Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 116:15-19
Ps 116:15-19
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. 16 O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains. 17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD. 18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the LORD--in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
James 1:2-5
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
There are some things that we readily accept by faith or intellectually that are more difficult for us to accept emotionally. We know that trials develop us and that whatever we face, the Lord is with us but this does not make it easy for us to face them. Death is just a transition from this life of trouble and sorrow into a place that is filled with joy and peace and that sounds good and we believe it but we still have a hard time seeing death as the Lord sees it.
We ask God for strength to overcome or to change some habit in our lives but we still see the battle within us. We want to do right but we fail to do it. Our plans are good but too often our actions depict one who is afraid or lacks confidence that we can accomplish what God wants us to do. Even though we know he gives us wisdom, we struggle with decisions. We believe but our flesh fails us.
This is a part of the battle that goes with living on earth. But we can be thankful that our sins are continually being forgiven by the blood of Jesus. Even when we mess things all up in our lives, God is forever working things for our good. When we face troubles and trials that are more than we can handle on our own, we rest in the knowledge that he will never allow us to face more than we can bear as we rely on him and use his strength. Thank you Lord for your promises to me!
Heavenly Father it is so wonderful to be your child and to know that you are always with me and taking care of my needs, even before I know I have them. You are so mighty and majestic but at the same time, you are so compassionate and loving to me. Thank you for the freedoms you have given me in this country and I ask you to continue these so I can live a quiet and peaceable life. If they are ever taken from me, give me faith and courage to be faithful to you. Give your peace to those who have lost loved ones. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
