Daily Devotional: BE!
Day 7: Be Dressed and Ready to Serve
Psalm 104:1-4
1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. 3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; 4 He makes the winds His messengers, flaming fire His ministers.”
Psalm 93:1
1 “The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength; indeed the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
2 Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.”
ROmans 13:9-14
9 “For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.
11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed.
12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let’s rid ourselves of the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13 Let’s behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in strife and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
Isaiah 61:1-10
1”The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord anointed me to bring good news to the humble; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to captives and freedom to prisoners;
2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,
3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the cloak of praise instead of a disheartened spirit. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
4 Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations; and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
6 But you will be called the priests of the Lord; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches.
7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery [g]in the burnt offering; and I will faithfully give them their reward, and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.
10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
Galatians 3:26-27
26 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
A reminder of God’s original intent:
Genesis 1:26
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”
Colossians 3:9-14
9 “Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it— 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free, but Christ is all, and in all.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also.
14 In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
Colossians 2:9-10
9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;”
John 14:23
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.’”
Colossians 2:6-7
6 “Therefore you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”
Luke 24:49
“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Isaiah 51:9
“Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was is not You Who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon?”
Isaiah 51:11
“So the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
Isaiah 52:1
“Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion; clothe yourself in your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean will no longer come into you.”
Proverbs 31:25
“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. [Lit: latter days]”
1Peter 5:4-7
4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 You younger men likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
1Peter 3:3-6
3 “Your adornment must not be merely external — braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; 6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.”
Clothed with God’s Own Armor
Ephesians 6:10-18
10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,”
Colossians 3:16
“Let the word of Christ [or: the Lord] richly dwell within you, with [or: in] all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another [singing] with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness [literally: in His grace] in your hearts to God.”
Nehemiah 4:16-18
16 “From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates: and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.
17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon.
18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.”
KEY: No one walks alone because Jesus is always with us.
Revelation 19:6-8
6 “Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride [literally: wife] has made herself ready.’ 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints [or: holy ones].”
The Crowns
Revelation 19:12 Many crowns
Psalm 103:4 Love and Compassion
Psalm 149:4 Salvation
Psalm 8:5 Glory and Honor
Isaiah 35:10 Everlasting Joy
Isaiah 51:11 Everlasting Joy
James 1:12 Crown of Life
1Peter 5:4 Glory
Isaiah 61:3 Beauty
Isaiah 28:5 A Glorious Crown and a Beautiful Wreath
Revelation 2:10 Life
2Timothy 4:8 Righteousness
Being a Crown
Proverbs 11:26 Blessing
Proverbs 12:4
Noble Character
Proverbs 17:6 Grandchildren
Isaiah 62:3 Splendor
Philippians 4:1 Brothers — in Christ
Praise, Worship, Salvation and Victory through the Garment of Praise
Jeremiah 31:7 — make your praises heard
Isaiah 42:9-16 — sing to the Lord in triumph
2Chronicles 20:1-30 — victory through praising God
Isaiah 30:18-33 — Victory through praise and worship
Acts 7:55-57 — God stands up for us
Isaiah 61:3 — the mantle of praise
Being Clothed with Christ
Light
Salvation
Righteousness
Joy
Praise
Compassion
Kindness
Humility
Gentleness
Patience
Love
Power
Strength
Splendor
Dignity
The Truth
Readiness
Faith
Glory
