Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 55:9-15
Ps 55:9-15
9 Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it. 11 Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets. 12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God. 15 Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the grave, for evil finds lodging among them.
John 13:21-22, 26-27
21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me." 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant…. 26 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
Jesus understands when one of our friends betrays us or turns against us. When this happens, we have a pain that goes to the pit of our stomach and that radiates throughout our entire body. It leaves us with our minds wondering why or how anyone could do this to us. It seems the more we loved them and the closer we were to them, the more it hurts and tears out our hearts from within us.
It is in times like this that we are to turn to God and pray. We pray for wisdom and understanding, we pray for love and compassion and maybe most of all, we pray for grace in our hearts toward our new enemy so we can be forgiving.
After all, we were once the enemy of God because we betrayed him and it cost him the death of his Son. It was while we were against him, that his grace was extended to us and we accepted his forgiveness. Forgiveness, not because we deserved it or because we somehow earned it, but forgiveness because God loved us and had compassion on us. Be angry and sin not; God will take care of it.
O Lord I am so thankful for your love, for your mercy and for your grace shown to me in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Thank you for his resurrection which gives me hope of eternal life when he comes again to take his own home with him. Help me (and all your children) show your love by being gracious to those around us, even when especially when they have betrayed us. Help me be more devoted to you and to doing your will in every way. Thank you for parents who loved me and taught me to serve Jesus as my Lord. In His name I pray.
Robert
