Words of Hope Daily Devotional
When God Pursues Us
Read: Psalm 139
O LORD, you have searched me and known me! (v. 1)
Sometimes when I stand calmly before a mirror and focus on my own eyes, I think, Do I know you? It’s a moment of honesty, easily diverted with a toothbrush or mascara. God has no such distraction. Ask him to really search you, and he will not look away. God knows our hearts, our fears, our thoughts, our motives, dreams, and frustrations. The shocking message of Psalm 139 is that when God searches us and knows us, he responds to us with overwhelming love.
Psalm 139 affirms that when we draw near to God, God will draw near to us. But even more than that, we cannot escape God (vv. 7-12). We may feel as if we’ve been stepped on by the world, beat up, or kicked around by other people. We may feel unworthy or useless, but the love of God pursues and follows us, helping to pick us up out of our darkness and reassuring us with his steadfast love. God loves us with amazing, unconditional love. He loves us because he knew us right from the beginning—he created us (vv. 13-14), and the things he makes are marvelous. He knows we can’t live life all on our own, and he’s never wanted us to.
No matter how we think we may have failed in the past, or what we might be going through now: God is pursuing us with his goodness and his love. He is there to comfort us and walk beside us every step.
As you pray, ask how you can draw nearer to God.
About the Author
Ariana D. Den Bleyker is a Pittsburgh native currently residing in New York’s Hudson Valley. She is the author of two devotional poetry collections,To Be Held by the LightandWaking in the Light. She is an ordained deacon in the Reformed Church of America.
In the Beginning
Read: Genesis 2:1-9 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. (v. 1) One of the Bible’s best-known sentences is, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Biblical language scholars point out that the Hebrew
Dinner with Jesus
Read: Revelation 3:14-22 If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (v. 20) Recently we had out-of-state relatives make the long trip to come and
Breakfast on the Beach
Read: John 21:1-14 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” . . . They knew it was the Lord. (v. 12) Can you picture the scene? Sunrise on the beach—the beginning of a beautiful day. There’s breakfast on the
Known to Them
Read: Luke 24:25-35 He was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (v. 35) When my late father-in-law led us in prayer, he would often add this thought: “Forgive us our sins and our shortcomings.” It was a
A Meal in Emmaus
Read: Luke 24:13-27 He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (v. 27) After his resurrection, Jesus met with his disciples, friends, and family on several occasions. Some of these gatherings involved food! In one instance,
The Lord’s Supper
Read: Luke 22:14-23 Do this in remembrance of me. (v. 19) There are some passages which are so familiar that we seem to stop reading them closely or stop listening to them with fresh hearing. This passage, when Jesus instituted