Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 96:1-6
Ps. 96:1-6
1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Phil. 1:9-11
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.
Do we take God for granted? Do we forget his love and the salvation we have in Jesus Christ? We need to show our love in return for his and we should allow Jesus to live in us every day. This will be seen first by the love in our hearts and the demonstration of this love as we show patience and kindness to others. We will feel and show compassion instead of being judgmental toward those we see as being different or somehow “less” than we think we are.
Jesus never backed down from talking to the lost. It may have been the wealthy tax collector (called sinners by the religious leaders of his day), the woman caught in the act of adultery or the Samaritan woman who had been married four times and was currently living with her fifth man without marriage. He touched the leper and healed the blind man that others were telling to be quiet.
Jesus never condoned their sin. When confronted by the self-righteous Pharisees for mingling with these people, Jesus said he came to heal the sick. Jesus shared his love for God and the way of salvation to all who would listen. His compassion extended to the religious leaders (those who would listen) as he patiently showed them how to trust God to be forgiven instead of trusting themselves and their own righteousness. Most rejected him and will do so today but that did not keep him from showing love and compassion. To be like him, we must do this today.
Heavenly Father it is so wonderful to be your child and to know that you have forgiven my sins. Help me share this joy and your love to those who will listen and never selfishly hide it. Keep me from being self-righteous and judgmental but rather fill me with your love and compassion. Lord, I want to be like Jesus and to follow the example he left for me but I know I fail in so many ways. Increase my faith, give me wisdom and strength to become more like him every day as your Spirit works in me. Forgive me when I sin. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
