I always thought that that word "spite" was a negative - "I did it out of spite..." But when I read something encouraging, it made me think because it used that word

"God, and His Promises, remain faithful... it all stands in spite of us"

Now, "out of spite" means "with the desire to harm someone", and "in spite of" means "without being affected by the particular." But when I first read it, it made me stop and evaluate how this was being said. Knowing God and His Love for us, "in spite of us" shouldn't be a negative thing.... but it still hinges on that negative word - "spite".

If anyone has noticed, I haven't blogged my quiet times for a while now, but I thank God for putting a brother in my path today, to challenge me in getting back in sync with that (and Him). And in explaining how i've been working out 2hrs a day, first thing in the morning, and then getting to work, it's been difficult.

Despite the fact that my head- (and heart-) space have been pretty good, despite the lack of quiet times, I still need them. And even tho I have been praying to God, I still feel "detached" in a way from Him, because I have not been giving Him my first-fruits & due-diligence.

And yet He loves me in spite of that. and it reminds me of Isaiah 49:16:

I was joking with this brother earlier, stating how one thing that i've been trying to keep this in the forefront of my mind:

"everything you say, everything you do, must draw the receiver closer to God"

I joked at how I should tattoo that on my arm so I don't forget about it. God has us tattooed (think "permanent") on His "hand"... He is dedicated to us at that level, that there is not much than we can do to ever lose it.

The scripture before vs16, has Zion crying out that God has forgotten about them. But the next scripture talks about how a mother can never forget about the baby at her breast. And right before vs16, it says that even though the mother may forget, God won't.

Despite my lack of initiative to draw closer to God, God has already chosen ("i have") to do something ("engraved you") because He loves me/you that much ("on the palm of my Hands"). This isn't something that wavers... something that He feels strongly about "today" but feels less about it "tomorrow".

One of the best lines from a classic of the movie "The Usual Suspects" was

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he did not exist"

This meant a whole lot more when I drew closer to God. I learned that the devil doesn't make us do anything. He doesn't even "touch" our decision-making. All he does is simply whisper a word or two, and we do the work for him. That one inkling of doubt, and we fall like dominoes.

It is programmed in our heads that, since we get disappointed\frustrated with people who have let us down, God sees us in the same way. And even though we've read scripture after scripture, denouncing that, it's still in our imperfect heads.

I honestly believe that we need reminders and God's Word tattooed on each of us, so we never forget those Words & Promises... There is no way that we can ever live up to the things that God has does for us, much less "what He has done us in one day" - and yet He doesn't look at us thru that perspective. He loves us in spite of all of that.