Lovingkindness - Weekly Devotional
This week's focus: Lovingkindness
Lovingkindness is defined as:
- faithful love in action
- tender and benevolent affection
The Hebrew word for lovingkindness is hesed/chesed. In general, one may identify three basic meanings of hesed, and these meanings always interact -- strength, steadfastness, and love. Any understanding of hesed that fails to suggest all three inevitably loses some of its richness. Love by itself easily becomes sentimentalized or universalized apart from the covenant. Yet strength or steadfastness suggests only the fulfillment of a legal (or similar) obligation. Hesed is related to the Biblical definition of covenant and to the idea of grace in that hesed was and is extended by God when it was not deserved. In truth, hesed is never deserved! God's hesed is His persistent, unconditional tenderness, kindness, and mercy, a relationship in which God seeks after us with love and mercy.
Lord, thank you for Your lovingkindness to us!
Psalm 89:1-4 (NASB)
I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever;
To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.
For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever;
In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”
“I have made a covenant with My chosen;
I have sworn to David My servant,
I will establish your seed forever
And build up your throne to all generations.”
Prayer Points:
- SCOTUS issued two more important decisions in favor of religious liberty last week. Praise God for the rulings in these cases. Learn more here.
- Now is the time to start praying for Christians to vote in the upcoming November election. In partnership with our friends at Intercessors for America, there is a unique tool available for you to pray for specific voters in battleground states. Learn more and commit to pray here.
We want to see God honored in America, and we pray for an unprecedented spiritual awakening.
This devotion was produced in partnership with Every Home for Christ.
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