31 Thursday May 2012
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I love Psalm 103:11-12, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; God can remove our sins from us to a point where it does not even exist anymore. We must fear and respect Him, but He want to cleanse us from all our transgressions if we just trust in Him.
30 Wednesday May 2012
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I don’t have much to say about today’s reading, but I do love Psalm 67:1-2, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. It is almost as if the Psalmist could see the impact salvation would have across the earth.
29 Tuesday May 2012
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God is our strength and He is our hope! He is the fortress we find safety, healing, and peace. Psalm 59:17 says it all to me, O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.
28 Monday May 2012
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Have you ever been in a situation where you felt the need for God’s mercy on you? I definitely have! For David, you can feel it in Psalm 57:1, Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. When we face times of trouble, God comes along and calms our hearts and minds. Only He can truly give us peace and I love Him for protecting and loving us even when we don’t deserve it.
27 Sunday May 2012
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The first verse in today’s reading struck me right away. Psalm 16:1 says Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. There are so many pitfalls in life and without God’s constant protection we fall. We are imperfect beings and we need God’s perfect power to keep us safe in everything we do; whether it’s in relationships or simply driving home from vacation, we need His protection!
26 Saturday May 2012
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Verse 7 and 8 hit me between the eyes today, 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. No matter how mature we become in our faith, there is a constant struggle. This verse helps me remember that I should be sowing to please the Spirit and in turn please the Father. When I try to sow to gain some sort of reward, I do it for the wrong reasons. More importantly, my desire for immediate satisfaction always takes precedence somehow. When I remember it is about pleasing God because I love Him and our relationship, it makes it much easier.
25 Friday May 2012
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In today’s reading you would think I would write about the “Fruits of the Spirit”, and you would be right. In verses 22-23 Paul describes the Fruits as, 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self‑control. Against such things there is no law. The fruits are something that should spontaneously be present in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. They should be part of our new nature because they are a reflection of the nature of Christ. Salvation is why Christ came to earth to be sacrificed. We are also blessed to inherit his nature as well.
24 Thursday May 2012
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While we started off as slaves, we have become actual heirs through Christ’s sacrifice. Verse 7 puts it very simply, So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. According to the notes in my Bible, under Roman law, an adopted child was guaranteed all legal rights to his Father’s property, even if he was a former slave, he was equal to the other sons. By being adopted by God through His son we are full heirs.
23 Wednesday May 2012
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There is a lot of talk about the “law” in today’s reading and I always wonder how much of the law still applies to us. Don’t get me wrong, I know we are not justified by the law, but by faith. Just read verse 14 and we see that, He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. However, we still love to throw out a bunch of rules governing our Christian lives. Again, don’t get me wrong, we should have changed lives because of God’s grace, but what is the purpose of the law now? Verse 24 does a pretty good job of revealing it to us, So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. The law is what draws the distinction between who we are and who God is. It is in place to draw us to God to show us how far we are from Him and how much we need His grace through Christ’s sacrifice to have a relationship with Him.
22 Tuesday May 2012
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Today we read another one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Verse 20 says, 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. Because Christ died for our sins, we are no longer condemned. Our life, as a believer, began when in unity with Christ, we died to our sins. We can not take this for granted. Regardless of how we choose to live our lives, we must remember that this is the foundational truth of what makes us believers in Christ.
