Psalm 107

O Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy: and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the Lord, for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron: Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhors all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saves them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction's. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works for the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He makes the storm calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he brings them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turns rivers into wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground: A fruitful land into barreness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. He turns the wilderness into a standing water, and dry grounds into watersprings. And there he makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffers not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. He pours contempt upon princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Yet sets he the poor on high from affliction, and makes him families like a flock. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

The Wisdom of God-pt 1

Paul wrote " There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, no one seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they know not. There is no fear of God before their eyes."
This is the confession of every living person, it breaks our hearts but this is the truth. King David wrote," Have mercy on me, O'God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time of my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O'God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways; and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O'God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O'Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it, you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O'God you will not despise. In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; buildup the walls of Jerusalem. Then there will be righteous sacrifices. Whole burnt offerings to delight you: then bulls will be offered on your altar." And Hosea says," Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously:So will we render the calves of our lips."
We are born sinful. In the book of Genesis it explains this.2:15-17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man," you are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must NOT eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil , for when you eat of it you shall surely die." Then the serpent who is Satan came along and started talking to the woman. Gen3:4,5 "You will Not surely die" the serpent said to the woman,"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil."
The seed was planted in our flesh to learn of good and what it is, and evil, and what it is. The Bible does not leave us hanging on this issue, it tells us what good and evil is. Since all human flesh has the seed of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in them, we are doomed to die. That was Satan's first lie to us, the father of all lies. Evil is away from God the only source of life, it is not of God. Though God made evil, he hates it and we learn what evil is, we should hate it also, for it is death, it is nonexistence. The Bible clearly tells us this, it also tells us that God is good, God is love. Because we have the seed of the knowledge of good and evil in us, does not mean we are capable of wielding the power of either, so Paul says,"We know the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God---Through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.(Romans7:14-25)

The Wisdom of God-Pt 2

For this reason our Lord Jesus Christ gave us this prayer,"Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our transgressions as we forgive those who transgress against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Jesus also said,"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.(Matt6:9-15)

There is not a person on earth this prayer does not apply to knowing we are all sinful it becomes a matter of grace, which has been provided for by Christ so that all sinners may receive mercy. So now we have mercy, in order to receive it, we must give it. What you sow is what you reap. Mercy and forgiveness reaps the same, and it's fruit is love. The kingdom of God is within us and it grows like a mustard seed that will fill the entire earth.

The Lord said he did not come to bring peace, but to bring division, to bring fire upon the earth.(Luke12:49-51) What is justice? It is punishment for those who do wrong, and if all are equal, then all will be punished for all do wrong. So God sent his Son to die and take the eternal punishment in our place, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Our sinful nature still dies, but our spirits live because of Jesus. The fire Jesus brought is to purify those who belong to him. The anger and rage I see in the world is mostly due to people feeling an injustice done to them. They do not see the injustices they perpetuate in their own lives. If we continue to burn in anger we will burn up. Mercy must prevail. Anger and rage reaps anger and rage, mercy and forgiveness reaps mercy and forgiveness, We are all under the bondage of death, a reason for rage, but we are freed from this bondage through the grace of Christ given freely to those who believe what he mercifully and compassionately did for us. You must however, believe that Christ lived our life and went to the depths of hell and death to retrieve us; so that we now pass over from death to life. After death we do not go down to the depths of hell, we now sleep while we wait for our Redeemer. We have already been redeemed. Paul said,"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do, in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.(Romans8:1-4)And how we know we are living in the Spirit is by the fruit of our lives.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such as these there is no law.(Gal5:22,23)The eternal question of what love is, is also given to us. Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.(1Cor13:4-8)