Daily Devotional 11-22-2021
Col 2:13-14 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. (14) He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. Before a person is liberated to this new life in Christ, he is dead in his sins and in his sinful nature. Death means separation, not annihilation. Even the unsaved still bear the image of God, but they are separated from God. Cut off from spiritual life, they still have human life. But now God made you alive with Christ. The same “power” that raised Christ from the dead resurrects believing sinners to spiritual life. This new life came when God forgave us all our sins for He canceled the written code. Before…
Daily Devotional 9-16-2021
Psa 25:11 LORD, for the sake of your name, forgive my iniquity, for it is immense. David now returns briefly to prayer for forgiveness. Thoroughly convicted of the vastness of his guilt, he bases his appeal on “Your name’s sake, O LORD.” Since a person’s name often stands for the person himself, the psalmist is here pleading God’s own character—and especially His mercy and grace—as his only claim to pardon. There is not a word about David’s own merit!
Daily Devotional 08-25-2021
Psa 51:1 For the choir director. A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba. Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. (2) Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. David appealed to God’s love and compassion as he petitioned the Lord to forgive him by grace and cleanse him from sin. God’s attributes of unfailing love for His servant and His compassion for the helpless, were the basis for David’s appeal for mercy. It is also a recognition that David did not deserve forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is by His grace alone. The three verbs David employed here are figurative. “Blot out” implies a comparison with human records that can be erased; “wash away” compares forgiveness with washing clothing (often viewed as an extension of a person),…