Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 119:169-176
Ps 119:169-176 Taw
169 May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word. 170 May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. 171 May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. 172 May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. 173 May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. 174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight. 175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. 176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.
1 Peter 1:21-23
21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
God has revealed himself to us in his word. Jesus is the personification of his Word and has shown mankind the Father. It is in this word that the gospel is given to us. Only when we trust and obey the gospel, can we have the promise of eternal life. To acknowledge that God is real and his word is truth does not save us because even the devils know and do this. To seek to just follow the rules and to be saved by our own efforts is just as futile because we cannot be saved by our own works of righteousness. It is when we believe and put our trust in God and in his Son and then demonstrate that faith by obedience to the requirements of the gospel that we are saved. This is the grace of God given to us as a gift.
But we must continue to trust and grow in faith. This comes when we continue to study the word and spend time in prayer. Our commitment must be strong so we can overcome the temptations that will come our way. Satan will discourage us from giving it our all. One of his schemes is to get us to do nothing. We then begin to coast spiritually and soon we find ourselves drifting away from God as our faith gets weaker and weaker until we finally give up. As Peter, who was sinking in the waves, we reach out to Jesus and hold his outstretched hand and never let go.
My Father and my God, in total humility I come to you today, realizing that I am but clay in your hands. Help me realize that compared to you I am just a speck only seen under a microscope but in your heart and in your sight I am your child, loved and precious. So you have given me the privilege of coming to you with the assurance that you will always listen. Thank you God! I ask your mercies and grace on some who are sick; some facing death and some just suffering. Give them and their loved ones your peace and strength. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
