Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Today's Devotional brought to you by Prayer Warrior Michelle Simpson

Micah 6:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

1 Samuel 15:22

New King James Version (NKJV)

22 So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

Psalm 51:15-17

New King James Version (NKJV)

15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise

Romans 7:19-30

New King James Version (NKJV)
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.


It sounds so easy! God has shown us what is good and what is required of us. Before He sent His Son, He gave us His law through Moses. A set of ten commandments to follow to be obedient to Him. Micah 6:8 sums up those commandments in a nut shell. God also put in place the practice of sacrifice for those times when we were disobedient, but He reminds us it is our obedience that He desires not our sacrifices. Our obedience to Him is our gift of love we give back to Him. Yet many times we all echo Paul's sentiments, "What I am doing I do not understand. For what I will to do I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Paul proclaims the same thing here in verses 22 and 23. Then he cries out "O wretched man that I am! Who will save me from this body of flesh." We have all felt that way sometimes. We begin with good intentions and then we give in to the very thing we vowed we would not give in to. We confess our sin, ask forgiveness and begin again vowing this time will be different but often it isn't. Why? How do we break this cycle? Paul gives us the answer, only through Christ Jesus our LORD! Too many times when we vow to be better we forget to ask God to help us. We try to change by ourselves and we fail. God left His Spirit here to help us (Romans 8:26). In fact, John calls Him the Helper (John 14:26 and 15:26). Rather than beat ourselves up, le'ts do what Jesus taught, watch and pray (Matthew 26:41) and seek God first (Matthew 6:33) before we do anything. And when we mis the mark, let's extend a little grace to ourselves and thank God for His forgiveness! Jesus is everything we are not but want to be seek Him first, He is waiting and willing to help transform you into His likeness!

Father, Healer, Keeper of my heart, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit in me! On my own I am a wretch with good and evil continually at war inside me. Today I lay down my independence for dependence on You and my self will for You perfect will. Thank You Father for sending Your Son as my example and leaving Your Spirit here to help, teach, strengthen and guide me. In Jesus name, amen.

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