Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 134:1-3
Ps 134:1-3
Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord. May the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.
Eph 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Rev 22:12-15
"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
We praise the Lord by trusting him and by serving him. He blesses us because of his great love for us and because he wants us to live with him in eternity. When we come to Jesus in faith and in abject humility for our sin, we then give him our life by being buried with him in baptism and we are raised to walk a new life. In him we have all spiritual blessings – both now and in eternity.
God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless. We are not to be like the world all around us that is filled with sin, hate, and idolatry. Even though it is acceptable to practice lying and deceit by calling it fake news, disinformation, or some other name, this is abominable to God. He is always truthful and cannot lie. Jesus is the personification of truth and as his people, we are to always be truthful.
The “magic arts” that are mentioned in the text above is from the Greek word “pharmakos”, which is the word from which we get the words pharmaceuticals and drugs. These drugs were used along with incantations, spells, and other things to deceive people into thinking that someone had special powers or just for the sheer pleasure of getting high. People are people and not much has changed.
O Lord God, please be with your people that we may show others the love of Jesus as we adorn the gospel with godliness. Help me never think more highly of myself than I should but to always consider others better than myself. Give me patience to listen better and to talk less. Lord, even though I am greatly concerned about our nation, I know you are in control. Give us leaders that will listen to your wisdom and be honest, and who will put the good of our country ahead of their personal gain. Give us a land of peace. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
