Dec 21 2024

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

In this verse in Lamentations, we find a great encouragement: The Lord will never fail us and He will renew us every morning. This begins when we recognize that the only reason we have the lives we do is because of God's willingness to show us mercy. We deserve to be consumed because of our sin that forever separated us from His presence. But the Lord decided to show us mercy and Jesus died on the cross to save us.

Every day of our lives is evidence of this mercy. His compassions will never fail. He will forgive us again and again and again and again. This is because Jesus' death covered every single sin. There is nothing we have done or could ever do that was not paid for on the cross. God's wrath disappears when we call on the blood of Jesus to cover us.

Because of this, the Lord's mercies, are new every morning so we can approach every day as a new day. We don't have to live in the shadow of yesterday, trying to make up for something we did or didn't do. Instead, we can rest knowing that we are totally secure and totally free exactly where we are with the Lord morning after morning.

The Lord's faithfulness is great. All His promises will be fulfilled. When He said in Philippians 1:6 that He would be faithful to complete the good work that was begun in our hearts, He meant it. Each of us can look forward to a day in Heaven when we no longer struggle with sin. We can look forward to the day when we are with Him every morning in an even deeper way than we are now because there will be nothing threatening to separate us. He is faithful and we can rest in Him on the journey. His mercies are never ending and they never fail.

Dear Lord, thank you so much for mercies that never run out. Thank you for the kindness that never runs dry. Help me to embrace the reality that I am covered in the blood of Jesus once and for all and that all my failures are covered in grace. Help me to know you more and help me to dwell in your presence each morning. In Jesus' name, amen.

Dec 20 2024

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. :

In this verse, Peter emphasizes the importance of Christians working together. We are to be single-minded, have compassion for one another, and show love, sympathy (our modern-day equivalent to the King James English word pitiful), and humility to one another. Today, we should apply this verse to our church body.

Peter's first instruction was that we should be of one mind, meaning we should all agree on the core beliefs of the Christian faith. A lot of early Christian communities wrote creeds that explained what they believed, including essential doctrines like the virgin birth, resurrection, and the trinity. This is why it is important for a church to have a statement of faith—it ensures that all members of the church share the same mindset regarding core beliefs.

These core beliefs should translate into general understandings of how we treat each other. We should live out the Gospel that we say we believe by showing compassion to each other. Rather than mocking or abandoning a member who has fallen into sin, we should help the person return to Christ and be restored. We should also love each other in the same way that Christ first loved us. We should walk in His love and display it to each other, even when there are disagreements among us.

The church—meaning the people who gather to worship—is God's primary means of reaching the world. It is essential that we strive to be in harmony with each other so we can be light in a world that is so full of darkness. When we come together as one mind and with the primary intention to love God, one another, and the world, the church becomes a powerful manifestation of the glory of God. We can take heart that because Peter instructed us to do this, the Lord will help us achieve it.

Dear Lord, help me to show love to other people in my church. Help me to find a place to serve that is in alignment with the needs all around me. Help me to contribute to bringing light to a dark world that is desperate for you. I love you, Jesus. In your name, amen.