Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 81:8-16
Ps 81:8-16
8 “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you--if you would but listen to me, O Israel! 9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. 10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. 11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. 13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, 14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! 15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Rom 2:5-6
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”
So many times I have heard people say that God is a just God and somehow mean by that statement that God will overlook their sin. To many, the idea of justice is that they receive only what they think is good and never be held accountable for their actions. In scripture, the justice of God is a reality and it means that sin (all sin) must be punished. There is no looking the other way with God. There are no valid reasons for not submitting to him and serving him – only excuses.
The good news is that God used Jesus, who never committed a single sin, to take our place as one guilty of sin and then to die for the sin of all mankind so we can be counted righteous in him. But this is only for those who are in Christ. We are told plainly that there is salvation in no other person or name – only Jesus. For those who reject him, there is no hope in the hereafter but only the punishment of a just God. His law is that we reap what we sow and “the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
O Lord, my Lord and God, I am so thankful to be in your family and to be able to call you my Father. Help me never forget that this is only because of your great love and your forgiveness in Jesus your Son. Fill me always with your Spirit so I can love with compassion and forgive others as you forgive me. I marvel at your greatness, your majesty and your wisdom that is shown in the world all around me. Help me never forget that you are the creator and I am but a small part of your creation. You are the potter and I am the clay so use me for your purposes and your will. I humbly ask this in the name of Jesus my Savior and Lord.
Robert
