Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 119:169-176
Ps 119:169-176 Taw
May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word. May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight. Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.
Eph 1:3-6
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. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves.
When I was a child, I often tried to imitate my daddy and at times I wanted to be like my big brothers. I looked up to them and respected what I saw in them. So, out of love and respect, I tried to make their traits a part of me and my life. On one occasion, my mom found my younger brother with a pair of scissors, cutting his hairline to match the receding hairline of my father. We imitate others.
As the children of God, we are to imitate him. Not because of following a bunch of rules, but because we love him and we respect him, so we want to make his traits a part of our lives. We were made in his image but sin changes us so that we are no longer like him. As we look to Jesus, who is the exact representation of the Father, we try to be like our big brother. We want to grow into his likeness.
When we allow his Spirit to work in us and grow his fruit in us, we are molded into his likeness and others see Jesus in us. This same Spirit gives us understanding of his will and then empowers us to live it in our lives. The precepts of God are all righteous, so as we follow them, we too become righteous in our hearts and lives.
O Lord God, my heavenly Father, I am so thankful that you have chosen me to be your child and that you have made it possible in Jesus Christ. Open my heart as I study your word so that I can know your will and incorporate it in my heart and into my life. Use me to lift up someone who is down and who is struggling with issues in their life. Give me a heart of compassion and lips that send forth your kindness. Forgive me when I fail to be like you and your Son. Give your healing and your peace to those who are sick and are troubled. I pray in Jesus name.
Robert
