Daily Devotion-April 19, 2022

Daily Devotion-April 19, 2022

Psalm 118:19-24

Open for me the gates of righteousness. I will enter them. I will give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate to the Lord. The righteous enter it. I will give you thanks because you answered me, and you have become salvation for me. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Dear Heavenly Father,

This is the day you have made, and we thank you for the blessings you have given us. Our sins slammed shut heaven’s doors and separated us from you. Since you are a holy God, evil cannot be in your presence; our iniquities were why you sent Jesus to carry out your plan of salvation. Salvation came to us only through you; the gates of righteousness were opened for us when you sent your Son to forgive us our sins. He became a person like us, but Jesus was also God veiled in human flesh. He lived the perfect life that we could not live. Lord, I can try all I want to live perfectly, and no matter how hard I try, those gates of righteousness remain shut, and we would remain locked out forever. But Christ opened those gates because of his perfect life and his innocent death on the cross. His empty grave means you accepted his payment on our behalf. But, in faith, we realize we are now made right with you, like having a garage door opener that is at the exact frequency to open the door. We trust Jesus; his forgiveness opens that gate to heaven! He was and is rejected by many, but only through him is paradise’s gate open, and salvation comes to us through the forgiveness he won for us on the cross. Lord, I will never be good enough to get that door open on my own, and thanks be to you who sent Christ that my sins which kept me out of heaven are removed, like that door going up. I can walk through the open door; my sins remain outside. I have been restored to come into your presence once again. Jesus redeemed me and paid the price with his innocent, holy blood so that your plan of salvation has come to me through faith. For my salvation, I give you thanks.

Strengthen my faith that I can share Jesus’ forgiveness and love with others out of my love for you. Send other workers to those who are still locked out of heaven that they, too, may know about Jesus’ love, and the gate will also be opened to them. Amen.

Written through Pastor Roger Emmons

To all looking to obtain eternal life, God gives the answer. He sent his Son to forgive you all your sins on Calvary’s Cross; this is the only way.