Psalm 112:4, 7 (NLT) Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

Some Christians defend their faith by telling people who don't believe in God that even if they were wrong to believe in Jesus because it turned out that it wasn't true, at least they lived a good life. They go on to say that those who don't believe in Jesus have a lot more to lose if Jesus is Lord than they do if He is not. While that sounds like a good, logical argument, it has a huge hole in it. The fact is that if Jesus is not Lord and if there is no God, then there would be no way possible to lead a good life because we are not good and cannot do good on our own. If any good comes from us, it is because of the Lord Jesus living in us. It's His goodness and righteousness that we see in followers of Christ, not their own good virtues.

A godly person is simply someone who truly follows Jesus. It is Jesus that makes us godly and it's not a merit badge that we can wear because our godliness is entirely dependent on Him. So what is the benefit of a godly life? The great benefit is having an intimate relationship with the God who made us. The mere fact that God is with us when we are with Him changes everything about everything. In the verses above, you see that darkness no longer comes into play for the godly. Because Jesus is the Light and He now lives in us, He lights our way through this life of sin and darkness. We now belong to the light. In the light, we become more and more like Him, which is how we become generous, compassionate, and righteous. Living this way is life to full measure and it feels that way because that is the way that we were designed to live as we were made in God's image and those attributes are who He is.

In addition to this glorious transformation that takes place, we have the awesome privilege to have the Lord be with us always as no one else can be. He never leaves us because He lives in us. That means He is with us wherever we go and whatever we do. When He is in control, He even leads us to where to go and to what to do. That is why the psalmist says that the godly do not fear bad news. It makes all the sense in the world to not be afraid of anything if the God of creation who happens to love you beyond measure is with you at all times. What is there to fear when God is with you? Nothing at all! Live the life of the godly by allowing Jesus to live His life in you. That means surrendering your will to His will and surrendering your heart completely so that your complete trust for your life is in Jesus, your Lord and Savior. There is everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose...for real!

Pastor Joey Vazquez