Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 119:145-152
Ps 119:145-152 Qoph
145 I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees. 146 I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. 147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. 148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. 149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws. 150 Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law. 151 Yet you are near, O LORD, and all your commands are true. 152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.
1 John 3:22-24
23 And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
“Love” and “believe” are words that are thrown around today in the religious world with little or no meaning. When John uses them, they are jam packed with meaning for our lives. Love is “agape” love that is an action based on a choice of the will and mind. It does not depend on the action or reaction of others. It is the love that prompted God to have mercy and show his grace in the sending of his Son to die on the cross for our sins. This is the love that is to fill our hearts.
To “believe” is to concur with facts but also includes obedience. It is an absolute conviction of the truth of facts but also is trust that responds with a will to do what one is told. To believe in the Lord Jesus is to seek to do his will in everything he has revealed to us. This is the kind of faith we have in a doctor when we follow his instructions and even allow him to cut us open if needed. We have faith in him and his word. We trust his knowledge and his skill. We believe so we obey.
The Psalmist declares that he has tried the word of God and has learned that all of his promises are true. He has determined to trust him enough to wait on him and then to do his will as much as possible. This is to be our life in Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Father I praise you for your matchless wisdom shown to me in more ways than I can possibly recognize or know. I praise you for your love and the way of salvation you have provided for me. Thank you for loving me and revealing that love in such a way that I can imitate it in my life. I do trust you and I want to do your will in every way but I know I fail at times. Continue to forgive me. Increase my faith and take away my stubbornness and my selfishness. Give me greater strength to overcome my weakness and help me have greater self-control in all things. Use me to serve you as I serve others. I pray in Jesus name.
Robert
