Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 145:1-7
Ps 145:1-7
1 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. 4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. 5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. 6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. 7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
Rom 3:25-26
25 God presented him [Jesus Christ] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
When I was in school, I would often test the boundaries of behavior. This resulted in my being at odds with the teachers and others in administration (a nice way of saying I stayed in trouble quite a bit). On more than one occasion I was punished for what I had done. This made my life uncomfortable because my daddy was active in the school, serving in various capacities. He had a keen sense of fairness and an equally intense aversion to being seen as showing favoritism. But one thing I always knew was that dad loved me and would do what was best for me.
God is fair. God is just. The wages of sin is death and sin must be punished or God is neither fair nor just. God is love but his great love, his tender mercy and his unspeakable compassion does not and cannot overrule his justice. Sin is an affront and insult to the very holiness of God. When we fail to follow his will and live up to his righteous and glorious nature, we have sinned.
Jesus died for our sin and in so doing satisfied the law of sin and death, which allows God to be both just and the justifier of those who will come to him. When we put our faith in Jesus we die to sin, are buried in baptism and then raised from that grave of water to walk a new life in Jesus Christ – free from all sin.
Heavenly Father I am so thankful that you love me enough to provide a way of salvation from sin. I have failed you in so many ways so I thank you for forgiveness in Jesus so I can be counted as righteous before you. As a new person in Christ, help me keep my heart set on serving you and in being all you want me to be. Use me in your service, where and how you see best. Give me wisdom to make plans in my life but to remember you are in control. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
