PSALM 18:1-2 – I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
THEME OF THE DAY. THE GREATEST BENEFIT FROM THE GOSPEL. What would you say to the theme of today’s nugget? Forgiveness of sins? Removal of God’s wrath? Heaven? Adoption into God’s family? All those are great benefits of believing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, but none is the greatest. In his excellent book Die Hard Sins: How to Fight Wisely against Destructive Daily Habits, Rush Witt writes, “Ironically, as we take inventory of Christ’s provisions, we frequently overlook the most important provision of all. In our daily lives, we often give thanks to God for the many good gifts that He gives to us or the wonderful works that He does in our lives. But how often we overlook the ultimate gift: God Himself.”
In today’s scripture, David describes who our God is to us. Go slow and be lost in the holy wonder of the descriptions he writes of our God. Then take such wonder to the highest plane of praise as we realize this is the God who has given Himself to us through the Gospel of His Son. But every description is not only fuel for worship but practical and to be relied upon to live the Christian life with joy and power.
As we look at these descriptions of our God, the most important word is the pronoun “my”. He is not a detached God or God of mere impersonal concept. He is alive and allows us to individually call Him “my God” and to walk with Him in the most intimate and personal relationship possible for any human being. Now the descriptions and how practical they are for daily Christian living . . .
Our personal God is our strength and stronghold when we grow weary from fighting the exhausting but good fight of faith; our God is our rock stabilizing us when life’s circumstances toss our hearts about like a ship in a stormy sea; our God is our fortress protecting us from the dangers of living in a sin-cursed world; our God is our deliverer who rescues us from the devouring devil seeking our destruction; our God is our refuge providing a safe place to retreat when the gale force winds of fear want to blow us off course of fearlessly following the Lord; and our God is our shield deflecting the fiery darts of discouragement and unbelief shot our way by the devil (Ephesians 6:16). What a God who is not ashamed to be owned by us as our God!
So, when we take time to meditate on Ephesians 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and our minds go to the many spiritual blessings found in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, stop, and remember the greatest benefit from His Gospel. It is the benefit of God giving Himself to us in our inseparable relationship of spiritual intimacy and closeness that will deepen now and throughout eternity!
PRAYER: “Father, I so praise You for being my God and giving Yourself to me through the Gospel.”
QUOTE: “The God of all creation is also the God who allows us to call Him ‘Heavenly Father.’”