“They will proclaim the power of your awe-inspiring acts, and I will declare your greatness. They will give a testimony of your great goodness and will joyfully sing of your righteousness.”
Psalms 145:6-7 CSB
Seeing an entire nation be generous to God is incredible to see. All of them being obedient to Gods call reminds me to be looking critically at every thing I do to make sure that it is motivated by the Lord and not just my thoughts.
“the Lord has appointed the blessing — life forevermore.”
Psalms 133:3b CSB
Just half a verse today…but it jumped off the page to me. We all want blessing, we desire to have good things, things that make us joyful, happy even. What can be more of a blessing than eternal life with God Himself?
But what really stood out to me was the reminder that this blessing does not come from working hard, obeying perfectly or really, anything I do. It is something that only God can give! It is appointed, or destined, or gifted to us…
Lord, You have blessed me with eternal life with You, help me to value that as the gift it is! And strengthen me to follow You into obedience as a reflection of my thankfulness! You are so good to me and I see Your goodness evermore clearly as I walk in your ways!
“Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name. Rise up, God, champion your cause! Remember the insults that fools bring against you all day long.”
Psalms 74:21-22 CSB
God cares for the weakest and has always protected them. This comes up over and over again in scripture which means it is something we must understand and practice ourselves. This brings glory to God and honor to Him when we follow his ways and emulate Him.
Lord, help me to see the needs of the helpless, and give me a vision for how to assist. You have blessed us in so many ways I want to share those blessings with people in need.
”“My name will be great among the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Incense and pure offerings will be presented in my name in every place because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Armies.
But you say, ‘Look, what a nuisance! ’ And you scorn it,” says the Lord of Armies. “You bring injured, lame, or sick animals. You bring this as an offering! Am I to accept that from your hands?” asks the Lord.“
Malachi 1:11, 13 CSB
The final book of the Old Testament and the minor prophets, Malachi is hearing from the Lord a message for Gods people. He is calling them out for being selfish in their worship…
They are required to give God their best. It is to show a recognition that God has given them everything and demonstrate how much they trust God to continue providing for them. But in selfishness they are trying to “follow the rules” by sacrificing, but are giving their worst…the defective (because it is going to die anyway). In essence they are saying, God you can have this one, because I am throwing it away anyway.
This is NOT what God is after. God wants to know that we trust Him. He wants us to be fully reliant on His care of us. The best part is that He always cares for us and provides for our needs.
This came to life for me years ago when I was trying to figure out how to give God my best in spending time with Him. I was reading or praying whenever “I had a few extra minutes”…that often resulted in forgetting or just a minute of prayer before nodding off to sleep. But that was not my best, nor was I gaining anything from it! That was tedious, boring and felt worthless. Then God convicted me to give of my best as a pleasing sacrifice to Him, which is why I spend these moments with Him before accomplishing anything else.
God, thank you for blessing me with that conviction for the last 20yrs and showing up each day! My day doesn’t feel settled if I miss out…I look forward to this time each morning. The sacrifice has become a delight! You are so good!
