Devotional Song: Go to this link … Please take the time to see/hear a video of of a congregation in worship singing Santuary, declaring the plea from all Christians to be prepared by God to be a living sanctuary of others as Christ is for all of us
Highlight Passage: Matthew 11: 28 [NKJV} …
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Matthew 11: 25-30 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … Yoked to Christ as our sanctuary …
Reference Passage #1: Matthew 23: 4 [NKJV} … In rebuking the Pharisees as hypocrites (see all of Matthew 23) Jesus shows that we cannot be yoked to man because he cannot carry the burdens which are carried by The Messiah ...
4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Reference Passage #2: Luke 9: 23 [NKJV} …
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. …”
Reference Passage #3: 2nd Corinthians 12: 9-10 [NKJV} …
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” … Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Reference Passage #4 - NKJV: 1st John 5: 1-5 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … All who are in Christ can overcome the world because we are yoked to Christ in faith
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Bill Crowder, teaches a simple - but very hard - lesson which Jesus tried to impart to His disciples (all who would follow Him). The lesson - we cannot carry the burdens of others unless we are yoked to the one who can carry life’s burdens; and that, of course, is Christ.
In the times of Christ, as pictured in the attached photo, the plow was carried by strong oxen who were yoked together to provide tremendously magnified power to pull the heavy plow. One of the oxen was the lead oxen, and was set on the inside as the plow turned at the end of each row. This was done to steady the younger, stronger oxen on the outside when the row turned … and to keep the rows straight during the plowing.
The lesson from this image is straight forward (forgive the pun!); … we must be yoked to Christ, as indicated in today’s highlight passage, because only He can keep our lives straight (see Luke 9: 23) and give us the strength to plow straight rows through this life (see the 2Cor and 1John passages referenced above).
So, it’s time for all of us to do a YOKE CHECK … to see if we’re firmly attached to our Lord to carry the burdens of this world. Because only when we’re strongly affixed to the yoke of our Savior will we be able to plow the furrows of this life, … especially if we are yoked to others, trying to help them carry their burdens.
My Prayer for Today … Lord, … You are my sanctuary; … give me Your strength so that I can be yoked to You to be a sanctuary for others. 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, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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