Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 89:14-18
Ps 89:14-18
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. 15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. 16 They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. 17 For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn. 18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy one of Israel.
1 Peter 1:3-6
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
No matter what our religious background, most all of us have heard the grace of God perverted in one way or another. Some claim to be saved by grace but in reality they only view grace as a stop-gap measure if we fail to be live up to God’s standard or slip up in one way or another. Many of these would see grace for themselves but only because they have it all together and figured out. These are like the Pharisees in the time of Jesus on earth.
Others have taken the grace of God to the opposite extreme and made it a license to sin. After all, since it is God who saves us and God is love, then once we claim his salvation we have our ticket punched and we can live any way we want. We are going to heaven and it doesn’t matter how we live.
We are saved by grace. It is God who gave his Son to die as a substitute for what we deserve. We have sinned against God and we deserve to die. Once we have sinned (and we all have) there is no way for us to do anything that will earn our salvation. We come to God by faith in Jesus Christ as his Son and our Savior. But our faith must be more than mere acknowledgement of facts. We choose to serve him and give him our life. We confess Jesus as Lord. We respond in faith by turning from sin and being baptized into Christ. Paul says in doing this we obey the gospel that is able to save us if we remain faithful in it.
Heavenly Father, I am thankful that you have provided a way of salvation so I can escape the punishment I deserve. As your child, help me live for you and work every day to be like you. Change my heart and my mind to be like your heart and your mind. Help me make your will to be my will in all things. Please be with those who are hurting over the loss of those they love. Give healing to those who are taking treatments and getting over surgeries. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
