the truth of the matter is... God knows

This morning I realized that God speaks to us truthfully not ideally. How many times did Jesus say: I tell you the truth... This realization is important for me to know because I realize that God knows the good, the bad and the ugly and still loves me. What do I mean? Well, never in the Bible does God hide the fact that we as human beings are sinners, that we follow our own ways, or that we simply don't make the cut. God knows who we are. God does not paint an Utopian scenery of life either. God knows what sin does to us and inevitably to our culture, environment, planet, society, government, and anything we pretty much take a hold of. Many wonder why God has allowed sin to even have power over us, why not make us and put us in heaven with Him from the very beginning? Why did He have to die? (they even mention the power of God to be able to do this). Well, I personally think it is because, it was His way of showing and teaching us His love, mercy, grace, personal care, and many other lessons. Its true, I guess, what they say if it wasn't for the bitter moments of life you would not be able to savor the sweet moments in life. Yes, God has the power to spare us from pain, but at times it is through pain that He teaches us the lessons we most treasure, life lessons that we would not change for anything. So this was very important for me to realize because I have heard my mother say before: God knows that we are mere dust and that we are going to fail Him. This has always been hard for me to swallow; but now this adds confirmation to my personal conviction that God has supreme-over-all control, meaning that while we do make decisions and we are called to make decisions, God will never be surprised. God knows we will sin, and yet, He loves us. This does not mean that we should decide to sin and say Oh well God will forgive me and lead me to His ways and eventually take me to heaven (Romans 6:1-2). Remember to love God for He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Remember to be thankful (Romans 12:1).