September 20, 2013 … Everything? … REALLY!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 263

  Devotional Song: Go to this link -  PLEASE, before you read below, meditate on the call of this powerful song, sung by Avalon, Everything To Me, reminding us that God must be ALL … EVERYTHING to us; and then go to this link and take in this God Tube video piece asking us if God is truly EVERYTHING in our lives.

Highlight meditation passage – Isaiah 55: 6-7 [NLT]: …  
6 Seek the LORD while you can find Him. Call on Him now while He is near. 7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that He may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously.
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Highlight reading study of Isaiah, Chapters 55`: Go to this link … 

Reference Passage #1: Romans 12: 1-2 [Living and holy sacrifice? … Really!] … [NLT] …  
5 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of ALL He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 

Reference Passage #2: Proverbs 3: 5-6 [“ALL?” Really!!] … [NLT] …
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths.

 Reference Passage #3: Luke 9: 23 [Are we really committed to being “ALL IN” followers of Christ?] … [NLT] …  
23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow Me...."

My Journal for Today: Right now, as God’s Spirit – I believe – has led me to meditate on the passages from Scripture copied above, some oldies, but all goodies, … the Lord also led me to the video links which I’ve provided above. And today, in this quiet time with God, I’m remembering the topic of the current sermon series our Pastor is preaching during this last few weeks. It’s entitled “All In?;” and it deals with just how committed we Christians are to the One Who gave EVERYTHING for us. And in the series, Pastor Matt, is asking “Are we really ALL IN and giving EVERYTHING in our lives to and for Jesus?”

And that’s my application question this morning as I write this. If you were to ask me if I were a fully-committed DISCIPLE of Christ, I would declare a resounding “YES!!” But then the reference passages, some I’ve copied or quoted many, many times in my devotional journal entries, bubbled up from my consciousness, convicting me, and asking my “heart,” as a Christian, whether I’m really “ALL IN” for Christ or not. In other words, is Christ really my EVERYTHING or does my heart, which is so vulnerable to self-deceit or Satan’s ploys (see Jeremiah 17: 9, con me into saying that Jesus is EVERYTHING to me; but in reality I’m not really ALL IN for Him.

Well, that’s the matter of the second video link which I was led to take in and meditate on this morning; and It’s really caused me to go deeper in prayer than usual, pleading that God’s Spirit will take me deeper than ever before in my desire to have Christ be my EVERYTHING. And I pray that for you as well.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, take all who are here reading today; and most personally take me to become 100% … ALL IN … for You. … Amen