Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 128:1-6
Ps 128:1-6
Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. May the LORD bless you from Zion all the days of your life; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem, and may you live to see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel.
Gal 2:19-21
For through law I died to law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through law, Christ died for nothing!"
Living for Christ is more than just trying to keep a set of rules. Various groups of people have always made up their rules for people to keep. This has been going on since the days of the apostle Paul and it is still going on today. Like the Pharisees in the days of Jesus, they align their rules in order of priority and they determine which is first and what comes next importance, while neglecting the heart and what we are inside. This takes away the freedom in Christ Jesus.
While the word of God does give certain things we are to do and others we are to refrain from doing, it is written to cut to the heart and mold us into the image of God and into the likeness of Jesus. Paul said that because of the grace of God, we are created to do good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to do. We do good works, we do the will of God, we follow his example, because we have been saved by the blood of Jesus. His grace teaches us to live godly lives in him.
When we live for Christ, he will bless us and take care of us. He gives us strength to face the challenges of life and he provides us with ways to escape the many temptations we face each day. He imparts his wisdom from above, into our hearts. He floods us with his love, compassion, and forgiveness so we can then share with others his love, his kindness, his compassion, and his forgiveness.
O God, Lord of heaven and earth, giver of life and sustainer of all things, it is with deep reverence and awe that I come to you today. But as your child, I come to you in boldness and with assurance that you will hear me, even one who has sinned against you and failed you in so many ways. Thank you for your grace and your forgiveness shown to me in Jesus Christ. I need your wisdom and I need your strength every day to become all you want me to become. Use me to help others find peace and hope in their lives. In the name of Jesus I pray every prayer.
Robert
