“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. … It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” Psalm 119:67, 71
God often uses sickness and trouble in our lives for our good. When all seems to be going well, we so easily neglect God’s Word and go astray. But when affliction comes, we are driven back to God’s Word and consider its teaching. We repent of our sinful ways and turn to God for mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus, and we look to His Word for direction in our lives.
Thank You, O merciful Father, for allowing affliction and trouble in my life that I might consider Your Word, repent of my erring ways, and look to You for mercy and direction. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Webster Version of the Bible.]
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7
The LORD God formed Adam’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul, alive physically, with a living, breathing body, and spiritually, knowing God and His will, and loving, trusting, and honoring God, his Maker. John’s Gospel tells us of Jesus, God’s Son, that “all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:3-4). It was Jesus who breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life.
We thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for both creating us and giving us life, and for redeeming us by giving Your life in our stead when You died on the cross to atone for our sins. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Webster Version (1833).]
“Be attentive, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, and you depart from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:12-13
Satan would deceive us and have us take sin lightly, as though it would cause us no harm. We need to exhort one another against the dangers of sin constantly. James writes, “But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death” (James 1:14-16). Sin and its deception are a threat to our souls. Repent and look to Christ and His cross for mercy, and then seek His help and strength to resist temptation and walk in His ways.
Give me wisdom, O God, to shun every sin and evil, lest I be deceived by sin and suffer eternal death and damnation. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“They will drink their fill from the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” Psalm 36:8-9
Those who heed God’s Word, repent of their sins, and flee for refuge to the cross of Jesus Christ partake of the eternal blessings of God’s kingdom. They know true, lasting pleasures. Why? Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Only when we trust in Christ Jesus will we see and know the truth.
Enlighten my heart, O God, that I may know the truth and look to You in faith for pardon and the eternal joys of heaven. I ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross. Amen.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:26-27
The eternal God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — created mankind in His own image, meaning that man was like God in that he had a true knowledge of God and lived according to the truth God had revealed. As a result, man honored God as his Maker, trusted God, truly loved God, and sought to bring God glory (cf. Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10). God also created mankind male and female and commanded them to reproduce and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28), meaning that the biological differences between a man and a woman are according to God’s creative purpose and design rather than man’s choice.
Grant that I recognize the truth, O God, and honor You as my all-wise Creator and my loving and merciful Redeemer. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
