean and chases out anything is contrary to His love.  It is love that defines the nature of our relationship with Jesus, not our ability to be obedient or faithful, these are characteristics that He imparts through our relationship with Him.

That is what life in Christ is all about, knowing and receiving the love of God which is in fact receiving God Himself who fills us and makes us like Himself.

I am so glad that God knows all about our frailties and our inability to please Him, otherwise we would be in a bad way without hope.

As you read the Psalms, read them through the lens of Christ and you begin to see a picture that what David is describing of what life in the spirit might look like when once filled with the life of Christ.  

It is not about works or being good enough before the Lord, it is about what Jesus will become in us as we present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him for His service.

Remember, it is all about the love of God, not about what we can do for Him, but what He can do through us.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett