Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 103:1-6
Ps. 103:1-6
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
1 Peter 1:18-21
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 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.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow! What a joy to be able to know the God who made us and loves us! We serve the only true God who is compassionate and who wants only what is best for us. He has not left us here to guess how to live or to try to guess when he is angry with us or is pleased with us. He has revealed his will for us in a way that we can understand and can put into practice.
But even in this he is aware that we fail to always live up to his glorious will and his supreme nature so he has provided a way for us to be forgiven. It is not up to us to earn this forgiveness but he demands that we trust him. This trust is to be so complete that we are willing to do whatever he asks of us – even when we don’t understand why he would ask such a thing. Saving faith demands obedience.
God told Noah to build an ark and by faith he built it. He told Abraham to offer his special son of promise as a sacrifice and by faith he complied. It was this kind of trust that prompted Rahab to hide the spies, allowed David to kill Goliath and Elisha to make the ax head float on the water. In the words of the poet Tennyson; “Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do or die.” Saving faith does not have to understand the logic or reason why God said something in order to obey.
Lord God, I praise your holy name with thanksgiving for all you have done. It is by your grace that I can be your child and by grace I can enjoy your blessings. Keep me from being selfish or thinking I have accomplished anything on my own. Use me to serve you by serving others around me. Fill me with your love, compassion and mercy so I will see the good in others and seek to help them draw closer to you. I ask your continued blessings on our leaders and pray that they will want to work together for the good of our nation. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
