Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
March 23, 2024
Psalm 139:1-12
1 LORD, you have examined me. You know me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up. Even from far away, you comprehend my plans. 3 You study my traveling and resting. You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways. 4 There isn’t a word on my tongue, LORD, that you don’t already know completely. 5 You surround me—front and back. You put your hand on me. 6 That kind of knowledge is too much for me; it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it. 7 Where could I go to get away from your spirit? Where could I go to escape your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there. If I went down to the grave, you would be there too! 9 If I could fly on the wings of dawn, stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean 10 even there your hand would guide me; even there your strong hand would hold me tight! 11 If I said, “The darkness will definitely hide me; the light will become night around me,” 12 even then the darkness isn’t too dark for you! Nighttime would shine bright as day because darkness is the same as light to you!
Good Morning! God knows us and loves us anyway!
Imagine a bag of dried beans that you are preparing to cook. First, you open the bag and rinse the beans in a strainer. Next, you sift through the beans in the strainer and discard any beans that are bad. For example, sometimes beans will be discolored, misshaped, or look withered. What about the broken pieces? Occasionally, you might find a small rock or clump of dirt that found its way into the bag. After a thorough examination and removal of anything questionable, you place the beans in a pot of water and cook them.
Now imagine that we, God’s children, are all gathered together, and God examines us. Which of us would God discard from the batch? What about those of different colors or shapes? How about the broken ones? Surely, God would discard those that looked withered and not worth the effort. Then there are those who don’t seem to belong at all.
The Good News is that despite our flaws, all who claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior will be saved. God does not discard us even when we are broken, misshaped, or looking withered. Praise be to God! God examines us thoroughly and knows what is in our hearts and souls. It is true that there is nowhere we can go to avoid God’s scrutiny, but it is equally true that there is no where that we can go that God won’t come and find us when we call. Our God is an awesome God!
Gracious God, Thank you for this beautiful gift of life. Thank you for looking past our flaws and loving us for who we are. Help us use the same standards as we look at those around us. We thank you! In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: Because of my faith, I always have light in the darkness.
We are chosen for redemption! Pastor Liz