Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 109:1-5
Ps 109:1-5
1 O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, 2 for wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. 3 With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. 4 In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. 5 They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.
Matt 5:10-12
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I saw on social media recently where someone posted a question asking if you had ever been betrayed by someone you love. The answer is that all of us have at one time or another. It may just be as simple as someone repeating something after being told not to tell anyone or it may be as devastating as an unfaithful spouse, but we all have been betrayed by someone and it hurts.
We put our trust in them. We pour our heart out to them. We invest our time, our energy, and our love in them and then it happens. After all of this we have done, we find that they have betrayed us in some way and we just cannot believe it. We ask why they would do this or we feel that we cannot trust anyone again.
How does God feel about this? He made us and he gave us his will. He has shown his love for us in ways that we can never begin to totally comprehend. He has always been there for us and provided our needs. Then we betrayed him! When we think of betraying Jesus, we think of Judas. But what about all the times that I (we or you) have betrayed him? When we fail to do his will, we betray him.
Sometimes it is hard for us to forgive the one who betrayed us. Rebuilding trust takes time. But the moment we, as the children of God, ask him to forgive us, he is willing to do so and never bring it up to us again. Since he forgives us in Jesus Christ, we are to forgive others. Love is from God because God is love.
Heavenly Father I am so thankful that you have forgiven me in Jesus. Help me always be true to my commitment to live for you and to be like Jesus. Fill me with your Spirit more and more each day so your love and your compassion and the willingness to forgive will truly become my nature. Keep me from holding a grudge against anyone or allowing hatred to enter my heart. Help me trust you more and to show it by doing your will. Be with those who are grieving and fill their hearts with your peace and your joy. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
