Tag: Daily Devotional

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. – Psalm 23:6

On May 29, 2016

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever. – Psalm 23:6

How confidently he counts upon the continuance of God’s favours, Ps. 23:6. He had said (Ps. 23:1), I shall not want; but now he speaks more positively, more comprehensively: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. His hope rises, and his faith is strengthened, by being exercised. Observe, (1.) What he promises himself—goodness and mercy, all the streams of mercy flowing from the fountain, pardoning mercy, protecting mercy, sustaining mercy, supplying mercy. (2.) The manner of the conveyance of it: It shall follow me, as the water out of the rock followed the camp of Israel through the wilderness; it shall follow into all places and all conditions, shall be always ready. (3.) The continuance of it: It shall follow me all my life long, even to the last; for whom God loves he loves to the end. (4.) The constancy of it: All the days of my life, as duly as the day comes; it shall be new every morning (Lam. 3:22, 23) like the manna that was given to the Israelites daily. (5.) The certainty of it: Surely it shall. It is as sure as the promise of the God of truth can make it; and we know whom we have believed. (6.) Here is a prospect of the perfection of bliss in the future state. So some take the latter clause: “Goodness and mercy having followed me all the days of my life on this earth, when that is ended I shall remove to a better world, to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever, in our Father’s house above, where there are many mansions. With what I have I am pleased much; with what I hope for I am pleased more.” All this, and heaven too! Then we serve a good Master. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Psalm 23:1-6)

Daily devotional, verse a day, Mercy, Bible Verse, goodness and mercy, Psalm 23

Daily Devotional: Having a Servant Heart

By Thor

On September 29, 2014

In Bible Verses, Devotional, Featured, Headline

Having a servant heart should be one of our desires as Christians. Jesus set us the example. In Matthew 20:28, the Bible explicitly teaches us with a profound Word: “even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Our attitude should be the same as our Lord Jesus.

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28
Dr. James R. Miller put it this way: “He came not to be served; if this had been His aim He would never have left heaven’s glory, where He wanted nothing, where angels praised Him and ministered unto Him. He came to serve. He altogether forgot himself. He served all He met who would receive His service. At last He gave His life in serving — gave it to save others, to redeem lost souls. You say you want to be like Christ. You pray to Him to print His own image on your heart. Here, then, is the image! It is no vague dream of perfection that we are to think of when we ask to be like Christ. The old monks thought that they were in the way to become like Christ when they went into the wilderness, away from men, to live in cold cells or on tall columns. But surely that is not the that is not the thought which this picture suggests. “To minister” — that is the Christ-like thing. Instead of fleeing away from men, we are to live among men, to serve them, to live for them, to seek to bless them, to do good, to give our lives. Christ tells us that this is the stairway to the highest reaches of Christian life.”Whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all.” To worldly men this seems indeed a strange way of rising. According to this, all men’s scrambling for place and power is really scrambling downward rather than upward. The real heights in human life are the heights of self-forgetfulness and service. We are to use all our redeemed powers in doing good to others in Christ’s name. That is what Christ did with his blessed life, and we are to follow in his steps.“

Tags: daily devotional, servant heart, Jesus servant heart, serving others

Do You Press On or Still Living in the Past?

By Thor

On July 5, 2011

In Bible Verses, christian articles, Featured, Headline

Do you press on or are you still living in the past? There were situations in our past that painted hurt, disappointments, and regrets. These were too heavy and even paralyzes us to continue living that way we ought to. These have changed the way we perceive circumstances, make decisions, and mastering our attitudes. Sometimes we feel that we are carrying the weight of the world. Nothing is seems right. Mind you, even christians are not immune to these. I’ve seen christian leaders who just can’t go on with their ministries because of hurt and disappointments. The Good News is, there is a way out. Here’s the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12-15 giving us the motivation.

In Philippians 3: 12-15 we read:
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

We are on a Race

We are to attain or obtain a perfect knowledge of Christ. The day we decided to trust and follow Jesus, we are at the starting point of our race. As participants to this race, our focus is to finish the race and get hold of the prize that is set before us. The good thing is, every participant of the race has a reward at the end of the race. No losers. No competition. Just stay on the race. The rules of race are laid down in God’s word.

We “press on” means it’s a continous and consistent process. God has laid hold His plans for each of us. He determined our steps. It is now for us to press on, stay on the race, and get hold of what He has in store for us. God will reveal it to us one by one along the way.

Forgeting Those Things Which Are Behind

Let not our past disappointments, hurt, or pain dictates our future. To Press on is leaving those burdens or excess baggage away. These will not help us in the race at all. Carrying these might strained us, paralyze us, or dishabilitate us and we are unable to finish the race.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

To stay in the race, we must Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12). Christian life is not easy. We have a lot of battles. Temptations, power, greed, lust, among others. We must therefore equip ourselves with the tools we need to deal with various crossroads along the course of our race. Jesus had laid down the foundation, set the examples, and provided the roadmaps how to finish our race.