Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 51:7-12
Ps 51:7-12
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Rom 8:12-15
12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
We can allow the Spirit of God to live in us and move, motivate and mold us into the image of God or we can live our own lives away from him. When we become a child of God the Spirit takes his dwelling in our hearts. We then either allow him free reign in our lives or grieve him by our unwillingness to yield to him. If this attitude persists, his fire in us is eventually quenched completely.
There is nothing that can destroy our happiness more quickly or completely than when we have sin in our lives and are denying it or trying to cover it up. Only when we confess it to God and turn from it can we find peace and joy. But the joy is not in our confession or even in our repentance. The joy is in knowing God’s forgiveness and being washed clean, whiter than snow. What a privilege to stand before God, to go to bed at night, to live daily and know that God does not hold anything against us but that we are counted as righteous – without sin.
A paraphrase of a few verses: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God made him who knew no sin, to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! If we walk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, and now you are a new person.
Lord God, I am so thankful for your willingness to forgive me. I know that on my own there is nothing I can do to ever be right with you because my sin has come between us. I also know that because of your great love, your tender mercy and your marvelous grace, you have provided a way of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus your Son. As your child, help me live every moment of every day in a way that brings honor to you and shows Jesus living in me. Give your peace to those who are hurting and grieving. I pray in the name of Jesus my Savior.
Robert
