We’ve got your daily encouragement, written by Hanna Winslow.
Bible Reading:
Psalm 119:9
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
Word:
How can we live in a way that honors our creator God when we live in a world poisoned by sin? When it is a cultural norm to reject God in so many ways, it can be difficult to live in the world without becoming just as dishonoring. Sometimes we can become so influenced by our environment that our spirit even starts to agree with those who mock or make light of the values of Christianity.
Psalm 119:9 is telling us that we can stay pure in God’s eyes by living according to his word, the Bible. When we are most heavily influenced by God’s word, we are going to experience an alignment of our spirit with his. This is called sanctification, and it is the process of our lives becoming less bent towards sin, and more of a reflection of Jesus.
If we want a close and deep relationship with the Lord, then we absolutely must be reading his word as if our survival depends on it. The truth is that our lives begin to drift away from God when we are not actively anchoring ourselves to him in this way. It happens so subtly that often we don’t even notice the drift happening.
As a child of his, being distant from him will result in a loss of peace in our spirit which can manifest in various ways-but these are just signals that alert us that something is off and that it’s time to slow down and address it.
When we realize that our hearts have strayed and we have lost our peace, all we have to do is go back to his word. He is always with us. He will never forsake us, even to the end of the age! It is our job to abide in him every day, through his word, and through prayer.
Prayer:
Father, we want to live in a spiritually healthy way that honors you. Please inspire us with a new desire to live in your word every day. We want to know you through reading and applying it. Thank you for promising to use your word to sanctify us through the Holy Spirit! You are faithful to complete the good work that you have started in each of us. In Jesus’ name, amen!
Skillwork:
Challenge yourself to check your opinions and beliefs that impact your behaviors and decisions against the values that God upholds in his word. We are instructed to find out what pleases the Lord! In order to do this, we need to first care enough to want to find out, and then we need to read and pray for genuine heart change. Remember that this is all a work of the Holy Spirit and do not get discouraged. Just pray.
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