Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Chris Rice singing Go Light Your World, crying out for us to use our lives and our words to start a fire of revival in this world.
Highlight Passage 2nd Timothy 4: 6-8 [ESV] …
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
… Paul’s last will and testament from the battlefields of his life in spreading the Gospel, encouraging another young warrior for Christ to do the same.
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Highlight Context - 2nd Timothy 4: 1-8 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul pours out his exhortation and encouragement - in the face of his last days on earth - telling a young Pastor to fight-the-good-fight in Christ’s Name and for God’s glory.
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Reference Passage #1 - Nehemiah 1: 4-11 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK … From Nehemiah, his letter and prayer of being wounded by learning of the Temple being destroyed in Jerusalem.
Reference Passage #2 - Mark 14: 35-36 [ESV] …
5 And going a little farther, He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.”
… In Jesus’ most wounded state, just before His passion, …
Reference Passage #4 - James 1: 2-4 [ESV] …
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
… From James to so many wounded Christians … to remain steadfast in the faith.
Reference Passage #5 - 2nd Peter 3: 14-18 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK ...
… Peter last word for those being persecuted for Christ’s sake.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, David McCasland, in his ODB teaching, wrote of Andrew Carroll, a government official who has written to encourage families of veterans who have letters from their loved ones, written from the battlefields of war [see attached photo] to hold on to the letters and pass them on to the next generations so that those who’ve never been on the front lines will get a sense of what it’s like to be in harms way.
And then McCasland referenced several passages from Scriptures which are essentially letters from wound warriors of the faith, as with the passage from 2nd Tim. 4: 1-8 where the Apostle Paul, who was close to death, was writing to one he had led to Christ and was becoming a Pastor in Ephesus, encouraging Timothy to do a he (Paul) had done … and to fight the good fight to the end of his days in the faith.
And there were other passages from wounded soldiers of the faith, referenced above, where we need to glean encouragement to move ahead, no matter what the battlefields may present, to do as Paul did … to fight the good fight in the Name of Christ until He comes again for His warriors.
My Prayer Today: Oh Lord, … every day I step on the battlefields of life, praying for Your protection and power … to fight the good fight in Your Name. 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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