Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 86:8-13
Ps 86:8-13
8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.
Matt 22:36-40
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Is the Lord really first in our lives? Do we really want Jesus to tell us how to live, what to do or what we should not be doing? I cannot speak for anyone else, but for me it is often much easier to say these things are true than it is to live them out in my life. I remember that the Lord said we are to be kind but then those unkind words slip out. I know he said that we should never repay evil for evil but (and then something happens, and I really do want to get even). I do sin at times.
“Sin” is a terrible word! I make mistakes, I give in to my impulses, but sin? A few years ago the words in Romans 3:23 really hit me. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. I knew we all “sin” but he is equating “sin” with any time we fall short of the glory of God. How often do I not live up to the perfection (glory) of God? Anything in my life or heart that does not measure up to God is sin.
But Jesus took our sin (yours and mine) on himself when he went to the cross and he was put to death for our sin. Our guilt was upon him just as though he was the one who had done what we have done – he became sin for us. It is in this act of love that we can be counted righteous, as though we had never sinned. And his blood continues to cleanse us as we live for him and walk in his light.
O Lord God, I praise you and give you thanks for all you have done for me and all you continue to do for me every day. Thank you for the material things you have put in my life. Thank you for my family and friends who give me so much joy and encourage me in so many ways. Thank you for allowing me to accept your grace and to be your child and in your family of believers. Thank you for the many opportunities you give me to do good and to help others. Thank you for your healing, both physically and emotionally. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
