Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 115:1-8
Ps 115:1-8
Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, "Where is their God?" Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
1 Cor 8:5-6
For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
No one will ever rise above the god (or God) they serve. When we make our own gods, they will have all of our flaws and will never motivate us to be better than we are to begin with. As people leave the only true God, their morals and their lives will only become more and more corrupt. They go from bad to worse.
God demands respect and submission, but gods require neither. God is the ultimate authority, with the inherent right to set the standards in every aspect of life. If we have no respect for him as God, we will not have respect for parents, for civil authorities, government officials, or anyone else. This leads to a feeling of entitlement, which gives us the right to do anything we want to do.
This respect for God and for parents must begin in the home, with our children, from the earliest age. As we look at the problems in our country, most are not really political, they are moral. We have a generation (or two) that have not been taught about God or absolute morality as taught in the Bible, and therefore who have no ingrained respect for authority. Without this respect, there can be no accountability. If I am my own god and I make the rules and nothing is absolutely right or wrong, then why can I not kill those I dislike or steal what I want?
O Lord God, give us a generation of people in our country who will turn to you and respect you as God and your Son as Lord. Give us leaders who will steer our nation in your direction. Please be merciful to us because we, as a nation, have forsaken your ways. We call evil “good” and call good “evil” and as a nation we have made it more difficult for our young people to know you and serve you. But I thank you for the freedoms and the prosperity we do enjoy in this country. Thank you for the internet and the good that it makes possible. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
