Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 144:11-15
Ps 144:11-15
Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets. Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
Luke 6:36-38
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Someone said to me recently that it seemed to them that too often we just “pick and choose” which parts of the Bible we want to follow and which things we just ignore. My observation is that probably we do this at times without realizing it and without wanting to do it. We know that murder is wrong. We try not to actually hate anyone. We like to think that we would never commit adultery or steal that which does not belong to us. We follow the “commandments”.
What about judging others? To be clear, when we quote a scripture that God says something is wrong and those who do this will be lost forever, we are not judging, we are simply saying what God has said. But when I condemn someone, based on what I think that person’s intentions or motives are, that is judging. When I am condemning a person to hell because they don’t agree with my reasoning about things or my understanding of things, I am judging. Of course, we all think that our reasoning, our understanding, and our knowledge of Scripture is correct, but we are fallible. Be merciful because God is merciful. We are saved by grace, that is, we do not deserve to be saved, so it is not because we are right about everything.
O Lord God, remind me that I am not a mind reader and I do not know what others are thinking or their motives. While it may seem it is obvious, it is not my place to decide this, so keep me from judging others. Instead, use me to motivate and encourage them to want to do right. Give me an ear to listen with an open mind, realizing that I can be wrong. Forgive me when I fail. Thank you for your great love, your tender mercy, and your matchless grace in Jesus Christ. Thank you for the health you have given my wife and me. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
