Devotional Song: Go to this link – Please, PLEASE, PLEASE take your time to see a video of the poignant truth in song, performed by the group Phillips, Craig, and Dean, singing I Want To Be Just Like You, with a loving allegory of how we should have a mission of becoming just like Jesus.
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Highlight Passage #1 - NLT: Philippians 3: 10-11
10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
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Highlight Context - NLT: Philippians, Chapter 3 … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Philippians 2: 5 … … [NLT]
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Reference Passage #2: John 10: 30 … … [NLT]
30 “… I and My Father are one.”
Reference Passage #3: Luke 4: 18-19 … [NLT]
18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, for He has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” [restates Is. 61: 1-2]
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My Journal for Today: What’s your mission in life?
Today, in answering that question, posed by Hillman in my devotional, I’m captivated by the song and the photo image which I’ve left for any who are reading my journaling for today. And I beg you to meditate on the photo and take the time to view the video linked for you above.
And you’ll see that the photo and the video point to the image of a son doing all he can to become just like his daddy; and doesn’t that capture the image of the Apostle Paul’s mission in life, as stated in today’s highlight passage (from Philippians 3: 10-22)? Paul wanted to identify with and become just like His Heavenly Father, Who was, in the flesh, Jesus [see John 10: 30 copied above]. Therefore, it was Paul’s mission in life to pursue CHRISTLIKENESS in his earthly life; because Paul knew that such a pursuit would bring him into a closer, more abiding, relationship with His Savior, The Messiah, in this life, but even more importantly in the next.
Friend, if you nailed me down and asked me what I might want on my tombstone to say (though I won’t likely have one), it would be, “Here lies Bill Berry. He wanted to be more like Jesus every day of his life!”
What about you? What’s your mission in life? Jesus had one; and He stated it as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy about the Messiah; and you can read Jesus’ mission statement in Luke 4: 18-19 where Jesus was reading from God’s word in Isaiah 61: 1-2. So, for my life, … somehow, in some way, … I want to see Bill Berry’s mission in life reflecting Jesus’ mission. And every day, as I will pray today [below], I pray that I’ll be more like my Lord today … and even more so tomorrow.
That’s what the Apostle Paul set as his mission in life; and my thinking is … if it’s a good enough mission for Paul, it’s likely a good enough for me too.
My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me to become more like You today … and even more so tomorrow. … 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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