Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 147:15-20
Ps 147:15-20
He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow. He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the Lord.
Matt 6:25-26
Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
The culture in which we live can make a vast difference in the meaning of the same words. For most of us, when we ask what we will eat or what we will wear, it means that we must decide one thing from among many choices. When Jesus spoke these words, it did not mean a choice but rather, will we have anything to eat today, or do I have clothes to wear? He is saying that we are not to worry, even about the bare necessities of life because if we trust God, he will provide.
When we put God first in our lives and when we do our best to think and act like Jesus, our Father will take care of us. That is not a promise that we will be given everything we want or even all that we think we need. It is a promise that he will give us what is best for us at any particular moment in time. He knows best so we need to learn to trust him. We then must use it to honor his name.
God is alive and well and he is still working today in the lives of those who trust him. His Spirit is real, and he really does live in his children, at least those who open their hearts to him and welcome him in their lives. It is possible to put out his fire and not allow him to work on us and in us. Paul warns about some who would come that denied the power of God in us. In another place, he explains that this power that works in us is the Holy Spirit who embodies both God the Father and Jesus the Son living in us. His work is to make us like Jesus.
O Lord God, increase my faith. Open my heart to your Spirit so he can mold me and help me be more like Jesus in the way I think. Forgive me when I grieve your Spirit by my stubbornness or selfishness. Help me get rid of these traits as I seek to know and do your will. Thank you for all of the physical things you have put into my life. Help me to be willing to use all of these to your glory. Guide the results of the elections in our nation so we can live in peace. I pray in Jesus’ name.
Robert
