REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor David Kwon who heads Journey Community Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, was first posted on November 28, 2013. He is a graduate of Drexel University (BS) and Columbia International University (M.Div.).
Devotional Thought for This Morning
“The Reason to Praise the Lord”
Psalm 117:1-2
Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! [2] For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!
This is the shortest Psalm in the Psalter, but as Derek Kidner rightly notes, its faith is “great” and “its reach is enormous.” He added, “The shortest Psalm proves, in fact, to be one of the most potent and most seminal.” How so?
The first striking feature of this Psalm is its call for all nations and all people to praise God. It is, therefore, a missionary psalm, calling on all peoples everywhere to extol God. The second important feature is the reason why all nations should praise God: His steadfast love and faithfulness, which endures forever.
On this day, we should be reminded of the greatness of His love for the nations as well as for us. God expressed the fullest measure of His love for us in Christ; in Him, we have abundant life (Jn. 10:10) in this age and eternal life in the age to come. The innumerable promises of the Lord, such as tarrying with us in our trials or answering our prayers, are as fresh and intact now as on the day they were made; and they will remain so.
Take some time this morning praising and thanking the Lord for His love and faithfulness. Meditate on the Cross and how it shows His great love for you. May worship and praise arise as you think about Christ.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that You are at work in my life despite not seeing it clearly at times. Help me to be faithful and continue to trust Your plan for me. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Genesis 25
Lunch Break Study
Read Ephesians 2:1-7: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Questions to Consider
- According to Paul, what is the true condition of humans?
- What does man desperately need from God?
- What moves our Lord to send Jesus to die for ours sins?
Notes
- Man is not only spiritually dead but is an object of the wrath of God, who is holy and just.
- Paul describes man’s condition apart from the grace and mercy of God. Thankfully, Jesus has not left men in their miserable state, but has chosen to rescue those chosen from the foundation of the world (1:3–6).
- It certainly is not any good we have done; being separated from God because of sins, we were undeserving of His love. Whatever righteousness we thought we possessed was nothing but dirty rags (Isa. 64:6). What moves Him, Paul tells us, is His own mercy, love, grace, and kindness (Eph. 2:4–7). It bears repeating that God has shown His grace and mercy when we did not deserve it.
Evening Reflection
One of our greatest needs as human beings is to be loved. We have the need to know that we are important to somebody and that someone truly cares and accepts us unconditionally. If this need is not met, we are liable to develop unacceptable behavior patterns to compensate for this need.
Remember, there is nothing we can do to make Jesus love us more, and nothing we will ever do will cause Him to love us any less. He loves us perfectly and completely regardless of how we perform; His love is unconditional. Even if we don’t love ourselves, He still loves us.
Having known and experienced His great love and mercy, we should show that same kindness to others in our lives. Take some time to pray so that God’s love and mercy would be manifested abundantly in your life.