Preserve Me from Me

In my devotions today, I read from passages in Jeremiah 10 and Psalms 121. These verses jumped out at me:

Jeremiah 10.23, 24 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

Psalms 121.7, 8 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

These verses tell me that I am not to depend on my own discernment or judgement: my way is not in myself, it is not in me to direct my own steps. Jeremiah reminds me that, when I do so, I will fall into sin. When that happens, I must cry out to God Almighty to correct me, but with judgment, not in His anger.

God promises, in Psalms 121, to preserve me from all evil – He will preserve my soul, He will preserve my going out and my coming in. Even when I depend on myself, even when I forget (or decide not) to follow Him, He will preserve my soul, evermore because I am His.

So I know I can rest in Him. I don’t want to become complacent in Him – Heaven forbid. But I may do my best to know Him and to obey Him, and therein lies my peace, my joy, my rest.

I like peace and joy and rest a lot. I am glad and blessed that my Lord offers me these gifts, just for the taking.

 

Promises of Love

John 14.15  If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

John 14:23  Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

These are promises, not ultimatums. They stem from The Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22.37-40

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

And from 1John 4.19 We love him, because he first loved us.

In and of ourselves, we are unable to love God. He quickens our spirit through His love, and then we are able to love Him. As we surrender to Him, we receive His love more and more. As we love Him, we desire more and more to know Him more deeply, to know His commandments, and to keep His commandments. He fills us with desire for Him, and His desire is for us to find true joy, peace, and love in Him, His way. That’s how He designed us.