Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 27:7-14
Ps 27:7-14
7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. 13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Phil 2:1-4
1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
We are bombarded with many clichés in the religious world. While many of these are true, it is also true that many are not practical or livable in real life. Others we repeat as though we believe them but never really let the message sink in or put it into practice. One such is that to have JOY we should put Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last. While this is true, how many of us really do this?
When Jesus is first, we will follow his will for our lives. We will accept his teaching without question and will obey it willingly. Rather than make excuses for why he did not mean what he said, we will put it into practice. This is just another way of saying that Jesus is Lord in our lives. He is our commander-in-chief and we obey.
Do we really consider others better than ourselves? Do we look to the interests of others ahead of our own? Or do we act out of selfish ambition? Humility is not an easy trait to have in our lives. It requires that we keep our eyes on things above and not this world, along with absolute trust in Jesus as Lord and God as Father.
Lord God it is a joy to serve you and to live for you. I know that you know what is best for me in every circumstance I face in life. I know every command is a part of your nature and is intended for my happiness and my ultimate well-being. Forgive me when I fail to allow your Spirit to mold me into your image. Help me truly put others ahead of myself and to remember that life is just preparation for eternity with you. Use me to reach the lost. I pray in the name of Jesus my Lord.
Robert
