"For I Dare Not Stand on my Righteousness...."

There is a song that I absolutely love called "I Come By The Blood", it's on a Sovereign Grace CD called "Songs for the Cross-Centered Life". In the chorus he sings, "I come by the Blood, I come by the Cross, where Your Mercy flows from Hands pierced for me, FOR I DARE NOT STAND ON MY RIGHTEOUSNESS, my every hope rests on what Christ has done, and I come by the Blood". I just think that is so beautiful.
Nothing any of has ever done could possibly get us even close to just talking with God, it doesn't matter how "good" it was in our own eyes we could never be in communion with God by OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, He is MUCH too HOLY and we are much too UNHOLY to come into the presence of God. The only way we could do that is if God would send His Only Begotten Son to die for us, and.....He did.
Jesus Christ, born of a virgin knew from the moment He was born that He would die for God's elect someday. He lived a Perfect, Holy, sinless life.......NEVER ONCE, NEVER ONCE did He EVER go against God or sin against Him. Yes, He was tempted by Satan, but He never said yes to his evil ways. He knew what He was born to do, Satan knew it too, and did not want it to happen. None of us, not even Satan could even try the smallest attempt to stop God from having His Will be done.
A couple thousand years ago Jesus Christ came to this world, Perfect, Sinless, Spotless, Holy to be mocked, beaten, crushed and nailed to a Cross to die for God's Elect. Why? Because, when each and every one of was conceived and born IN SIN God knew it before there was time (He knew and still knows EVERYTHING before it ever did or will happen) and there would be no way to save us unless He sent His Son to die for us. What was He saving us from? His wrath (Hellfire, not only would we have died bodily, but spiritually as well), our bodies would have died on earth and then our souls eternally burned and tormented in Hell, separating us from Him eternally in Heaven.
Ever since the fall of man (Adam and Eve eating from the tree that God had told them no to eat from), every generation is conceived and born in sin. God is so Holy that we could never enter His presence except by the Blood of the Lamb, which Jesus Christ shed for God's Elect on Calvary on the Cross. A death every single one of us deserved but He took so we wouldn't have to. How can we not be grateful or joyful?
I know it is definitely hard to be joyful all of the time but God has a reason for everything He does and brings to pass. We may not always see it or we may have a hard time believing it, but we must trust Him even in the hardest of times. I am definitely not perfect and it isn't always easy for me to trust Him either, but deep down inside I know He has a plan.
For instance, tonight I found something out that just made me sick, I will not say what it is and most likely never will, but it got me so down and distraught that I couldn't even bear to look at this person. But tonight when I was praying before I ate, I was reminded that I can lean on Jesus and rest in Him. That is what I've been doing. Ever since then I am able to now look at this person without getting that feeling of disgust or thinking "just leave me alone". I will admit it is hard to completely trust in Him and leave this in His hands as in the past I would try to lay things down at His feet but end up taking them back. By His Grace I'm learning to trust Him.
Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah