41 Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord,
even Thy salvation, according to Thy word.
42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me:
for I trust in Thy word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;
for I have hoped in Thy judgments.
44 So shall I keep Thy law
continually for ever and ever.
45 And I will walk at liberty:
for I seek Thy precepts.
46 I will speak of Thy testimonies also before kings,
and will not be ashamed.
47 And I will delight myself in Thy commandments,
which I have loved.
48 My hands also will I lift up unto Thy commandments, which I have loved;
and I will meditate in Thy statutes.
Comments by Joan Boney
This is going the right way ...
The love of God's testimonies ... delighting in that which God says ... meditating in God's word ... doing what God says ... trusting in what God says ... hoping in what God says ...
A promise from God to us, the church ...
Isaiah 54
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by ME:
whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;
and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and their righteousness is of ME, saith the Lord.
When we are children of God, born of the Spirit of God, our righteousness is of God. (from God) HE plants in our hearts HIS laws that we might serve HIM. (Heb. 8 & 10)
We served our own flesh, doing as we desired and doing as others wanted. We were at that time servants to sin.
But when God revealed HIMSELF to us, we were changed immediately, given a new heart, an heart toward God. And day by day as we live on this earth we are recreated over and over into the image of God as we go though the troubles of this life and follow God's Spirit, doing as HE shows us to do in the trials of this life.
We overcome through HIM, by doing as HE shows us to do.
Thus HE makes us fit for HIMSELF!
HE separates us from the people of this world by giving us HIS word which is opposite to the way the people of this world are going.
HE cleanses us by giving us HIS word.
HE makes us dead to this world and alive to HIMSELF.
Col. 3 ... 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
We will dwell with HIM through all eternity. This reward is past our ability as humans to comprehend. Yet we are made fit for such by God through HIS Word which we love and we are continually changed by HIS Word.
I Cor. 15 ... 39 All flesh is not the same flesh:but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial:but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars:for one star differeth from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory:it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy:the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy:and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Every time we hear a word from God and obey that word, we are changed into the image of that Word. This is a continual process as long as we live on this earth.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Not all will die physically, says Paul. When Jesus returns some will be alive.
I Thess. 4 ... 13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (those who are dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep (die) in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep (dead).
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:and the dead in Christ shall rise first:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
But in I Cor. 15 we have read that those who are still alive will be changed before they are caught up in the air. They will not have these physical bodies that they have on this earth for these bodies are subject to corruption, to disease & decay.
That will not be the case with the heavenly body given to us by God. The dead will be given a new body and those who are alive and taken into heaven will be given a new body.
That body given us will be as it pleases God.
I Cor. 15 ... 35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
But those alive will be changed ... that change will be instantly, like it was when we were born again ... The change will be in "the twinkling of an eye." Blink. That is how fast we will be changed. We will not have these physical bodies (which are subject to decay and illness) in heaven, but God will give us a body as it pleases HIM, says Paul.