Monthly Archives: November 2022

DAY ELEVEN – PSALM 103

Devotion, ,

DAY ELEVEN

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will He harbour His anger forever;

He does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.”

Psalm 103:8-10

COMMENT

What would happen if God were to treat you exactly according to what you deserve; if He were to repay you an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? I’m sure you don’t even want to think about it! He reassures you that He doesn’t treat you like that.  Unlike you and me, He doesn’t hold on to His anger.  He loves to be gracious to you, forgiving and letting your sins go because Jesus has already paid for them all.  He doesn’t want you to go on sinning just because He is so willing to forgive you, but He forgives you gladly when you repent and turn away from your wrongdoing.

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Thank the Lord today that His love for you is so great than He forgives and washes your sins away every time you ask Him.  Thank Him that He doesn’t hold on to grudges or treat you as you deserve.  If He did, you would be wiped from His presence forever.

DAY TEN – PSALM 103

Devotion, ,

DAY TEN

“ (He) redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”

Psalm 103:4,5

COMMENT

When you read through these verses, you almost get the feeling that God just can’t do enough for you.  Look at the words David uses – and remember that he is speaking from a lifetime of walking with God.  “He crowns you with love and compassion.  He satisfies your desires with good things…”  Perhaps you may say, “But God hasn’t done that for me.”  I wonder if you don’t feel like that because you haven’t taken the time to thank God for the many good things that happen to you every day.  If you stop to reflect on God’s goodness to you, you will find more and more things that happen each day that are the evidence of God’s love showered on you.

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Stop a moment today and thank God in detail for everything that is proof of His great love for you.  What are your desires that He has satisfied in this week?  Pour out your heart to Him in grateful thanks and you will find much more to thank Him for than you even realised.

DAY NINE – PSALM 103

Devotion, ,

DAY NINE

“Praise the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all His benefits –

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases.”

Psalm 103:1,2

COMMENT

I want you to read the same Scripture again today. Part of God’s benefits to you is the healing of your body.  You may think that healing must be something supernatural, but have you ever thought that God has put in your body the power to heal itself?  If you eat healthy food and live a healthy lifestyle, your body will fix what has gone wrong.  Broken bones knit, cuts and grazes heal, and your body fights off disease and kills bacteria and you recover from the illness.  Sometimes God intervenes with a miracle when the disease overwhelms your body, and you pray for healing.  Jesus died on the cross so that you will have a completely new body when you go to be with Him in glory.  So, whether you are healed in this body or not, you will live with God forever in a body that can never get sick or die again.

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

God’s gift of healing isn’t only a reason to praise Him, but also a hope that you can carry in your heart every day.  No matter what you go through in this life, praise God that disease and death will not have the final say, for you will be with the Lord forever in a perfect body just like Jesus’ body.

DAY EIGHT – PSALM 103

Devotion, ,

DAY EIGHT

“Praise the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all His benefits –

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases.”

Psalm 103:2,3

COMMENT

In Psalm 139 you learned about God’s power, His presence and His intimate knowledge of you.  Psalm 103 focuses on God’s great love, compassion and mercy.  Just imagine how you would feel inside if you were burdened by the guilt of your sin, and you had no way to get rid of it.  David knew what it was like to carry a great burden of guilt, but he also knew what it was like to be forgiven.  This is how he felt after God had forgiven him for his affair with Bathsheba and his conniving to get rid of her husband.  “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.”  Psalm 32:1,2.  Don’t you think that this is a very good reason to give God praise and thanks today?

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Have you ever thought about all the bad things you have said and done that God has forgiven and removed from you?  Thank Him for His mercy to you, that He has removed all your sins and washed you clean in the blood of His Son.  He will never hold anything against you that you have confessed, and He has forgiven.

DAY SEVEN – PSALM 139

Devotion, ,

DAY SEVEN

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:23,24

COMMENT

David ends this beautiful psalm with a prayer that God would look deep into his heart and root out any wickedness in him so that he can walk with God.  This was his response to the revelation of God’s closeness and care for him.  How do you respond to the knowledge that God made you unique and special?   What do you think about His care, protection, and guidance every step of your way and that He has wonderful plans for your life which He has recorded in His book so that they won’t get lost or forgotten?  You can turn David’s prayer into praise and thanksgiving because God gave His Son, Jesus, so that you can be cleansed from your sin.  God gave you His Spirit to help you overcome sin and walk in God’s ways forever.

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Let’s end our week by praising God for the wonderful provision He has made for us so that we can live in fellowship with Him and walk with Him every day of our lives until we go to be with Him forever.