Thurs.’s Devo - Overcoming Bitterness

Read: 1 Chron. 24:1-26:11, Ro. 4:1-12, Ps. 13:1-6, Pr. 19:15-16 Today we read the divisions of Aaron - the priestly tribe. The direct descendants of Aaron took turns being the priests. There were twenty-four of them. The rest of the Levites were appointed other duties. Some of them were to prophesy with background music to help them enter God’s presence. Could you imagine that being your job? Some of them were to just praise and thank the Lord. Some were just to lift the king up with the promises of God in song. Next were the gatekeepers. One of the gatekeepers was from the house of Merari which means “my bitterness”. The father’s name was Hosah which means “hopeful and trusting”. He passed over his firstborn and gave the firstborn rights to Simri whose name means “my keeper; watchful”. From that, I get that bitterness can be turned to hope and trust. When we do that we become more aware of our heart. We become bitter when we don’t get what we think we should. It stems from lack of trust in God. To overcome bitterness, we have to begin to trust God again in that area. Then we need to be watchful that we don’t fall back into the same rut. In Romans, we learn that Abraham’s faith made him righteous before there was a written law. Righteousness has nothing to do with whether you are circumcised or not, a Jew or a Gentile. Circumcism was the seal of the faith Abraham had in his heart. It was like God’s stamp that this one was His. That seal to us is the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Lord, may we be sealed unto You.