Thursday, September 30, 2010

2010 – September 30 – The Day of Salvation

Study from God’s Word Psalms 107, 116, 118, 125 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 118: 22 – 24 … NIV The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

My Journal for Today: I’m on vacation with my family in a beautiful condo on the beach in Myrtle Beach, SC. As God’s providence would have it, tropical depression, “Nicole,” has been delivered by God to meander up the east coast, dumping water and giving us blustery winds during our vacation. Somehow the familiar words of today’s salvation song, “This is the day the LORD has made,” don’t come to my mind so easily; but it’s true, of course.

This morning as I rose in anticipation of what God would give me for my devotional from His word, I was directed to this old, familiar, refrain from Psalm 118; and, of course, we have to recognize that every day is a day that the LORD has made; and we should rejoice and be glad in it … rain or shine.

Why? Well, if you look at the historical context of these words, they are in a song, along with a number of other post exilic psalms, which celebrated the Jews being delivered from captivity and the restoration of God’s Temple. As other words in Psalm 118 ring out, “Let Israel say, ‘His love endures forever.’ ” And in that vein, every day that a believer acknowledges that God has set down His capstone for the foundation of salvation for His people; and we who believe on that Capstone, Jesus Christ, and what He did on that most powerful of days on that cross, can – and should – declare with joy, “That was THE day that the LORD made for my (and your) salvation; … let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

And Dr. Smith is right on with his truth that there are actually three capstone days to which we, who believe on Jesus as Lord and Savior, can claim as days the LORD has made. There is that day to which I just referred in which Jesus, the Christ, died to set the captives free. Secondly, there is that wonderful day when, in my brokenness, I believed in day number one and acknowledged Christ as my Lord and Savior. And there is day number three yet to come, when our LORD will come again for His Bride and take us to be with Him forever. And to any of these days we can, or most certainly should, declare, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

So, Dr. Smith is also right when he writes that any day, no matter how dreary or circumstantially overwhelming it may seem, is a day when, if we realize the context of today’s passage, we can declare … and say it again with me … “This is the day that the LORD has made … I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!!!”

My Prayer for Today: And I say it yet again, my LORD, this is a day which You have made for me; and I DO REJOICE and I AM GLAD in it !! Amen

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