Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD; praise him, you servants of the LORD, 2 you who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God. 3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. 4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession. 5 I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. 6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. 7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

The very idea of unlimited and unchecked power over others (and especially over us) is an idea that causes us to object without any active thought. It reeks of abuse and misuse. This is because we can only see through the eyes of our own weakness and frailty. God, as God, has this kind of power and ability to carry out his personal will toward anything and anyone. Yet, there is nothing that is better for us and that should be more comfort to us than to know this and willingly yield to his control. The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth. So what is it that pleases him? Perfect purity pleases him as he is perfectly pure. Purity in our thoughts and in our lives brings us happiness. It helps us build strong marriages, strong families and good relationships. Giving, absolute and unconditional love pleases the Lord. Can you imagine the world if everyone really had this kind of love? Remember that this love would be demonstrated and controlled by purity in all of us. This would mean that everything we do would be guided by what is best for others around us and there would be no such thing as selfishness. Can you imagine a world with absolutely no selfishness? If we had no selfishness to destroy our relationships we would never have hurt feelings and almost all anger would be gone. There would be no such thing as jealousy. Without selfishness we would no longer see greed in anyone but everyone would be guided by what is best for others. We would then see harmony and peace prevail. Is this really possible? Yes it is possible in as much as we submit to his will and we become like him. God does as he pleases and what pleased him was to send his Son to earth to die in our place because we failed to be like him. God is great, God is good.

O God, please fill me with your Spirit that I may be more like you. Open my heart so that I might love even as you love. Give me compassion so that I can really care about others and not be selfish or greedy. Give me wisdom so that I can have the peace that comes from above. I pray in Jesus name.

May God bless each of us as we learn to be more like him today.