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Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
God is awesome and mighty. He can do anything he chooses to do. So isn’t it amazing that of all the things he could do, God chooses to love and bless us? God blesses us with material blessings. He blesses us with spiritual things. He blesses us with big things and small things and things in between. He blesses us with hope. He blesses us beyond pain. He blesses us now and in the future. He blesses us and works things out for our best eternal outcome (Romans 8:28). So we honor him with our reverent respect — not a cowering fear but a loving awe and delight — remembering all the great things he has done.
My Prayer…
Generous and gracious God, thank you for blessing me in so many ways I can’t count them all. Please use my life to be a blessing to others that leads them to a life blessed with you. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Bible References
24 Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
1 Samuel 12:24
But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
God deserves our respect and reverence. The world has a very flippant attitude towards God, but that should never be the case with us as His children! We who know Christ as Lord and Savior, know what honor and glory we owe God for all that He has done for us. We understand the mercy, grace, and love that He has shown us time and time again. Knowing this, we are to serve Him faithfully with all our hearts (Romans 12:1-2), placing Him above everything else and living a life that is in obedience to Him because of our love for Him.
This brings to mind another verse in this chapter;
1 Samuel 12:15
But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.
God expects His children to obey Him, pure and simple. When we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, a change took place in our hearts (2 Corinthians 5:17). No longer are we to be controlled by satan, but by God who has saved us and made us His children through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
While we, as children of God, would say that we desire to obey Him, do our daily lives actually show that we purpose to obey God?
Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love Me, obey My commands.”
We can say we love Jesus until we are blue in the face, but if our lives do not show that we love Jesus by obeying God’s Word, then our words are empty and hollow!
We will still sin after we are born again, but do we make a PRACTICE of sinning? It all comes down to the purpose in our heart. God knows our hearts and He knows when we are diligently seeking Him, He knows when we are purposing to live a life of obedience to Him and when we are not.
As God’s children, if we are living a life of sinful ways, God is a good and loving Parent and He will bring discipline down on our lives to bring us back to Him!
Hebrews 12:5-6
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.”
When He calls us to live in obedience to Him, we know that it is to make us a more mature Christian, to bring us into the life that He wants for us, and to give us peace and joy in the process!
Lord help us to faithfully serve God and obey God’s Word in our lives, to show the world His love, and to trust God that He always does things for our good (Romans 8:28).
Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to shed His blood for my sin. Thank You for giving us Your Word to teach us how to live a life that is in obedience to You, Father. Help me to follow You each day and to faithfully live a life that pleases You. I love You so Abba, and give You all praise, honor, and glory this day, Amen!