Daily Devotionals

Daily Devotionals

Daily Devotional: Psalms 34:8-14

Ps 34:8-14

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (ESV)

1 Peter 3:8-9

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. (ESV)

Did you ever try to put yourself in the place of the religious leaders during the ministry of Jesus? The Jews had their major sects who disagreed greatly but had behind the scenes agreed to disagree as long as they could control the people and keep the status quo with Rome. They were, for the most part, controlled by the same things that control leaders (religious, civil, work, media or whatever kind) in our day. It was money, power, and ego, that motivated them.

Then came this guy named Jesus from out of nowhere, or even worse, from out of a small town in Galilee. He had not been schooled our trained by any of the well-known rabbis. To make things worse, he was teaching the people that money should not be the greatest motivator, power only belonged to God, and that personal ego only led to destruction. He was taking all of their traditional teaching and saying that these things were not really from God and were wrong.

This guy was telling people that if someone mistreated you, even physically assaulted you, be nice to them and don’t try to get even. He even said that we should love them and pray for them! He was teaching the people that our (the leaders) show of righteousness was fake, that it was just for show, and that they should not follow us. He even told one of our young men that he needed to sell his hard-earned wealth and give it away if he wanted to have eternal life! It is no wonder they hated him and wanted to get rid of him!

O Lord God, open my eyes that I can see things as Jesus taught and as he saw them while on earth. Help me not be controlled by the things of this world, by my ego, or by my ability to gain a personal following. Use me to share the good news of Jesus and to teach and practice the things that he taught, beginning with an attitude of being God submissive and built on trust in him. Give me a pure heart, clean lips, and a desire to be like Jesus. In his wonderful name I pray.

Robert