Today's Readings: New Testament -
Luke 23:13-25
1 Corinthians 10:14-33
Old Testament -
Psalms 85
Judges 8
Click on Text Links to Read Online
Focus Verses: Psalm 85:7-9
7 Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. 8 I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints—but let them not return to folly. 9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
Insight:
The book of Judges describes a miserable series of spiritual cycles as the Israelites repeatedly turned toward and then away from God. Sadly, this pattern would become the norm throughout Israel's history. The echo of this pattern can be seen in Psalm 85. The first few verses recount both God's blessing and wrath--his favor and his fierce anger. They infer that the psalmist's cry for forgiveness and restoration was due to Israel's unfaithfulness.
The psalmist recognized God's promises of peace and salvation for his saints (those who seek holiness), but also acknowledged that there was a need for the people to change. Those who truly listen to God and embrace his promises must stop returning to folly. One cannot live in the blessing of God's restoration while repeatedly turning away from him. Salvation is near for those who have reverence and faithfulness toward God, who listen to his instruction, and who walk steadfastly in his ways.
Response & Action:
I want to live a life that consistently gives glory to God and brings satisfaction to me. I cannot fully take hold of God's promises and blessing if I only half-heartedly listen and obey. I will listen to God. I will seek his guidance through the Scriptures, through prayer, and through Christian community. I will turn away from folly. With reverence and love for God, I will turn away from the things that entangle and diminish and destroy. I will give thanks for God's unfailing love, his grace, his mercy, and the transforming power of his Spirit.
O God, you are the one who can teach me how to live. Give me ears to listen. You are the one who restores. Give me the wisdom to draw near to you. You are the one who is faithful. Make me able to live in faithful surrender and devotion to you. You are the one who saves. Give me a heart that honors you, and save me from the unfaithfulness and frailty of trying to live in my own strength and by my limited understanding. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, lead, teach, transform, shape, and strengthen me, that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Through Christ, Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Resources:
Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ
by Dallas Willard
