Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 85:8-13
Ps 85:8-13
8 I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints--but let them not return to folly. 9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. 10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. 12 The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. 13 Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.
Heb 1:8-9
8 But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."
Absolute righteousness is being right with God. That means there is nothing that stands between us and him. To use the expression we hear today, “we are good with him and he is good with us.” This righteousness is not from our own doing but we are made righteous with God because Jesus became sin for us. This is accomplished when we, by faith are counted as righteous in him and by him. This righteousness describes our relationship with God and with Christ.
Since we are forgiven and counted as righteous, we are dead to sin and we are to let his righteousness live in us. This is a righteousness that becomes our way of life. One of the ways we know we have the Spirit living in us is when we see the righteousness of God in our thoughts and in our actions. It does not mean we will never sin again but it means our aim is to not sin but to be righteous.
Jesus said we can know a tree by its fruit. Being a Christian is being an imitator of Jesus and this is seen by the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Our flesh sets its desires against the Spirit because the Spirit and our flesh are in opposition to each other. If others do not see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness and self-control in us, we need to open our hearts to the Spirit and allow him to grow his fruit in us because there is no law against these traits in our lives.
O Lord God, thank you for your Spirit who lives in me and who is constantly molding me into your image. I know there are times that I grieve him by allowing my own desires (my selfish stubbornness) to override his working in me. Help me open my heart to him and his work in me and to really make your will my own. Open my eyes to the opportunities you put in my life to do good, so you will be glorified. Lord, give your peace to the broken-hearted. Give your strength to those who are struggling to keep their head above water. I pray in Jesus name.
Robert
