Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 66:1-4
Ps 66:1-4
1 Shout with joy to God, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.” Selah
Phil 2:8-11
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In this world with all the turmoil, problems and trials we face, it is easy to focus our attention on ourselves and the things around us. This is why we are told to set our minds on things above, to fix our eyes on Jesus and to not love this world or the things in the world. All of this is temporary and will vanish but there is a place and a life that is eternal and that is the home for which we long.
But the greatest part of heaven is not the beauty of heaven or the lack of tears or the fact that it is eternal. While these are wonderful beyond our imagination, the best of all is being in the very presence of God and in the company of Jesus our Lord and learning to know the Spirit of God in reality! Our God is glorious beyond anything we can fathom and the more we understand this, the more we will live for him and praise him. So we sing praises to his name.
The more we focus on God, on Jesus and on the glory of his wonderful name, the more we will want to know about him. The more we know about God, the more we long to actually know him in a personal sense. This relationship inspires us to want to become like him in our thinking, our attitudes and our lives. But we are not left alone to accomplish this by our own might. He gives each of his children his Spirit to live in us to direct us and to transform us into his image. Peter says we become partakers of his divine nature. Praise be to God and to Jesus his Son!
Lord God, father and creator of all things, thank you for giving Jesus your Son to die for my sin so I can live with assurance that one day I will be with you in eternity. Help me keep focused on the things above where Jesus is seated at your right hand and ever makes intercession for me. Open my heart that your word and your Spirit will have free course in my life to mold me and make me more like you every day. Let your love overflow in me so that I will love others as you have loved me. I praise you, thank you and give glory to you in the name of Jesus.
Robert
