God's Love Reaches to the Heavens.

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,

your justice like the great deep.

You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!

People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from your river of delights.

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.

Psalm 36:5-9

Album: Woship With Don Moen

Your steadfast love extends to the heavens
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds
Your righteousness is like majestic mountains
And your wisdom like the depths of the sea
And you come to me

Filling my heart with your loving kindness
I find my peace in the shadow of your wings
I eat my fill from the abundance of your household
And I drink from the streams of rejoicing

You are my king

More lyrics http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/don_moen/your_steadfast_love-lyrics-224759.html#ixzz3kx2vejFv

Psalm 36 - God is This Big.

Psalm 36 - What it teaches me:

"Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,

your justice like the great deep.

You, Lord, preserve both people and animals."

Love, faithfulness, righteousness and justice. Beautiful and majestic words for a beautiful God.

"How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!

People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from your river of delights."

God's love is priceless. It is a treasure of pure gold hidden in the ground that someone finds and sells all he has to buy that piece of ground. That is what Jesus said. God's love and friendship is worth more than all we have and all we are.

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.  Verses 6-9

Life eternal can only be found in God. He is a fountain of life that spilled over on to the world when Jesus was here. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

In the Bible, darkness represents evil. It is only by the light that comes from God we can see good and be good. In His light, we see light. 

Trying to be Good.

C.S. Lewis wrote:

"You may remember I said that the first step towards humility was to realize that one is proud. I want to add now that the next step is to make some serious attempt to practice the Christian virtues. A week is not enough. Things often go swimmingly for the first week. Try six weeks.

By that time, having, as far as one can see, fallen back completely or even fallen lower than the point one began from, one will have discovered some truths about oneself. No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.

The main thing we learn from a serious attempt to practice the Christian virtues is that we fail. - All this is leading up to the vital moment at which you turn to God and say, "You must do this. I can't."

I do remember going through this as a new Christian. I didn't realize, until I fell hard, how bad I was - how I was capable of great sins. I did reach the point of despairing and said, "Lord, if you want me to be a good person, you will have to do it." Then I quit looking at myself - which took some practice. I still pray to be a good and loving person but I also quit worrying about it and leave it to God to do it for me. Jesus said, "Don't worry about anything," and I believe that means my sins and character too. 

The Pharisees

Jesus said, "For I tell you unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

The Pharisees were the dominant teachers of the people during this time. They were strict about obeying the law of God. Jesus once said to them, "You clean the outside of the cup, but inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee. First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may be clean also."

The majority of the Pharisees were not truly righteous, that is why Jesus said we must be better than them. They looked good on the outside, but inside were full of evil, for they had not given their hearts to God. Some were good men however, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.  Their minds and  hearts were open to the leading of God and so recognized the Messiah when he came. Many priests believed after Jesus was crucified.

God said, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people." Jerimiah 31:33

This is what it means to be more righteous than the Pharisees.

The Beatitudes: Being a Good Person.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied." Matt. 5:6

When I was a child and watched movies on our little black & white TV I was always impressed with the good people in the show. I would think, "I want to be like that: brave, honest, loving, and good."

Later, as an adult Christian I still feel the same way. When I watch The Lord of the Rings, I wonder if I could be as brave as Frodo and Samwise Gamgee. Would I die for what is right? Would my faith remain strong? I long to be a good person.

Jesus says if we desire goodness in ourselves as much as we desire a cold drink and a good meal, we will get it. He will give his goodness to us. And just as we need to drink and eat food each day, in the same way we need to ask God daily for his goodness to live in us.

After we have asked, simply believe it is true for Jesus said it was. If we stumble and fall, he will pick us up, dust us off and help us keep walking in the path of goodness. "For I am the Lord your God who holds you by your right hand. Who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.' "

May Goodness Spring Up From the Earth.

"I will rejoice greatly in the Lord.
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation.
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
As a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
As a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
To spring up before all the nations." Isaiah 61:10

I believe everything good in this world comes from God. He causes goodness to grow in minds and hearts throughout all the nations. He covers those who believe with his own righteousness and salvation. The world without God would be a dark and desolate place, but with God there are streams of light coming down from Him and then returning back to Him from his people.