REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional is a reprint of Kate Moon’s blog originally posted on December 26, 2013. Kate continues to serve the Lord in E. Asia.
Devotional Thought for This Morning
“For as Long as I Shall Live, I Will Testify to Love”
Psalm 145:1-2, 9, 21
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever . . . 9 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made . . . 21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name forever and ever.”
“For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love . . .” ~Avalon (Dec. 1997)
A few days ago, a daughter of some friends celebrated her sweet 16. This winter break she’ll be traveling abroad on her first short-term missions trip to share God’s love with a people living in poverty. As a daughter of missionaries, she has been on the field for much of her life because of her parents’ choices, but this is the first time she has made a decision on her own to dedicate a portion of her life to the Lord in this way. Needless to say, her parents feel proud and gratified.
It’s interesting to think of how she is living her life in tune with this song (by Avalon) that was in the air around the time she was born. A song that sings of all the ways in which God has shown his love and how our response is to want to tell the world, both in words and actions. It certainly is not a new theme; the identical thought runs throughout many of David’s psalms, including our scripture for this morning.
Meditate on the Lord’s goodness to all this morning. Isn’t he worthy to be praised? As my heart is filled with the wonders of his love, can I keep it in? Will I have chances to testify to his love today? Who can I share with? Who can I tell? Ultimately, the realization of God’s greatest love ever displayed, in Christ, compels us to be missional (i.e., reaching out to the world).
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as I think upon your goodness, let the knowledge of your love fill my heart that it bursts with overflowing. Let it be that my testimonies of your goodness cannot be contained but that I have to speak forth, share with friends, family, and all those around me this day. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Genesis 17
Lunch Break Study
Read Psalm 145:14-20: “The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. 18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. 20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.”
Questions to Consider
- Psalm 145 is an acrostic, which means that the writer took the letters of the alphabet and tried to begin each line of his song with one of the letters, in order. Something like:
Almighty God
Beautiful beyond all measure
Can anything compare with you?
Don’t think so…
Imagine trying to do something like this: would it be easier or harder to do it on a very specific topic? Would it give more freedom if the topic were a general one, something that there is so much to say about?
- Look through Psalm 145 and list all the different things the writer is praising God for.
- Now, take a moment to make your own list. If you are having hard time coming up with a long list, try getting specific, or think of what he has done in the lives of others as well as your own.
Notes
- The psalmist chooses the topic of “God is good” for this acrostic psalm because there is so much to say about this topic.
- Verses 14-20 are where he lists some specifically.
- When we meditate on God’s goodness, what we will find is that the list is endless, so long that there is enough there to praise him all our lives.
Evening Reflection
How was it when I testified of his love today? Was there any new experience of God’s goodness today that will be my testimony for tomorrow?