My Reason to be Joyful

Psalm 28:7- The Lord makes me strong.  He
is my shield.  My heart trusts in him and he
gives me help. Now my heart JUMPS FOR JOY
and I will thank him with my songs. 

I'm a happy person.  I don't get depressed too often.  But there are certain things that make me joyful.  Certain things that make me smile.  I love my friends.  Weekends are the best parts of my weeks (obviously...) because I get to have fellowship with them.   I love listening to other people talk.  I love to talk too, but I would rather hear someone else talk about what God has done in their life. Being around people makes me happy. But there is one thing that makes me more ecstatic than ever.  One thought that pops into my mind that overcomes all thoughts-- one of the precious blood of Jesus and how, with that, I can overcome.  

On SOTD today, there was one specific Proverb that God revealed to me.  

Proverbs 29:6 An evil man is ensnared in his transgression,

but a righteous man sings and rejoices.

Our price is paid. Jesus has paid the debt we owed IN FULL!  There is nothing that makes me more happy to think that I can stand before the Judgement seat of God someday and be able to point to Jesus standing somewhere near and say, "HE PAID FOR ME."  That I can know that God won't even look at my life and what I've done.  And how much I've screwed up.  The ONLY thing he will see is the perfect blood of Christ covering my horrific sin.  THAT is something to be joyful about.  That so many before me will walk up before the throne of the Living God and beg and plead and hope that the life they lived was good enough.  But I will stand before him KNOWING that my life doesn't measure up.  But that the precious blood of the lamb that was slain covers my sin.  

As a wise man once said, "Grace isn't an excuse to sin, but it is the POWER not to sin!"  So many people these days believe that Jesus' blood covers their sin, but that means they can do it as much as they please.  This is a sad lie that many people are being fed.  1 Corinthians 5:17-- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  We have no excuse to live as we once lived!  As a great song once said, “Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me!” I have that hope as a Christian.  A hope that states that I have someone, but not just someone, but the ALMIGHTY GOD, in fact, that has my back when temptation is shooting at me in every direction. When I want to gossip.  When I want the approval of others.  I have the hope that he will protect us from the devil and his scheming ways.  I have someone fighting with me against the power of sin! We have a reason to be joyful! 

There is nothing that compares to knowing that I have been bought at a price with the precious blood of Jesus!