Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of images from Steve Green singing People Need The Lord exhorting and encouraging all Christians to reach out and share the love of God … because so many desperately need Christ.
Highlight Passage: Romans 15: 7 [NKJV] …
7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
… Receiving others as Christ received us.
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Highlight Context – Romans 15: 1-7 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Bearing the burdens of others.
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Reference Passage #1 - John 13: 34-35 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Loving one another is our way of showing God to the world.
Reference Passage #2 - Romans 14: 12-13 [NKJV] …
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
… We give an account to God for His love when we refrain from judging others.
Reference Passage #3 - Hebrews 10: 24-25 [NIV] …
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
… Christians exhorted to come together and encourage one another.
Reference Passage #4 - 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.
… How many different ways does God’s word have to say it … before we choose to welcome and love one another? My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Bill Crowder, illustrated his teaching by showing a famous 19th century statue, created to commemorate a lovely New England lady.
Crowder wrote: In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a familiar sight greeted ships as they pulled into the port of Savannah, Georgia. That sight was Florence Martus, “The Waving Girl.” For 44 years, Florence greeted the great ships from around the world, waving a handkerchief by day or a lantern by night. Today, a statue of Florence and her faithful dog stands in Savannah’s Morrell Park, permanently welcoming incoming vessels. … There is something in a warm welcome that speaks of acceptance.
The picture here was the same one which the Apostle Paul was trying to get across to new Christians in his day; … that Christians were at their best when they refrained from judging or superimposing man-made rules on others. No, .. Christ was reflected best into the world when Christians received, accepted, and loved one another (see the Romans and Philippians passages above). And the Apostle John echoed this teaching when we exhorted Christians to readily reach out and show love to one another just as God had loved us enough to sacrifice His Son for us [see John 13: 34-35].
So, let’s go out and be a “Waving Girl” (or guy) today by receiving others in love, … by encouraging others (see Hebrews 10: 24-25) as the body of Christ, … and by sharing the love of God with as many as we see today. …
… Because as Steve Green sings in the linked song above … so many people so DESPERATELY need the Lord.
My Prayer Today: Oh, my Lord, … Let me be God’s ambassador of love for others today. … 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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