September 20, 2017 … No Lone Rangers

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 263 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video and lyrics of the group Casting Crowns singing their song … Broken Together … poignantly singing of the truth that we’re broken and, as Christians, we need to live this life as BROKEN TOGETHER!

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Highlight Verse[s]: Ecclesiastes 4:9a, 10 [NLT] … 9a … Two are better than one, … 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. 
… Running in life TOGETHER!
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Highlight Passage [context]: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon, after faltering in life and trying to do life on his own, shares the truth that we must do life TOGETHER … no Lone Ranger Christians!!
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on our own understanding; 6 In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight. 
… Solomon - way before he penned Ecclesiastes - gives his son good advice about trusting God to lead him thru life.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Philippians 2:3-4 [NLT] … 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 
 … Paul exhorts us, as Christians, to look to help others as well as to run the race ourselves.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Hebrews 10:23-24 [NLT] … 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He Who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, … 
… God gives us His advice on how we must live a life faithful to Him … by spurring each other onward, as Christians, toward love and good works.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Poh Fang Chia, uses a story from sports history to illustrate how we must lift one another up in this Christian life. The ODB author wrote: In the 2016 Rio Olympics, two athletes in the 5,000-meter race caught the world’s attention. About 3,200 meters into the race, New Zealander Nikki Hamblin and American Abbey D’Agostino collided and fell [see photo]. Abbey was quickly up on her feet, but stopped to help Nikki. Moments after the two athletes had started running again, Abbey began faltering, her right leg injured as a result of the fall. It was now Nikki’s turn to stop and encourage her fellow athlete to finish the race. When Abbey eventually stumbled across the finish line, Nikki was waiting to embrace her. What a beautiful picture of mutual encouragement! 

It’s an apt picture of running the race of life as Christians, isn’t it? We humans are, by nature, selfish, self-controlling, creatures with a desire to run thru life on our own, … with a natural desire to control things - on our own!

But the Christian life is not for Lone Rangers! … Yes, we’re broken, with a selfish sin nature; but in Christ we have the choice to break free from our selves and surrender to our Savior. And when we do, He gives us the enabling/empowering grace to run the race of life TOGETHER! And after failing his God in life for many years as a king, Solomon discovered that life is not meant to be controlled on our own, and especially without God. So, in today’s highlight passage, we read of King Solomon, exhorting all who would come after him, to live as the group Casting Crowns sings in the linked song … being BROKEN TOGETHER.

So, are we trying to run our race thru life on our own; or have we been been able to repent of our selfishness and reach out, as exhorted in the reference scriptures, and do the Christian life TOGETHER with our fellow Christians? And I pray the latter for us all today.

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … thank You for showing me that I need to reach out for help in running this race called life; and I pray that reality for any reading here today. … Amen

Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 19, 2017 … Everything To Me

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 262 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video and lyrics of the group Avalon singing their song … Everything To Me … poignantly sings of the reality which all Christians should claim … that we have EVERYTHING when we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

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Highlight Verse[s]: Psalm 73:26 [NLT] … 26 … My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but my God remains the strength of my heart; … He is mine forever! 
… Our God is all we need!
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalms 73:21-28 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Psalmist helps us realize that our relationship with the living God is EVERYTHING!
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Psalm 119:57-58 [NLT] … 57 Lord, You are mine! I promise to obey Your words! 58 With all my heart I want Your blessings. Be merciful as you promised. 
… The Psalmist realized that the sweetness from God’s truth is all he needed to be blessed in life.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Habakkuk 3:16-17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK  ... 
… The Prophet learned that He could find joy and sweetness in life even when everything else had gone sour.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Philippians 4:11-13, 19 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ... 
… Paul shows us that when we have Christ in our lives, we can be content no matter the circumstances or trials; … and that He always will supply all our needs.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, James Banks, uses a good word picture to show that our relationship with Christ is the biggest and sweetest piece of the pie of life. The ODB author wrote: “His piece is bigger than mine!” … 
 When I was a boy my brothers and I would sometimes bicker about the size of the piece of homemade pie mom served us. One day Dad observed our antics with a lifted eyebrow, and smiled at Mom as he lifted his plate: “Please just give me a piece as big as your heart.”  My brothers and I watched in stunned silence as Mom laughed and offered him the largest portion of all [see photo]. 
If we focus on others’ possessions, jealousy too often results. Yet God’s Word lifts our eyes to something of far greater worth than earthly possessions. 

When we realize just how much the Apostle Paul had gone thru as a disciple of Christ (see 2Cor. 11:23-27), one could wonder how he had the attitude he wrote about in Philippians 4:11-13. But we read that he had learned to be content in all circumstances; because He realized that when He had Jesus, like the group Avalon sings, he had EVERYTHING!

In the Old Testament, I love the story of the Prophet Habakkuk, who came to God very confused and disconsolate. Yet, in Hab. 3:17-18, we read that God had shown him that he could choose joy over sorrow no matter what trials may come his way.

So, we ask ourselves today: Is that our attitude? Do we feel that we have the biggest, sweetest piece of the pie of life because we have Jesus in our lives? … If not, I think it’s time we do an attitude inventory. And that’s why you see me coming here EVERY morning to start my day by having my God cut me a WAY BIG slice of His pie of truth … from His word (see Ps. 119:57-58).

 … And oh how sweet it is!!

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … Your word and my times with You each morning are so, SO sweet. … Amen

Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 18, 2017 … No Turning Back!

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 261 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of Katheryn Scott leading an audience in worship and singing the old hymn … I Have Decided to Follow Jesus … worshipping the Lord Who has called all of His disciples to follow Him

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Highlight Verse[s]: Hebrews 12:1b-2a [NLT] … 1b … And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2a We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. … 
… God, thru the author of Hebrews, shows all disciples of Christ how to run the race of life … but following our Messiah as He leads us home.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Hebrews 12:1-3 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… After laying out all of God’s faithful followers in Hebrews 11, God calls us to faithfully follow Jesus, … the Author of our faith.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ... 
… If we trust our Lord completely, He will lead us where we need to go.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Acts 1:8 [NLT] … 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 
… The only way to be Jesus’ witness is to know Him and follow Him.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Matthew 28:19-20 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
... Calling us to go and make disciples of others, Christ declares He’ll be with us to the end of the age when He comes back for His Bride.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. 
… Jesus clearly lays out the command for His disciples to follow Him

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David C McCasland, shows how the famous violinist, Joshua Bell, leads an orchestra while he’s also playing his instrument, … showing us that being in the orchestra, each member must follow the conductor. The ODB author wrote: World-renowned violinist, Joshua Bell, has an unusual way of leading the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, a forty-four-member chamber orchestra. Instead of waving a baton he directs while playing his Stradivarius with the other violinists [see photo]. 
Bell told Colorado Public Radio, “Even while I’m playing I can give them all kinds of direction and signals that I think only they would understand at this point. They know by every little dip in my violin, or raise in my eyebrow, or the way I draw the bow. They know the sound I’m looking for from the entire orchestra.” 

A symphonic orchestra is made up of many members, each playing different instruments, … all following a conductor, who leads them to play harmoniously together. And it doesn’t take a PhD in musicology or philosophy to see the need for the orchestra of Christ, i.e., the CHURCH, to follow our Conductor, … our Lord and Messiah, King Jesus.

The question is not, “should we follow Jesus [?].” He certainly made that clear to His disciples (see the reference scriptures above). No, the question clearly becomes, “WILL WE follow our Lord [?].” And I would pray today that all who read here with me are doing what Kathryn Scott sings in the link song, … deciding to follow Jesus … and NO TURNING BACK!

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … I’m here, as I am every morning, Lord, to follow You out of my quiet time and into the noisy times of life. You show me Your way; and I will follow You. … Amen

Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 17, 2017 …Don’t Look Back!

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 260 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images from Sara Groves singing here song … Eyes On the Prize … poignantly singing of how we Christians need to keep our eyes ahead on the prize of salvation as we move forward in life.

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Highlight Verse[s]: Philemon 1:15-16 [NLT] … 15 It seems you lost Onesimus for a little while so that you could have him back forever. 16 He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. 
… Paul, pleading to Onesimus’ former master to free him as Christ had freed him, explains how belief in Christ had changed Onesimus and allowed him to move forward.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Philemon 1:8-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul pleads for a fellow prisoner who was released to return to his former slave master, pleading for this new brother in Christ because of the change which had taken place in the heart of this man, Onesimus.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … 2nd Corinthians 5:17 [NLT] … 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 
… When we surrender to Christ, we’re set free and don’t need to look back, moving forward as a new creation in Christ.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Philippians 3:13-14 [NLT] … 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 
… Paul exhorts fellow Christians (you and me too!) to look forward with hope to the prize which awaits us as we travel down His road to glory.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Karen Wolfe, told a personal story of trying to help a newly released prisoner to see the road ahead and not look back. The ODB author wrote: I saw Mary every Tuesday when I visited “the House”—a home that helps former prisoners reintegrate into society. My life looked different from hers: fresh out of jail, fighting addictions, separated from her son. You might say she lived on the edge of society. … 
 It’s easy to allow the walls of socio-economic status, class, or cultural differences to separate us. The gospel of Christ removes those barriers, changing our lives and our relationships forever. 

And the story in today’s highlight passage illustrates this in Scripture, doesn’t it? It’s the story of Paul intervening on behalf of Onesimus, a fellow prisoner he had led to Christ, shared in a letter to his former owner, Philemon, pleading for the freedom and life of this new Christian, because Paul knew personally of how different Onesimus would be having been saved by God’s grace.

There’s a word picture which I often use to help those I’m discipling to help them see that in Christ we’ve been set free from the past, … that we’re radically new creations (see 2Cor. 5:17); and we can move forward toward the prize of glory Christ has set before us (see Phil. 3:13-14). And so the images I tell them is that one can’t drive a car effectively toward their destination if they only use the rear-view mirror.

But all too often we, who’ve been set free in Christ, have the very human tendency to carry the baggage from our past into the future, focusing on our past rather than our future, driving our vehicle in life using only the rear-view mirror.

So, today I’m hoping - and praying - that any and all who read here can do what Sara Groves sings in her touching song (linked above) … and keep our eyes on the prize God’s grace has given us … and move on toward glory.

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … I pray that all of us look ahead to the glorious vistas ahead .. on the road You’ve called us to travel. … Amen

Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 16, 2017 … Anger Is A Heart Fire

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 259 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Don Moen singing the old hymn … Wonderful Peace … poignantly singing of how God’s peace is His promise to replace the fires of anger in our hearts.

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Highlight Verse[s]: Ephesians 4:31-32 [NLT] … 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. 
… if we take Paul’s advice, we can avoid the bitterness which is inflamed by our anger. 
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Highlight Passage [context]: Ephesians 4:15, 26-32 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul is trying to get fellow Christians to avoid the confrontational fires of anger by exhorting them to confront their anger with love and God’s grace.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Isaiah 26:3 [NLT] … 3  You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all those whose thoughts are fixed on You! 
… When we fix the eyes of our heart on our Lord, we cannot avoid His peace. But when our hearts burn with anger we can avoid the fires of bitterness.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … 2nd Corinthians 12:9a [NLT] … 9 Each time He [Jesus] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 
… Jesus told Paul (and us) that He grace was sufficient to overcome our weakness; and this works to quell our anger as well as to deal with pain.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Hebrews 12:14-15 [NLT] … 14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. 
… Paul trying to help fellow Christians avoid angry root of bitterness, which is a fire which often rages out of control when lit in ones heart.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Linda Washington, uses a personal story to illustrate how anger can lead confrontational anger can lead to bitterness. The ODB author wrote: As I had dinner with a friend, she expressed how fed up she was with a particular family member. But she was reluctant to say anything to him about his annoying habit of ignoring or mocking her. When she did try to confront him about the problem, he responded with sarcastic remarks. She exploded in anger at him. Both parties wound up digging in their heels, and the family rift widened. 

What is our natural reaction when someone wrongs us? To get angry, right? And where then does the anger lead when we don’t confront it in the way the Apostle Paul was trying to instruct his fellow Christians in the highlight passage. It often leads to bitterness, doesn’t it? And when our hearts burn with bitterness (see photo), it becomes very difficult - and often improbable - to let the fires burn out and find the peace promised by Isaiah 26:3 when we’re able to focus on God’s will/way rather than our own.

Dear one, maybe you're thinking of someone in your past, or perhaps right now, whom you’ve let the fires of anger burn way too long. Well, if so, why don’t you set your heart in motion to get with that person and - with God’s peace in your heart - tell them how you feel and that you want to douse the fires of anger by doing all you can to explain your feelings, pursuing Christ’s love rather than letting the fires of anger burn into the hell-hole of bitterness.

Trust me, friend, … you’ll never be able to let God’s grace quell any bitterness you hold onto if the fires of anger continue to burn in your heart! So, let’s take in the Don Moen song linked above and then go out and pursue God’s peace to put out any fires that burn in our hearts today.

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … Your love and peace quells all the fires of anger in my life. … Amen

Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 15, 2017 … God IS My Father!

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 258 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing their song … I Want To Be Jesus Like You … poignantly singing of how we need to see God as our true Father and follow the example of Him in His Son, Jesus.

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Highlight Verse[s]: John 8:42 [NLT] … 
42 Jesus told them [the Jewish leaders], “If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on My own, but He sent Me. ..." 
… Jesus points the Jews to their real Father in heaven.
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Highlight Passage [context]: John 8:39-47 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus chides the Jewish leaders of their day, who held up Abraham as their “father,” telling them that they should honor the God Abraham served/followed as their true Father.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … John 1:12 [NLT] … 12 But to all who believed Him [Jesus] and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. 
… We become a son or daughter of the living God when we believe Him and receive Him as our Lord.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Romans 8:14-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… When God imparts His Spirit into the hearts of those born again in Him, we become children of the Living God.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … 2nd Corinthians 6:18 [NLT] … 18 “ … And I will be your Father, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 
… Paul quotes the Prophet Nathan [see 2Sam. 7:14] that the Lord Almighty (i.e., Jehovah) is our real Father.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Keila Ochoa, relates how some cultures honor their human ancestry more than others The ODB author wrote: When I went to buy a cell phone in the Middle East, I was asked the typical questions: name, nationality, address. But then as the clerk was filling out the form, he asked, “What’s your father’s name?” That question surprised me, and I wondered why it was important. Knowing my father’s name would not be important in my culture, but here it was necessary in order to establish my identity. In some cultures, ancestry is important. 

All too often I think we Christians lock into our image of God from our relationship with our earthy ancestors, especially from our ties to our earthly fathers. You probably know of someone who has a distorted image of God because of an abusive or absent earthly dad. Perhaps this speaks way close to your own relationship with our Abba Father.

But when we can clearly see God as our true FATHER; and we pattern our earthly lives from His earthly image, His Son, Jesus, we will do all we can to do - or be - what Phillips, Craig, and Dean sing about in the linked song … to be just like Him … our Heavenly Father.

Oh, how I pray today that all reading this are pursuing a deeper and more abiding relationship with our Heavenly Father thru the intimacy of our relationship with Jesus. Because if we do, we will see our earthly character growing out of our Lord’s eternal character.

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … I want to be just like You. … Amen

Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 14, 2017 … Following King Jesus!

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 257 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images from three friends, Clay Crosse, Bebe Winans, and Bob Carlisle singing … I Will Follow Christ … powerfully singing our decision to follow Christ, our King Jesus, not matter what the cost.

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Highlight Verse[s]: Judges 21:25 [NLT] … 
25 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. 
… God created us to worship Him; but He also gave us free will. And our human default, when we see no King to serve is to worship self or Satan. That was the case in the days of the Judges. 
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Highlight Passage [context]: Judges 2:11-23, 21:25 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… In the days following Joshua’s death, God’s people rebelled, having no king to serve.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Isaiah 53: 6 [NLT] … 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all. 
… God’s amazing grace … when we’re willing to surrender to King Jesus.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Lamentations 3:22-23 [NLT] … 22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. 
… God’s amazing grace … when we’re willing to surrender to King Jesus.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. 
… Jesus demands His disciples follow Him and not our selves.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … 1st John 1:9 [NLT] … 9 But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 
 … Even when we’ve been serving self, rather than the Savior, God is willing to forgive us and cleanse us of our selfishness and sin.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Xochitl Dixon, relates a personal story about a time when she rebelled in selfishness and sin. The ODB author wrote: After attacking my husband with hurtful words when a situation didn’t go my way, I snubbed the Holy Spirit’s authority as He reminded me of Bible verses that revealed my sinful attitudes. Was nursing my stubborn pride worth the collateral damage in my marriage or being disobedient to God? Absolutely not. But by the time I asked for forgiveness from the Lord and my spouse, I’d left a wake of wounds behind me—the result of ignoring wise counsel and living as if I didn’t have to answer to anyone but myself.

I, for one, can really identify with the ODB author’s testimony of selfishness and rebellion. And she used this to illustrate our human tendency to default to the worship of self rather than the One God created us to worship .. i.e., HIMSELF! That’s what happened to God’s people in the days of the Judges when they had no King to follow [see highlight passages]. While they had the Judges God sent them, they surrendered to worship Him; but when there were no judges, they rebelled into selfishness and worshipped idols.

Do we see the pattern here? If we don’t, we’re blinded and tend to follow our selves rather than King Jesus, our Savior. But as Isaiah prophesied [see Isaiah 53:6], that tendency was given the ultimate release when God sent His Son, King Jesus, to give us a Savior to Whom we could surrender and follow. And He truly is the Christ, … our King Jesus! The question is … do we worship Him and follow His commands [see Luke 9:23]; or do we default to our human tendency to go our own way. 

It’s our choice, isn’t it? We can choose to rebel, as did God’s people in the times of the Judges, or we can take advantage of His forever mercy [see Lam. 3:22-23] and His promises to cleanse us from all our sins [see 1John 1:9].

We now have an eternal King in Jesus, our Savior! As our linked song proclaims, let’s choose to follow King Jesus today … and all days!

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … You are my King, Jesus; and I choose to follow You! … Amen

Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.