Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 36:10-12
Ps 36:10-12
10 Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. 11 May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 See how the evildoers lie fallen--thrown down, not able to rise!
1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
How can we, as mortals, be holy as God is holy? We are told to be like God in our love, in our compassion, in our patience, in our forgiveness, in our moral purity and in so many other ways. In the absolute sense, it is unlikely that we will ever attain this in all of the areas of the nature of God until we are glorified with him in eternity. However, as we allow his Spirit to live in us and work in our hearts, we receive his power to have more self-control. This along with our ever increasing knowledge of his word and his heavenly wisdom and we gradually begin to think more like him and thus begin to act more like him. As Paul put it, we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds instead of being conformed to the wicked world and evil desires all around us.
It is with this gradual transformation that we prepare our minds for action in the service of our Lord. As we serve him more in our lives, we have a stronger hope for the future here on earth as well as our eternal hope in the grace that is revealed when Jesus comes again. This is because the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and instead to do the good works God prepared for us.
Faithful service to God is living according to his will. This means we are following his will for us as husband, wife, child, parent, employee, employer, neighbor, student, teacher or any other relationship we have in life. This includes being kind to strangers and helping others physically, emotionally and spiritually.
O God, my heavenly Father, empower me to be holy as you are holy. Fill me with your Spirit so I will be transformed into your image and be a partaker of your divine nature. Then keep me from being self-righteous or ever thinking I have done anything on my own. Help me be a good example for others who seek to serve you. Make me an encourager and not one who deters others in their service to you. Bless those who are battling diseases in their bodies and give comfort and peace to them that only you can give. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
