It Feels Good To Be Right With God

Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

1st John 3:21, “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.”

I think it is safe to say that anyone who has been saved for a length of time, knows the pain and frustration that comes as a consequence of being backslidden. Proverbs 14:14, “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.” A good man shall be satisfied from himself. This is when a Christian man has matured in Christ to the point where he prioritizes pleasing God above his own ambitions, desires, lusts and thoughts. This man lives by principles, not by his own sinful passions and whims. A good man puts others before himself, as did Jesus (Philippians 2:3-5).

I decided long ago that I like being on the right side of the fence between right and wrong. It's not a fun thing to be running from God's will for one's life.

Likewise, it feels good not having to hide anything from the police. That is part of what the Bible means in Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” If you have owned and driven your own auto vehicles for as many years as I have (almost 40 years), you've probably experienced a few times when your city sticker or license plates expired. I admit that I've had that happen to me a couple times, for one reason or another. Usually I just forgot. In the old days you couldn't go online from the comfort of your home, to the Department of Motor Vehicles' (DMV) website, to easily renew your stuff online. You'd have to stand in a long line of people waiting for hours!

So on a few occasions I had delayed going to the DMV, for whatever reason, and my tags expired for my plates. I remember that sick feeling when a police car would pull up behind me, wondering if he would notice that my plates had expired. I was wrong not to renew my plates in a timely manner. I have made sure now for several years not to let my tags expire, so I can feel full confidence when driving my vehicle in public. I have nothing to hide. That was when I was younger. I eventually decided that I would never put myself in a comprising situation again, where I needed to fear the law because I procrastinated to do something that I was supposed to do.

As I type I am legal beagle! I have renewed my license plates in the city of Pensacola until 2024. Amen! So whenever a cop is behind me in traffic, I feel as bold as a lion. Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” What a horrible way for some people to live, having to always look over their shoulder to see if the police are watching, or if they might inspect your car for drugs, illegal firearms or God forbid, bodies. When I drive my vehicle, I am careful to keep the speed limit, so that I can drive with confidence that I am not going to be ticketed for speeding. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying this...lol, but I haven't had a vehicle citation of any kind in over 20 years of driving. Praise the Lord! That was no coincidence, I worked really hard to achieve that!

I remember many decades ago in Chicago, that our church operated a Sunday school bus route on Chicago's northwest side (one of many). There was a particular big apartment building on our bus route where we visited several families on Saturdays, and then took the children to church to learn about Jesus on Sundays. The building was a known drug infested place, with some shady tenants living there. In the big city we called such landlords, “slumlords.” Those are not nice places to visit, but Jesus told us in Luke 14:23b, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

Anyway, one of the teenage girls who rode our church bus and lived in that neighborhood (across the street), was standing outside one Saturday afternoon. Several police cars suddenly pulled up with lights flashing and sirens blaring. About two dozen residents and others outside the building ran, some frantically, to escape the police. But the teenage girl who rode our church bus didn't run. A police officer asked her: “Why aren't you running?” Without hesitation she replied: “I'm not doing anything wrong so why should I run?” Amen. That is what the Bible means in Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” The other people fled, afraid of the police, but the police hadn't come for them, it was a different matter. They were fleeing when no man pursueth, worried because of the illegal activities in their life. If you're not breaking any laws, and not doing anything illegal, immoral or unwise, then you can be BOLD AS A LION with integrity, and that feels good dear friend.

It feels good knowing that no one can point a finger at you, to justly accuse you of doing something wrong or illegal. 1st Peter 4:15-16, “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

Dear friend, it feels good to KNOW that my name is written in Heaven according to the Bible. Is your name recorded there too? Luke 10:20, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” I know that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life in Heaven because I have obeyed the Gospel, simply by BELIEVING IT! 1st Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” ...

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

I read a compelling passage of Scripture today:

Galatians 5:5-10, “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.”

The Bible says “hope” simply because no one can prove that the Bible is true. I certainly BELIEVE with all my heart, mind and soul that it is, but at the end of the day my faith is really hope. I don't hope that I will have eternal life; but rather, I have a hope of eternal life. I am trusting the promises which God has recorded in His Holy Bible. Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”

The only way for any lost sinner to be saved is to OBEY THE TRUTH of the Gospel. And you obey the Gospel by BELIEVING IT! The “Gospel” is the “GOOD NEWS” of Jesus' death on the cross, His burial and bodily resurrection three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). All that God requires of you to get to Heaven is that you admit your SINNERSHIP and accept the SAVIOR. It is that simple. You and I are guilty sinners for breaking God's Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), which is why God sent His precious only begotten Son into the world to die and pay our massive debt of sin; so that we wouldn't have to burning in the Lake of Fire, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

We are all guilty of violating God's Commandments. 1st John 1:10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” No one has ever been saved who refused to acknowledge being a guilty sinner in God's sight. You've got to know what you're being saved from, which is death (Revelation 14:11; 20:11-15, 21:8). The wages of our sinning is death (Romans 6:23). Life is short, Hell is hot and eternity is a long time. It feels good knowing that I am not going to suffer in Hell forever, because my hope is solely resting in the blessed Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior (John 1:12-13). Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, the Christ (John 20:31). Jesus is precious!!! Thank you for reading dear friend.