Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
As for me, the nearness of God is my good (Ps 73:25-26, 28).
To live “for His sake” does not mean to do something for Him, but that He is present decreeing and acting goodness; and we, through Whom He is doing so, yield ourselves.
A corresponding formula describing the reality of goodness in our lives would be:
A. Yahweh is goodness.
B. The good that exists does so because and as He exists, enabling it.
Therefore, C. All the goodness in our lives depends and draws on Him, whether knowingly or unknowingly — whether we are aware or not.
The goodness that flows out of Jesus’ life in believers flows freely and gladly, conforming not only to God’s character, but also to His heart’s desire. We live Him and love to please Him.
In so doing, we arrive!
“Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Joshua 22:5).
“Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live” (Deut 30:6).
God’s gift to us in His Son is life; it is nothing less than ultimate good.
God’s gift to us in His Son is death — the cutting away of our self life that frees us to embrace our new life that loves Him freely and gladly.
“And in Him (Christ) you have been made complete, . . . and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, Who raised Him from the dead” (Col 2:10-12).
“Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above.”
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth” (Jms 1:17-18).
(Spotlight 8, Lesson 9 in Doctrine 101: Learning about God)