Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 57:1-5
Ps 57:1-5
1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me. 3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; Selah God sends his love and his faithfulness. 4 I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts--men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
1 Peter 1:6-9
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
With every blessing comes opportunity and added responsibilities. The more God gives us, the more that is expected from us. This is the lesson of the parable of Jesus about the men given talents of money to use. This means that when we talk of our blessings, we should be recognizing they are gifts from God to be used in his service. It may be our abilities that God has given, it may be the time and/or place we are born, it may be the education we have been afforded or a host of many other things, but they are all from God.
For many of us, we have been blessed with parents who loved the Lord and did all in their power to instill in us that same devotion. For others, their lives have been the constant burden of trying to overcome their childhood or circumstance of their upbringing. These trials have equipped them for things I cannot understand while they cannot relate to my life. In each case, God has blessed us and wants us to trust him by using what he has given to help others and to glorify his name.
Heavenly Father, thank you for my parents and my family. Thank you for my wife who has been a constant help and encouragement to me for many years. Help me use all you have given me to your glory. Lord, I look around and see so many who are suffering from diseases, from pain and from heartaches, so I ask your constant blessings for them. Give them your peace and your healing as you see best. Thank you for my physical health. Be with the leaders of our country and give them your wisdom to rule in a way that we will have peace and harmony. Help each of us to show respect to one another in the things we say and do. Guide the news media to report the news honestly and fairly. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
