Welcome to Day 138 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about finding nourishment in the Word of God to get us through the day. In each devotional, I take a variety of scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses each) and build our understanding of what they teach via their context and connecting scripture. My goal is to help you understand how to be the type of human God created you to be.

Psalm 95:1-2 is our passage for today. We’ll discuss what it means to praise God as our source of salvation with a sense of thanksgiving.

Psalm 95:1-2

NASB	NLT	VOICE
1 Come, let’s sing for joy to the Lord, Let’s shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.	1 Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.	1 Come, let us worship in song, a joyful offering to the Eternal. Shout! Shout with joy to the rock of our liberation.
2 Let’s come before His presence with a song of thanksgiving. Let’s shout joyfully to Him in songs with instruments.	2 Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him.	2 Come face-to-face with God, and give thanks; with loud and joyful voices, praise Him in songs.

The psalmist is encouraging his audience and us to praise God. To praise the source of our salvation. Salvation is God’s rescue plan from the bondage to sin, enacted through the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We can go to God with gratitude and be thankful for his salvation rescue plan and God’s grace and mercy. God’s crazy love for his chosen creation and God’s eternal forgiveness. We can be thankful that God’s love is something we can never lose. We can be thankful that God’s mercy is ever present, something that when we repent of our sinful actions and desires, God will forgive and forget. It allows us to rest our consciences and continue to tomorrow, which will be slightly better than the previous day.

Micah 6:6-8

NASB	NLT	VOICE
6 With what shall come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?	6 What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves?	6 Israel: What should I bring into the presence of the Eternal One to pay homage to the God Most High? Should I come into presence with burnt offerings, with year-old calves to sacrifice?
7 Does the Lord take pleasure in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give Him my firstborn for my wrongdoings, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?	7 Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?	7 Would the Eternal be pleased by thousands of sacrificial rams, by then thousand swollen rivers of sweet olive oil? Should I offer my oldest son for my wrongdoing, the child of my body to cover the sins of my life?
8 He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?	8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Your God.	8 No. He has told you, mortals, what is good in His sight. What else does the Eternal ask of you But to live justly and to love kindness and to walk with your True God in all humility?

The people of Israel responded to God’s request by trying to appease him with sacrifices, hoping he would leave them alone. Sacrifices and other religious rituals weren’t enough. God wanted to see lives changed. God wants his people to become fair, just, merciful, and humble. God wants us to treat those around us fairly. To ensure that we have equal rights and treatment in this world. We need to make sure that we forgive each other for the sins and transgressions committed against us, own up to our issues, and not think we are better than those around us.

God wants us to become living sacrifices, not just doing religious rituals. Still, God wants us to live transformative lives through his teachings. When we follow God consistently, he pours his transforming love into our hearts. God’s transformative teachings lead us to lives that are counter-cultural to the world around us. The work we do to honor him with our hearts, soul, mind, and strength and to love each other as God loves us. God wants us to do that through generous compassion, giving, and sacrifice. To give more than we would typically. To sacrifice more than feels normal. We have a new way of living, but we’ve complicated it.

People have tried various ways to please God, but God made his ways clear:

• Do what is just and right.
• Love mercy.
• Walk humbly with him.

We commit acts and desires to want the best for all people. We work towards loving those around us. We work towards ensuring everyone around us has fair and equal rights to those around us. We work towards helping our neighbors and our environment live in harmony with each other. We forgive those around us. We forgive those who’ve hurt us. We may not forgive them to reconcile a relationship, but we can forgive them to obtain peace. We can reclaim our freedom and let go of the hurt. We can relinquish our pride and ego and walk humbly with him.

When we please God, we need to focus on these areas. These four questions are what I will lead you with today. It says:

• Are you fair in your deal with people and money?
• Do you show mercy to those who wrong you?
• Do you keep your ego from taking over your thoughts and actions?
• Are you living in a way that reflects a growing relationship with God?

Until next time, stay blessed!