Today’s Reading: Psalm 16
Psalm 16:2 — I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
God promises the joy of His presence. For David, everything good came from God. In Psalm 23, David said that God’s goodness and mercy would follow him all the days of his life, and that he would dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Like David, we are welcome to live in God’s house forever.
In God’s house in God’s presence, goodness and mercy (God’s faithful love) look after us to see that our needs are met in Him. Goodness in the original Hebrew language means “that which is pleasing or valuable or useful.” All that is pleasing, valuable, and useful are provided by God’s goodness.
Today, we met an elderly Japanese man who had no family or friends, no one to care about him. He was trying to feed himself by spending about 1 U.S. dollar per day. We tried to share the gospel with him, but he was so focused on his present day-to-day physical needs that he had never considered the future of his soul. By the goodness of God, a pastor with us offered to connect him with a food bank. We hope that this will open a door for him to really hear the gospel of God’s goodness to sinners in need of salvation.
God’s goodness attends to our needs. It shows us the path of life. It leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). God’s goodness ushers us into His presence where we find the joy and the pleasure of living with Him.
People say that they want to have a good life, but what is the value of a life lived apart from God and His goodness? Jesus Christ offers us the best life. His grace welcomes us into daily life in God’s family where we sit at the King’s table as sons and daughters of our good Father. God is so good!
05/27/2024 Devotional
“What is the value of a life lived apart from God and His goodness?”
Living hard is not easy, but living right is also not easy. It is not easy to suppress all human desires to criticize and give up and live right. Even more so, when I am stimulated and whipped by the word of God, I put others first rather than my own benefit. Living a good life for others is not something I can do on my own. I cannot do it, but I must follow His guidance to take after His Character every day. So, I will not forget that the path to resemble His Word is the purpose and vision of my life.…