Devotional Song: Go to this link – Please take your time to see a video of Matthew West singing the contemporized old hymn Blessed Assurance , reminding us, as Christians, that Jesus did it all and now there is no condemnation for us in Christ Jesus
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Highlight Verse – NKJV: 1st John 3: 18-20 [NKJV] …
18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
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Highlight Passage: 1st John 3, Verses 16-24 [NKJV] …Go to this link ...
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Reference Passage #1: 1st John 3: 24 … [NKJV] …
24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Reference Passage #2: Romans 8: 1 … [NKJV] …
1 There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
My Journal for Today: As I’m on the road with our Pastor and other staff members in our church, my devotional today helped remind me of a very practical truth. My Our Daily Bread devotional for today helped me see again that we Christians must always remember that there is a difference between the convictions we feel when we walk away from the path Jesus desires we walk and the feelings of condemnation that Satan wants us to feel to dampen our witness and confuse our path.
There is a way to discern the difference between feelings of self-condemnation and God-led conviction; but before I delineate these two, we must remember the truths of Scripture which I’ve documented above. My friend, Paul had it right when he launched his victory chapter in Romans 8 in verse 1, where he boldly declared, There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! So, for any Christian the reality is that with God’s Spirit, residing in our hearts, we should not fall prey to any attempt of our spiritual enemies, especially Satan, to have us FEEL condemned.
But how do we tell the difference between self-condemnation and God’s conviction?
Simple, really!! If anyone has a feeling that is drawing them away from God, leading them to separate themselves from God’s word, or moving them away from being in the fellowship of believers, those are feelings of CONDEMNATION; and as we said above from God’s word, those feelings CANNOT BE FROM GOD. However, if one is having feelings that are drawing us back to a closer and more abiding relationship with God, that is God’s Spirit, providing His enabling grace of CONVICTION; and if we follow that leaning, it will lead us back onto the path of Godliness.
So, let’s all follow God’s Spirit calling us and prodding us to stay on track – God’s track – today.
My Prayer for Today … Lord, thank You for this reminder which draws me back to the reality of Your Spirit residing in me. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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