Devotional Song: Go to this link … Please go this video link to hear Chris Rice singing his powerful song Go Light the World, reminding us to use our spiritual gifts to light the world with our good works … a new kind of bucket list of good works to glorify our Heavenly Father.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Romans 12: 10-13 [NKJV] …
10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
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Highlight Passage [Context] #1 – NKJV: Romans 12: 6-21 [NKJV] … Go to this link …
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Reference Passages #2 Matthew 5: 16 [NKJV] …
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. … “
Reference Passages #1 Ephesians 4: 7-16 …. GO TO THIS LINK
Reference Passages #2 Philippians 2: 3-4 [NKJV] …
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
My Journal for Today: I think you probably know what a “bucket list” is … like the one illustrated in the attached photo – things one wants to accomplish before they die. Well, the Apostle Paul had a different kind of list which he felt compelled to accomplish from God’s calling on his life; and he did his best in his missionary travels and his epistles to help other, especially newer, Christians develop a CHRISTLIKE bucket list which focused on OTHERS rather than on self.
Paul was trying to live out what Jesus taught in His sermon on the mount (see Matt. 5: 16 above), … to use our good works, focused on others, to shine God’s light in our every darkening world. It’s God’s kingdom thinking which turns a selfish, inwardly directed, bucket list, like the one pictured, into a list which utilizes the gifts given to us when we become Christian (see Romans 12 and Ephesian4 passages above) to give back to others – FOR GOD and His glory!
May I be so brazen (but with every ounce of humility I can muster) to share the top four from my Christian bucket list …
1. Be the loving husband called for in Ephesians 5 …
2. Walk in humility as exemplified by Jesus in Philippians 2: 6-11 …
3. To use God’s gifts of teaching and encouragement to shine God’s light every day …
4. Help as many men as possible during my life to walk free from the bondage of habitual sexual sin … What’s your bucket list for Jesus look like?
My Prayer for Today … Lord, shine Your light through my bucket list for Your glory. … 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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