Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 96:7-13
Ps 96:7-13
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. 9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns." The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. 11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; 12 let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; 13 they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.
1 Thess 5:1-3
1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Jesus is coming! We will all stand before the God who created us and all things and to him, we will give an account for the way we have lived. Jesus said there will be two verdicts rendered at that time. There will be those who he recognizes as his own and there will be those that he says he never knew. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For those who are not in Christ this is a most terrifying thought that should cause each of them to come to Jesus now. Paul says that God will punish those who do not know him and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And in the book of Hebrews we read: “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hand of the living God.”
But our joy in Christ is not reserved for that final day or for eternity. We rejoice in the Lord now and always because he is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Lord, and also, he is our brother and our friend. As our High Priest he intercedes for us at the throne of God. He has lived where we are today and he has faced every trial to which we have been or are being subjected to in our lives. What a Savior!
Heavenly Father I am so thankful for your love, for your mercy and for your grace shown to me in Jesus Christ. I thank you for your wisdom in affording me this opportunity to be your child and to live for you. I know I fail to live up to your glory much too often and I need your continued forgiveness. As I allow your Spirit to live in me, I also see his fruit maturing and pray that this will continue. Use me to serve you as I serve others. Give your peace and your healing to those who are sick and those taking treatments at this time. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
