Today's Reading: Psalm 118, Leviticus 24, Isaiah 30:18-32:20, Ephesians 3
These are the verses that stood out to me from my reading today:

From the Psalms and Wisdom Literature:
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!  -Psalm 118: 1 & 29 (the "bookends" of this Psalm)

Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the Lord.
 This is the gate of the Lord;
    the righteous shall enter through it.
 I thank you that you have answered me
    and have become my salvation.
 The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.
 This is the Lord's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
 This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.  -Psalm 118:19-24, ESV


From the Chronicles and Prophets:
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.  -Isaiah 30:18

From the Gospel and Epistles:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  - Ephesians 3:14-21, ESV

 My heart has just been singing the lines from Psalm 118.  "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;for his steadfast love endures forever!"  Everything in my reading leads me to that joyful proclamation.  Psalm 118 speaks to us of the day of our salvation.  The stone that the builders rejected is Jesus Christ and He has become the cornerstone.
(Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:6) So what does that mean, that Jesus is the cornerstone?  The cornerstone was used as the foundation on which a building was constructed.  It was chosen carefully, for the whole building was formed from that one rock, it determined whether the walls would be straight and strong or have a lean and fall.  God has done something new, and the cornerstone upon which this new creation is built is Jesus.  For me personally, Jesus is the rock my life is built upon.  As I contemplate my estate before I accepted God's gracious gift of life in place of death I come to a deeper understanding of the breadth and length and height and depth of God's great love for me.  For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for him.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!


Grace, Peace, and Mercy,
Deb

Daily Bible reading for today:
Psalm 100; Leviticus 6:8-7:38; Isaiah 5; 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11

I have really been enjoying our Wednesday night Bible study at church.  Currently we are looking at the Psalms.  We finished Psalm 8 last night and many of the things that struck me about it hit me anew this morning as I read Psalm 100.  

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations. (ESV)


What a song of thanksgiving.  God is Lord over all the earth, whether He is recognized as such by all the people of the earth or not.  Isaiah 5:20-24 states what are response to God has been: calling good evil, and evil good; putting darkness for light, and light for darkness; putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.  We are a people wise in our own eyes.  We rejected the law of the LORD and despised His word.  But God did not leave us in this awful state.  He sent his one and only Son into the world that through Him we would be saved from God's wrath.  
So in the place of what I truly deserve I am here this morning giving thanks to the Lord of the universe.  I am able to come into His royal courts and sing praises to Him, not of my own merit or worth, but because God chose to love me, to wrap me in His love, His mercy and grace.  We can come into His presence with singing because He is good.  His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.  The choice for me to make today is to serve Him with gladness.

Grace, Peace, and Mercy!
Deb