“so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 5:21 CSB
Eternal life is not just for our life in heaven, but it is today when we begin to know God and His Son, Jesus! We have the ability to know Him intimately today. Sins power is strong, but God’s grace is greater!!!
“Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,”
Psalms 114:7 CSB
We should tremble when we consider God, He has the power to do anything. He has created unfathomably large universes, and destroyed entire nations. It is crazy to think that He puts up with us when we reject Him and follow our own path…He doesn’t have to, but He chooses to…that is why we should tremble, because His grace is so much greater than our foolishness.
Lord, help me to live in awe of you! You have done incredible things in my life, and I don’t deserve that. Your patience is incomprehensible in light of your power and justice…Lord help me to love You enough to never take Your grace for granted, increase my obedience to choose You at every opportunity. I pray that my life is a reminder to those around me to be in awe of You and to follow You always!
“Hallelujah! Give praise, servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be blessed both now and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting, let the name of the Lord be praised. Who is like the Lord our God — the one enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”
Psalms 113:1-3, 5-6 CSB
What an incredible image…the almighty God of everything who takes time to stop, bends down to peer into my life. He desires to know the mundane details of my life, not just the major problems. I don’t deserve the attention, yet He gives it anyway.
Lord, I pray that I would be remembering to praise You, bless You and be in awe of You! Don’t allow me to forget all that You are doing, and have done…or worse give credit to circumstances or luck…what an insult to Your mighty power.
“Hallelujah! Happy is the person who fears the Lord, taking great delight in his commands. His descendants will be powerful in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light shines in the darkness for the upright. He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous. Good will come to the one who lends generously and conducts his business fairly. He will never be shaken. The righteous one will be remembered forever. He will not fear bad news; his heart is confident, trusting in the Lord. His heart is assured; he will not fear. In the end he will look in triumph on his foes. He distributes freely to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted in honor. The wicked one will see it and be angry; he will gnash his teeth in despair. The desire of the wicked leads to ruin.”
Psalms 112:1-10 CSB
I love this psalm, it so clearly lays out the blessings of Following Jesus. I want to experience those blessings, so I follow Jesus and get way more than is talked about.
Lord, I pray that those around me would see the blessings in my life and see how they relate to following You! Thank you for loving me and giving me the ability to follow You. Bless those around me if they turn to You!
“Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The Lord’s works are great, studied by all who delight in them. All that he does is splendid and majestic; his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and compassionate. The works of his hands are truth and justice; all his instructions are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, enacted in truth and in uprightness. He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awe-inspiring. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.”
Psalms 111:1-4, 7-10 CSB
Lord help me to delight in your works! You have done amazing things in my life yet sometimes I am frustrated because I don’t see the results. I am too focused on what is happening today…So, Lord strengthen my faith to trust in the end result of what You are doing! You have always been so good to me, and Your love never fails…
“This is the declaration of the Lord to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.””
Psalms 110:1 CSB
God is telling king David that He (God) does not need David’s help to fight the battle. Sitting is not an active position, but rather passive and even a sign of relaxation. God has not changed and continues to fight our battles.
It is not that we are off the hook and can spend our time chillin doing whatever we want to do…rather He is asking us to sit under His authority and effort toward surrender to His will. It seems like that would be easy, but it takes a lot of practice.
The biggest factor in my experience is believing and trusting that God only wants what is best for me. This includes hard things, disappointment, sadness and pain…not because the experience is a delight, but because the results are priceless. It is always about the results for God. He is single minded in making me more like Jesus. And that is what I want too…
“Help me, Lord my God; save me according to your faithful love so they may know that this is your hand and that you, Lord, have done it. I will fervently thank the Lord with my mouth; I will praise him in the presence of many. For he stands at the right hand of the needy to save him from those who would condemn him.”
Psalms 109:26-27, 30-31 CSB
Gods faithful love has been the repeated topic for many of the more recent psalms. It comes up over and over for one reason: it is an accurate description of Gods character. Love is who God is and the continuation of that love is His faithfulness. We are so blessed to know God because He infinitely loves us, even when we fall into sin. Lord, help me to be in awe of You!
