Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 44:1-8
Ps 44:1-8
1 We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. 2 With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish. 3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them. 4 You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. 5 Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes. 6 I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; 7 but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. 8 In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.
Acts 14:26-28
26 From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Just as the psalmist trusted God, Paul and Barnabas understood that their success was not their own but was the working of God. As we seek to do the will of God today, we find success when we allow him to work in us and not seek to do it ourselves. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world. We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is our strength.
This is true at every level. The nation that honors God is blessed by him but the one that rejects him as God will suffer his wrath. The church that follows his will reveres him and will receive his blessings but the one that seeks honor for itself will come to an end. When we as individuals or as families trust God and honor his name, we will find his protection and be blessed by him but when we seek to honor ourselves by our own might, we will be brought down.
God is in control; things both small or great, world affairs or the smallest incident of our lives. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be his name.
Heavenly Father, it is with deep humility that I come to you and bear my heart and speak my thoughts. You are God, creator of all things and sustainer of life. It is only by your hand that I have what I have and am able to do what I do. It is a blessing from you that I have been born in this time and place. It is from your hand that I was given the parents and family in which I was raised. Yet, in all of your power, majesty and wisdom, you know me and love me; even enough to allow me to come to you in prayer. Praise your holy name. I pray in Jesus name.
Robert
