Today’s AMI QT Devotional, written by Pastor David Kwon of Journey Community Church in Raleigh, was originally posted on November 28, 2013.
Devotional Thought for This Morning
“Happy Thanksgiving . . . Because of Him”
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 of Thanksgiving, 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: Dear God, I thank You for everything! Forgive me for complaining, pouting and comparing myself to others to complain and pout even more. You are so good to me, Lord; and that’s all the more reason why I shall worship and praise You forever. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: John 12
Lunch Break
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
1. According to verses 1-3, what is the true condition of humans?
2. In response, what has Christ done for humans in their miserable state?
3. What moves our Lord to do this?
Notes
1. Ephesians 2 is one of the deepest and richest passages in all of Scripture. Paul describes man’s condition apart from the grace and mercy of Jesus in verse 1-3: man is not only spiritually dead but is an object of the wrath of God, who is holy and just.
2. 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).
3. 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. It is only fitting that on this Thanksgiving Day, we spend some time thanking Jesus for His salvation and His great love for us.
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.