October 2, 2013 … God’s Goals

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 275

Devotional Song: Go to this link -  Please take the time to meditate on this poignant song, sung by Kathy Trocolli, entitled I Will Choose Christ, reminding Christians of God’s desire that we be “ALL IN” for Him, seeking His ways over our own selfish ways as we walk through this life on the way to our eternal home. >>> However, often we can easily fall into the “work-to-play” mentality of the world, as in this beer commercial, seeking our selfish goals in life, rather than seeking God’s goals. Go to this link to see this image as the world would want us to live.

Highlight meditation passage – Jeremiah 29: 11 : [Oh how God desires that we give our our all to Him; and when we do, He has a way – HIS way - for us to follow.] …  
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
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Highlight reading study of Jeremiah, Chapter 29: Go to this link … 
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Reference Passage #1: Isaiah 55: 8-9 [God very well may be changing our way of looking at life and the way we do things.] … [NLT] …  
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Reference Passage #2: Luke 9: 23 [Jesus’ ways can lead to cross carrying instead of taking the easy way out in life.] … [NKJV] …  
23 Then He said to them all, … “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. …”. 

Reference Passage #3: Go to this link … for Ephesians 1: 16-19 [Paul’s prayer that his beloved fellow Christians could seek for and find God’s ways in life] … [NLT] …

Reference Passage #4: Go to this link … for Romans 12: 1-2 [Paul’s challenging exhortation for us to become “living sacrifices” and avoiding the ways of the world in our life pursuites] … [NLT] …

 My Journal for Today: For the past few weeks our Pastor in my local church has been preaching a series entitled, “ALL IN,” which has powerfully reminded us that God wants His New Covenant followers to be seeking HIS ways in life rather than relenting or defaulting to the often-pursued worldly or selfish ways of living. And if you take in all of the scriptures, and especially the song and commercial videos to which I’ve linked any reader above, you’ll see, quite clearly, the comparison of pursuing our selfish ways rather than the Savior’s ways.

Jesus, of course, called us (see Luke 9: 23) to deny ourselves and be willing to endure the crosses of this life in order to follow Him. And the Apostle Paul picked up on Jesus’ call when he exhorted and prayed for the early church (see links to Eph. 1: 16-19 and Rom. 12: 1-2 above), to avoid the ways of the world and our own sinful ways so as to pursue, as our Pastor has preached, being ALL IN for Christ as we seek HIS goals for our lives rather than pursuing our own.

However, as Os Hillman points out to his readers in the workplace today, we’re often lured by the world to a “work-to-play” mentality, where we put up with five days of work to be able to play on the weekends; … or we set goals to earn our money at work to be able to find a beach and play somewhere down the road, … as the Carona Beer commercial sells in one of the video links above.

But, as Kathy Trocolli sings in the other video link, as well as the Bible passages above, we need to pursue finding Christ’s way for our lives; because when we do, as promised by the highlight passage above in the OT, Jer. 29: 11, when God’s people are willing to pursue HIS WAYS and be obedient to HIS goals – I.e., His ways – He will show us the way to His glory.

How about it, fellow Christian, will today be a selfish “work-to-play” day or will it be the Savior’s “work-to-serve” day? Our choice, isn’t it?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, show me Your way today, and where ever it leads, I will follow. … Amen

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online blog entitled Today God Is First [TGIF], authored by Os Hillman. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read Hillman’s TGIF blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.