September 9, 2013 … The Way of God

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 252

Devotional Song: Go to this link ...  Please take in this poignant and personal call, sung by Daniel O’Donnell, … singing, Here I Am, Lord, calling to the hearts of all Christians to follow the Lord and be His witnesses in the world.

Highlight meditation passage – Psalm 81: 13-14 [NLT]: …  
13 But oh, that my people would listen to Me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths! 14 How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon My hands would be upon their foes!
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Highlight reading study of Psalms, Chapters 81: Go to this link … 

 Reference Passage #1: Acts 1: 8 [There is no doubt we are called; but will we follow?] … [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.”

Reference Passage #2: Luke 9: 23 [Can we;… will we be obedient to Christ’s call and instructions to His disciples?] … [NLT] …  
23 Then He [Jesus] said to the crowd [of His disciples], “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. …” 

My Journal for Today: Acts a Christian and as disciples of Christ, we certainly cannot deny that we are a called people [see Acts 1: 8 above as well as Matthew 28: 19-20, which is the so-called Great Commission]. But when God’s people were led out of Egypt by Moses, they were a called people to the way of the Lord as well. But as is documented by the Psalmist Asaph in Psalm 81, God’s Old Covenant believers, even though they were witness to some of God’s most dramatic and dynamic miracles in delivering them from Egypt, wavered and waned in their faith and found it difficult to hold on to following God’s way.

Wouldn’t you agree that we New Covenant believers so often suffer from a balking, wavering faith when it comes to being followers of THE Messiah? Again, … I cite Christ’s call to His disciples, as I so often do in these devotional entries (see Luke 9: 23 above); and I for one feel God’s call to His way, as Daniel O’Donnell sings in today’s devotional song, linked above. But I so often find myself wavering by not being able to, or rather willing to, carry out the first of Jesus’ three commands of His disciples … to deny self in following Him.

Yes, … to be a follower of Jesus, let alone a leader in His kingdom, one must, as God called His people in Psalm 81: 13-14, be willing to listen to and to follow His call. But this morning, in this quiet place, again hearing God’s call clearly, I stand in conviction that I, too often, have been recalcitrant in my faith; and I need to move forward … first following, and then leading if called, to walk in the way of the Lord.

 How about you, today? Will you walk with me in His way; and prayerfully we’ll have the opportunity to lead others to that way, … His way.

My Prayer for Today … Here I am, Lord; … I will follow You. … Amen