Feb 24 2022

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In this verse, Paul compares knowledge of the Gospel to the light that God Himself created in Genesis. The Gospel gives us light, opening our eyes to the knowledge of the glory of God. Today, we'll reflect on the miracle that is the Gospel and how it points us to Jesus above all.

In the beginning, God created light. He spoke and it came into existence just like that. Where there was only darkness, light now existed. This parallels our conversion experience. Before the Holy Spirit moved in our hearts, they were darkened by sin and famished without knowledge of the Lord. When we were saved, what had been dark became light.

Just as God is the creator of light, He is the creator of our salvation. We do not have any claim to our salvation. It is an act of grace performed by the Holy Spirit on our hearts. There is no one who desires the Lord apart from His work in our lives. Because of this, we should not become prideful about where we are; rather, we should give credit to the Lord for everything good within us. That's another reason to honor Him for how He moves in our hearts.

Paul says that knowledge of the glory of God comes in the face of Jesus Christ. This means we learn about God's glory by looking at the life that Jesus lived. He lived in complete confidence in His Father's goodness and love. He did not get anxious about anything and repeatedly turned to God in prayer. When He endured a brutal death on the cross, the separation between God and people no longer existed. The glory of God could now be experienced by everyone because Jesus covered our sins.

Today, we can rejoice in the glory of the Lord. We have seen Him move in our hearts, bringing light where there was once only darkness, and we can rest knowing that He is always faithful.

Dear Lord, I thank you for being a God of light. You bring order out of chaos and you bring salvation out of hopelessness. You are the reason I am saved, and there is none like you in all the earth. I love you, Lord, and I rest in you forever. In Jesus' name, amen.

Feb 23 2022

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. :

In this Psalm of thanksgiving that David writes after attaining a victory, he praises God. David's words remind us that if we truly know God, we will trust Him because we know He will not forsake us.

The Psalm tells of a cause and effect relationship: knowing who God is and what His character is like leads us to trust in Him. David is writing from experience. He knows the Lord and has walked with Him through many victories. Matthew Henry summed it up well in his eighteenth century commentary on this Psalm: "The better God is known the more he is trusted." Because David knew the Lord well, he trusted in Him greatly.

How much do you trust the Lord? Knowing that our level of trust in Him is directly connected to how well we know Him is encouraging and convicting at the same time. It is exciting to know that the more time we spend with the Lord, the better we will know him and the more we will trust Him. But in order to make that happen, we must make time for Him.

In today's Psalm, David gives us a path for growth in our trust of the Lord. The path is clear: Get to know Him better, which we can do by spending time with Him. There are many ways to do that, such as reading the Bible, praying, attending church, and cultivating a tender spirit to Him throughout the day.

Our efforts to know the Lord will not be in vain. David was not speaking theoretically, but from his own experience. He had spent time with the Lord and had learned that He is always good and always faithful. May we be rooted in the same truth.

Dear Lord, I thank you for always being faithful and trustworthy. I want to know you better so that my heart trusts you more and more. I long to have a deeper and deeper relationship with you. Come to me, Lord, and open my eyes to your goodness. In Jesus' name, amen.


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