Thanksgiving Scripture - Nov 13

Annual Bible Reading Plan:

EZK.37
JHN.12

2024 Thanksgiving Month Day 13:
Give Thanks for the “Clean Heart” and “Steadfast Spirit” God Gives Us (Psalm 51:10-15)
(Memorize verses 10-12)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

Reflection:
Today we continue to meditate on Psalm 51, David's famous penitential psalm. After pleading for God’s forgiveness and cleansing from his sins with a sorrowful and repentant heart, he begins to ask God to create in him a “clean heart” and to renew a steadfast spirit within him, so that he does not lose the presence of the Holy Spirit. This shows us how deeply David understood the corruption of his old nature and his inability to overcome sin, as well as how much he valued God’s presence and the work of the Holy Spirit in his life! Thank the Lord, because of the salvation accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on the cross, you and I, under the New Covenant, have received a new life—a new creation—from Christ by faith, possessing the “clean heart” and “upright spirit” that David desired. Moreover, the name of the Lord Jesus is “Immanuel,” ensuring that we will never lose God’s presence, as our bodies have become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). For this reason, let us cherish and thank God for the new life He has given us and His eternal presence with us throughout our earthly lives. Just as the hymn "The Power Is in the Blood" expresses, “No more sin stains, just life flows,” when we live out the new creation life in Christ, we will surely experience the victory of being “without sin stains” that David longed for!