Tag: all fall short

No One Who Does Good

Old Testament: Jeremiah 21 & 22

Poetry: Proverbs 14 – and today’s devotion on Psalm 14

New Testament: 2 Peter 1

The most humbling truth of the Bible is described in Psalm 14: every single person has turned aside from God and falls short of doing good (verse 1-3). God is looking down from His heavenly throne, desperately seeking for one person that will listen to Him perfectly, and yet, we have all failed. Even though we have tried, there is something about humanity ever since the Fall in the Garden of Eden that is inclined to pursue the opposite of what God wants. Even though He has clearly told us what we are supposed to do, we are unable to do it. So how can we have any shot at being in God’s Kingdom?

The gospel is everything: the good news tells us that Jesus is the person God has been looking for all along. He obeyed his Father perfectly, all the way to the cross. Now, he is raised to immortal life and seated at God’s right hand. He now pours out God’s Spirit on his followers, granting them the ability to live like he did, in complete obedience to his God. The gospel teaches us that it is only through Jesus that we can be redeemed, since there is no one else who does good (see also Acts 4:12).

The fool of this age not only rejects the existence of God, but also the grace of this God found in Jesus Christ. It is just as foolish to think that we can be pleasing to God apart from Jesus, as it is foolish to think that God doesn’t exist at all. The gospel tells us that we are completely incapable as people to do the will of God: we absolutely need Jesus in every single way. Without him, we remain to be enemies of our God, acting against His will (Romans 5:10).

Brothers and sisters, humble yourselves today, accepting the reality that we are broken, sinful, and unable to do anything pleasing to our Father. But now rejoice, because that same Father we have let down over and over again allowed Jesus to die in our place, taking the penalty we deserve. By the power of God’s Spirit, we can now do what God wants, since we are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). Despite our sinfulness, our God loved us enough to give us another chance through Jesus. Don’t be foolish like the world: take that chance today.

-Talon Paul

Reflection Questions

  1. How does God want you and I to live this week?
  2. How is it only possible through Jesus Christ?
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Trust in the LORD

Psalm 114-116, especially 115

What do you put your trust in?

Odds are there are many things that you trust. You may trust your phone alarm to wake you up to go to school or work in the morning. You probably trust the light to come on when you flip the switch. You probably trust the furnace to come on when you turn up the thermostat. There are probably even people you trust deeply. It is good to trust in these things, usually. What happens when you flip the switch and the room is still dark? How about when you turn on the heat and it starts blowing cold air? Have you ever been late because your alarm didn’t wake you up (rather the alarm went off or not)? I bet you have even had a trusted friend or family member hurt you. So again I ask, “What do you do when the things or people you trust fall short?”

It is amazing how much it can throw us off when our trust is shaken. We may be tempted to “never trust anyone again.” We may want to throw the phone across the room and drop kick the furnace, but the fact is we knew these would eventually let us down. As we go through life we learn that all things, people included, fall short. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” This sounds like terrible news and in many ways it is, but there is good news as well. There is One that always has been, always will be, and He does NOT fail. Psalm 115 addresses the times we place too much trust in material items, the things of this world, our idols. Here we read a few of the many weaknesses of idols. They cannot speak, see, hear, smell, feel, walk, make a sound, and are made by human hands; yet still we place our trust in them. Why do we decide to place our trust in these inanimate objects? 

After reading of the weaknesses of idols we find many times that we are to trust in the LORD. We can trust in Him because He is the opposite of every aspect of the idols. “He is (our) help and (our) shield…He is mindful to us…He will bless us.” He is the source of every good thing, every blessing, and will NEVER fail. Verse 18 tells us, “we will bless the LORD from this time and forever.” This is the Kingdom hope we have, that we may bless the LORD and trust in the LORD for all time. 

-Bill Dunn

Today’s Bible reading plan passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway.com here – Psalm 114- 116 and Ezekiel 21-22

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