Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 129:1-8
Ps 129:1-8
They have greatly oppressed me from my youth--let Israel say--they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me. Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long. But the LORD is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked. May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame. May they be like grass on the roof, which withers before it can grow; with it the reaper cannot fill his hands, nor the one who gathers fill his arms. May those who pass by not say, "The blessing of the LORD be upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD."
Gal 6:7-10
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please the flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Life can be hard and it can be depressing. We face problems each day, and as we age, we face more pains and find more things we cannot do (or that it takes us longer to get over doing them). One of the most difficult things for us to face is when we are mistreated or when things just don’t seem fair. When we are nice and kind but we get a nasty reply, we have to wonder why this happened. When someone says something unkind that is untrue, we are hurt deeply.
Jesus had more pain than we will ever know. Jesus was talked about falsely but kept being kind. He was treated unfairly but took it for our sake. He said we are blessed when we are mistreated and when we are maligned falsely. He told us to turn the other cheek when someone slaps us and to not fight back when they try to take something away from us. These go against the grain of human nature.
But he never said that being his disciple, being like him, would be easy. In fact, he said the world hated him and therefore, when we follow him and imitate him, we will be hated too. This is because they do not understand our motive of love and our righteous lives will expose their wickedness, so they are uncomfortable.
Heavenly Father I am thankful for your kindness to me. Help me take just one of your attributes each day and learn to put it into practice in my life. Thank you for my friends and my family who love you and who help me want to be more like you each day. Open my eyes to the opportunities you put into my life to help others and open my heart to respond with love and sharing. Help me overlook when others are unkind and to act with kindness. I pray in Jesus name.
Robert
