09 Thursday Mar 2017
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Most people look for comfort from other imperfect people, but God is the best source of comfort we can ask for. Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Ultimately, God is the one who loves us more than anyone ever will. He knows our every struggle and our every need and He is faithful to us implicitly.
08 Wednesday Mar 2017
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Real peace can only come from God. When we try to find peace through our own efforts, we may find it, but it is always fleeting. Psalm 85:8 says, I will listen to what God the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints – but let them not return to folly. When we trust in God and listen to His guidance in our lives, we find true peace, and it is only through that ongoing trust that true peace remains.
05 Sunday Mar 2017
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The author in today’s reading not only recognized God’s authority, but he also recognized God’s protection and refuge we can only find in Him. Psalm 84:1 says, How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! When we are with God, the rest of the world fades away. We can find peace and feel God’s comforting presence when we focus on Him.
04 Saturday Mar 2017
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Psalm 83 is a prayer to God asking Him to reveal Himself to the world. While there are times we feel God is unknown to most of the world, there will come a time when God will be revealed to all and no one will be able to deny His existence, power, and authority. Until then, we can live with that knowledge and work to build our personal relationship with Him.
27 Monday Feb 2017
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If we as believers and followers of Christ cannot defend the weak, who will? In Psalm 82:3 Asaph says, Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. The powerful people of this world have the ability to do what they will, sometimes with little or no regard for others. If we do not stand for those who cannot stand for themselves, then no one will. We are to be a reflection of Christ who would have stood for the weak if He were here today.
25 Saturday Feb 2017
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Israel’s holidays are reminders of God’s miracles in delivering the people from evil. Asaph used Psalm 81 to remind the people of God’s deliverance in the exodus from Egypt. In Psalm 81:1 he calls out the people to praise God, Sing for joy to God our Strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Our Christian holidays (Christmas and Easter) should be reminders to us of the hope we have in God and His ultimate deliverance of us through salvation. Let us not forget the true meaning behind why we celebrate and why God is worthy of our praise.
22 Wednesday Feb 2017
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Three times the writer repeats his call to God in Psalm 80:3,7,19, Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. Restoration into relationship with God is a continuous process. While grace was granted to us all through Christ, fellowship with Him requires effort to building a strong relationship with God. To many people salvation only serves the purpose of eternal life, but God’s ultimate purpose of Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation was to give us a way to a personal relationship with Him. If we miss this, we are missing out on a life of purpose.
20 Monday Feb 2017
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In the Old Testament, God would often bring wrath and judgement on an entire nation because of the sins of the people within that nation. In Psalm 79:6 Asaph pleaded with God to bring judgement on the kingdoms that refused to acknowledge God’s authority, Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name. It is interesting to see that Asaph was ultimately praying for the foreign nation’s submission to God and not for necessarily for conquest. May we be as obedient in our prayers for those who do not believe the same as us. May we pray for their relationship with God and may God use those around us, including our enemies, to bring us and them to a righteous knowledge and relationship with God.
18 Saturday Feb 2017
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In today’s Psalm, Asaph goes over the history of Israel leading up to David as king. Israel made many mistakes and had plenty of lessons to learn. Psalm 78:1 says, O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. In the end, David became their ruler. And while he was far from perfect, his heart was in tune with God’s will. At the end of Asaph’s recollection of history, he says in Psalm 78:72, And David Shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. God does not call for perfect leaders, He calls for leaders who are obedient to His perfect will.
16 Thursday Feb 2017
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Faith, Peace, Protection, Trust, Truth
The author in today’s reading in Psalm asks a beautifully rhetorical question in Psalm 77:13 Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? In the time when this Psalm was written, and no less so today, there were and are many things placed in higher regard than our God. But there is nothing greater or more important to our lives than our Almighty God. Take some time to try to find anything more steadfast or true… you won’t find anything. Not our friends, not our family, or organizations; nothing.
Daily Devotion 