Devotional Song: Go to this link – – Please take your time to see a video of a poignant song performed by the group Hillsong, I Surrender, reminding us how we, as Christians, must surrender our all to God’s Spirit and let Him take control of all we are and how we live. ... And then to this link - for the Vineyard Fellowship singing the old hymn, I Surrender All, with the expression of worship we all, as saved Christians, should give to our Savior, especially knowing all He surrendered to save us.
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Highlight Passage: Philippians 3: 7-9a … [Paul gave his all for His Jesus.] … [NLT]
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with Him.
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Highlight Passage: Philippians, Chapter 3 … GO TO THIS LINK … [NLT] …
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Reference Passage #1: Acts 9: 1-19 … GO TO THIS LINK ... [NLT] [God had to knock Paul off his horse to get His attention – see Photo attached.] …
Reference Passage #2: Luke 9: 23 [NLT] … [As believers, In faith, we have to choose to surrender all we are to serve Jesus as Lord.]
23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. …”
Reference Passage #3: Revelation 3: 20 [NLT] … [Jesus call His church to sell out and let Him in so that we can commune with Him daily.]
20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. …”
My Journal for Today: If I were ask a church group here in the Midsouth, “With a show of hands here, how many of you are Christians;” … wouldn’t you guess that almost every hand in the audience would be raised? Yes, I’m sure that would happen; but what if I asked, “Stand up if you’re a DISCIPLE of Jesus Christ?” … Yeah, probably the same number would stand, wouldn’t they? But is that reflective of the truth … of reality? I wonder!
I dare say many who are genuinely saved, born-again, Christians would have trouble honestly declaring that they are sold-out, ardent followers and “disciples” of Christ as He, Himself, defined discipleship (see Luke 9: 23 copied above from the NLT). … Common, fess up, Christian; are we really denying our selves, taking up our crosses daily, and following our Lord in surrender 24/7 in our lives? I don’t know about you, fellow Christian, but I’m feeling a twinge of conviction right now.
Sometimes it takes a lot for God to even get our attention in order to save us. Certainly God had to really knock Saul of Tarsus off his horse and even blind the Jewish zealot [see the attached photo] so that, as the Apostle Paul, this man could see the truth and become one of Jesus’ most dedicated disciples. But Paul did surrender; and we now know from his letters and from history, that Paul was a sold out – ALL IN – Christian, living out his life, … surrendered … as a follower of Jesus.
I don’t think I have to go on here, do I? No, all of us who claim the name of Christ, all feel the call to the fellowship of Revelation 3: 20; but how many of us will open the door and let Him in today?
My Prayer for Today … Lord, I’m yours today; and prayerfully tomorrow too! … 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.
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