Today’s Scripture: Psalm 118:6

“The Lord is on my side.”

How can we develop our love for God so that our obedience is prompted by love instead of some lesser motive? The Scripture gives us our first clue, or beginning point, when it says, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Our love to God can only be a response to his love for us. If I don’t believe God loves me, I cannot love him. To love God, I must believe that he is for me, not against me (Romans 8:31) and that he accepts me as a son or a daughter, not a slave (Galatians 4:7).

What would keep us from believing God loves us? The answer is a sense of guilt and condemnation because of our sin. The same tender conscience that enables us to become aware of sins that lie deep beneath the level of external actions can also load us down with guilt. When we’re under that burden and sense of condemnation, it is difficult to love God or believe that he loves us.

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Today’s Scripture: Zechariah 9:17

“How great is his goodness!”

Joel prophesied God’s judgment upon Judah through a plague of locusts that would devour all the trees and plants, resulting in widespread famine. Then, in the midst of a prophecy of restoration, God made the following promise: “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you” (Joel 2:25).

Consider the amazing generosity of God. He did not limit his promise merely to restoring the land to its former productivity. He said he’ll repay them for the years the locusts have eaten, years they themselves forfeited to the judgment of God. God could well have said, “I’ll restore your land to its former productivity, but too bad about those years you lost! They are gone forever. That’s the price you pay for your sin.” He would have been generous just to have restored them—but he went beyond that. He would cause their harvests to be so abundant they would recoup the losses from the years of famine. He said he’ll repay them, though he obviously owed them nothing.

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Today’s Scripture: Philippians 1:9

“It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more.”

How can we fulfill our responsibility to love “more and more” (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10)? Recognizing that love is an inner disposition of the soul produced only by the Holy Spirit, what can we do to fulfill our responsibility? First, the Spirit of God uses his Word to transform us. If we want to grow in love, we must saturate our minds with Scriptures that describe love and show its importance. First Corinthians 13:1-3, for example, tells us of the emptiness of all knowledge, abilities, and zeal apart from love. First Corinthians 13:4-7 describes love in terms of specific attitudes and actions. Romans 13:8-10 describes love in terms of fulfilling the law of God in our lives.

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Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 9:27

“It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”

All of us will eventually face judgment before a holy and just God. As we think of that inevitable day, do we want to see justice done, or mercy? Except for the most arrogantly self-righteous among us, we would all hope for mercy. Here, however, is our dilemma: God’s justice is certain, and it is inflexible.

Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8, “God is just: he will pay back. he will punish those who do not know God” (NIV). And in Romans 12:19: “?t is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (NIV). Though often delayed, God’s justice is nonetheless certain. Justice may be defined as rendering to everyone according to one’s due.

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:9

“You yourselves have been taught by God.”

God administers his discipline in the realm of grace. What does that mean? It means that all his teaching, training, and discipline are administered in love and for our spiritual welfare. It means God is never angry with us, though he’s often grieved at our sins. It means he doesn’t condemn us or count our sins against us. All that he does in us and to us is done on the basis of unmerited favor. To use the words of William Hendricksen, “God’s grace is his active favor bestowing the greatest gift upon those who have deserved the greatest punishment.”

Where the law condemns, grace forgives through the Lord Jesus Christ. Where the law commands but gives no power, grace commands but does give power through the Holy Spirit who lives and works within us.

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Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 3:14

“We have come to share in Christ.”

Christ’s work is not effective for everyone because not everyone is in union with him.

We’re united to Christ by faith—that is, by trusting in him as our savior. And the moment we trust in Christ, we become partakers of and beneficiaries of all that he did in both his life and death. We’re united to Christ both legally and vitally. We can distinguish these two aspects in this way: our legal union with Christ entitles us to all that Christ did for us as he acted in our place, as our substitute. Our vital union with Christ is the means by which he works in us by his Holy Spirit. The legal union refers to his objective work outside of us that is credited to us through faith. The vital union refers to his subjective work in us, which is also realized through faith as we rely on his Spirit to work in and through us.

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 6:23

“The wages of sin is death.”

Yet another reason we don’t experience more holiness in our daily lives is that we don’t take some sin seriously. We’ve mentally categorized sins into that which is unacceptable and that which may be tolerated a bit.

In commenting on some of the more minute Old Testament dietary laws God gave to the children of Israel, Andrew Bonar said, “It is not the importance of the thing, but the majesty of the lawgiver, that is to be the standard of obedience. Some, indeed, might reckon such minute and arbitrary rules as these as trifling. But the principle involved in obedience or disobedience was none other than the same principle which was tried in Eden at the foot of the forbidden tree. It is really this: Is the Lord to be obeyed in all things whatsoever he commands? Is he a holy lawgiver? Are his creatures bound to give implicit assent to his will?”

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