Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 87:1-7
Ps 87:1-7
1 He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; 2 the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are said of you, O city of God: Selah 4 “I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me--Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush--and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” 5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.” 6 The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” Selah 7 As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”
1 John 3:1-3
1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
To be born in a city of prominence or into a family of esteem does indeed give the person a certain degree of honor. That person is considered as special because of the circumstances of their birth. To be born in the city of God was an honor for any Jew of their day. But the real honor was not the person or the city, it was that God had established this city above all others on the earth as his own.
In our world today, the greatest honor that can be bestowed on any of us is not the physical city where we have been born. The greatest honor is to be born again into the family of God and to be called the children of God! Unlike the arbitrary circumstances of our physical birth, this spiritual birth is not an accident or left to some degree of fate or even left to the will of God. Our spiritual birth is because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ but it is our own decision to make. We must choose to be born again and we must choose to be his child.
This new birth into the family of God carries grave responsibilities for us. We are to be pure, even as he is pure. We are to become like our heavenly Father.
O Lord God, my Father in heaven, I am so thankful that I can be in your family and be called your child. It is an honor but not one to brag about. Rather, it is an honor that demands I serve you and allow your Spirit to make me more like you each day of my life. Father, it is not always easy to give up my will and myself so I need your constant help and strength to become all you want me to be. I also need your constant forgiveness when I fail. Use me to help others in the things they face in life. Give peace to the broken. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
