Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Ray Boltz singing the song, Feel The Nails, … where the suffering of Christ is depicted in song and film; and perhaps our desire as Christians to honor our Lord with the suffering of our transformation in His Name and for His glory is felt.
Highlight Passage: 2nd Corinthians 11: 30 [NKJV] …
30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.
… “No big deal!” … All Paul went through he knew was his living sacrifice for the Gospel.
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Highlight Context – 2nd Corinthians 11: 21-30 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul knew what suffering was all about - only about living for His Lord.
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Reference Passage #1 - Romans 12: 1-2 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Let us be “living sacrifices” and let our lives - our actions - show who we are in Christ. And if those actions produce suffering — so be it!
Reference Passage #2 - 1st Peter 2: 21 [NKJV] …
21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: …
… Our Lord suffered for us; and when we suffer for Him, it is an honorable sacrifice …
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Lawrence Darmani, inspired by the depiction of the suffering of Christ in a movie like that of Mel Gibson’s, The Passion of The Christ writes: The close-up image on the giant screen was big and sharp, so we could see the deep cuts on the man’s body. A soldier beat him while an angry crowd laughed at the man whose face was now covered with blood. The scenes appeared so real that, in the silence of the open-air theater, I cringed and grimaced as if I could feel the pain myself. But this was only a film reenactment of Jesus’ suffering for us.
That was my reaction too when I saw Gibson’s moving film depicting the suffering our Lord went through to save me from my sin and defeat death. And what I go through, i.e., any suffering, in His name seems so paltry; but as the Apostle Paul testified (see the highlight passage linked above), anytime we can have the opportunity (and yes, it is an OPPORTUNITY) to suffer in Christ’s Name and for His glory, we need to revel in the chance to be what Paul described in Romans 12: 1, … “a living sacrifice” for Christ. And Paul even was led to boast about the infirmities he incurred in witness of suffering for the Gospel.
Today, perhaps God will lead us to be His witness and suffer a bit in His Name and for the Father’s glory. So, may we be ready and willing to do so.
My Prayer Today: Oh, my Lord, … No matter what, I know that You are a 2am (or anytime) Friend for 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, 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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