Tuesday, May 03, 2016

May 3, 2016: Comforting Others

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2016 - Day 124  

Devotional Song:  … GO TO THIS LINK …   Please take the time to take in a You Tube video of Colin Battersby singing It Is Well , with the background behind the famous 19th century song written by Horatio Stafford, declaring how a testimony of plight and pain can so help others who are in pain.


Highlight Passage:  2nd Corinthians 1:3-4 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK … 
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 
 … God comforts others in their pain when we’re willing to share our story of God’s comfort with them.
===========
Highlight Context – 2nd Corinthians 1:3-7 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK 
… God, through Paul, tells of how our sufferings, when shared with others, can comfort them in their time of pain and plight.
============      

Reference Passage #1 - Philippians 2:3-4 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK 
… Even when we feel the pain of our sorrows, we have a Christlike obligation to help others who suffer.

Reference Passage #2 - Galatians 5:22-23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK 
… Paul shows how the Spirit of God, Who is in all Christians, gives us His fruitfulness to share with others, … especially those who need the sweetness of God’s fruit in their sorrow.

My Journal for Today:  Our Daily Bread author, Dave Branon, used a personal story to illustrate his ODB teaching today. He wrote: As I stood in the back of the room at a senior citizens’ center [see attached photo], listening to my daughter’s school choir sing “It Is Well with My Soul,” I wondered why the choir director, had chosen that song. … It had been played at her sister Melissa’s funeral, and the choir director knew it was always tough for me to hear it without having an emotional response. … My musings were interrupted when a man sidled up next to me and said, “This is just what I needed to hear.” I introduced myself and then asked why he needed this song. “I lost my son Cameron last week in a motorcycle accident,” he said. 

And as I read this ODB entry today, I remembered the story behind that 19th century hymn in that story, written by one Horatio Spafford at a horribly difficult time in his life. And I implore any reader here to take the time to use the song link above and hear that old song with the You Tube story behind the lyrics, … lyrics which have given comfort to millions over the years and which arose out of the author’s story of pain and plight.

And the Apostle Paul, in His love letters to other Christians [see passages above], especially letters written when he was imprisoned and in pain, exhort Christ followers to be willing to share Christ’s love and the fruit of His Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23) with others, especially when we see others in pain with which we can empathize.

Yes, perhaps even today, God will give us a divine appointment to share our story of God’s comfort with someone in pain who needs His love and comfort [see the highlight Scripture]. And if so, tell that dear one that “... it is well with our soul.” 

My Prayer Today:  O, Heavenly Father, … Let me have the privilege to share Your comfort with someone who needs it ... maybe even 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.

No comments: