Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalm 97:7-12
Psalm 97:7-12
7 All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols--worship him, all you gods! 8 Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O LORD. 9 For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. 10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.
To love God is to hate that which is evil. The more we become like God, the more we will see the end of wickedness and the more we will hate that which is against God. Paul tells us to let our minds dwell on that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Doing that along with keeping our eyes focused on the things above will be the recipe for becoming what God wants us to be and will cause us to do what God wants us to do.
Peter describes how we are to become partakers of the divine nature when he tells us to add to our faith, goodness and to goodness, knowledge and to knowledge, self-control and to self-control, perseverance and to perseverance, godliness and to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love. He tells us that this comes through the divine power of God. Paul calls this the fruit of the Spirit as he works in our lives.
So we praise God as we learn to turn loose of ourselves and allow God to live in us and control us. As this happens we let God control our thinking towards what is right and wrong, what is good or bad and what is acceptable behavior and what is not acceptable. Paul says this is Christ Jesus living in us instead of ourselves.
This is our God. He is holy and righteous. He is love and all his actions are guided by that love that is a part of his nature. The more we become like him, the more we understand that we can face anything that comes our way. He will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear but with every temptation will provide a way of escape. He will cause all things to work for our good.
O God, giver of life and all that is good, I thank you and I praise you. Help me never forget that I am here on earth to serve you and to become ready to live with you in eternity. Help me keep my mind focused on you and not the things of this world that are so alluring with their glamour and glitter. Give me wisdom to live each day with a knowledge of what is really important and what is not and to give each proper priority in my life. Help me always teach the truth and even more, help me live it and show it to others. Be with those who are sick and those who are grieving and hurting. I pray in the name of Jesus.
--Robert
