Friday, July 21, 2017

July 21, 2017 … Glowing In The Dark …

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 202 

Devotional Song:  … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Jason Gray singing his song … Glow In The Dark … powerful singing of our need to shine Christ in our lives for all to see His light.


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Highlight Verse[s]: Romans 13:14 [NLT] … 
14 … clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. 
… Put on His robes of righteousness rather than wearing our rags of sin for others to see. 
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Highlight Passage [context]: Romans 13:11-14 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK
… Paul teaches Christians to PUT ON the ways of Christ and wear Him so that others can see Him as we live.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … John 14:21 [NLT] … 
21 Those who accept My commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me. And because they love Me, My Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal Myself to each of them.” 
 … Jesus says that He reveals Himself in those who live in obedience to His word.

Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … 2nd Cor. 5:17 [NLT] … 
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 
… And we, as disciples of Christ, must wear that newness for all to see.

Reference Passage #3 [NKJV] : … Colossians 3:12 [NLT] … 
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 
 … We should wear Christlikeness for all to see Him in how we live.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Alyson Kieda, used a clothing word picture to illustrate how Christians should “put on” Christlikeness to let Him shine thru our lives. The ODB author wrote: In her book Wearing God, author Lauren Winner says our clothes can silently communicate to others who we are. What we wear may indicate career, community or identity, moods, or social status. Think of a T-shirt with a slogan, a business suit, a uniform, or greasy jeans and what they might reveal. She writes, “The idea that, as with a garment, Christians might wordlessly speak something of Jesus—is appealing.” 

Wearing something in public, perhaps like the t-shirt in the attached photo, says something, doesn’t it? And really, almost anything we wear makes a statement to others. That’s why, interviewing for a new job, we are encouraged to “dress for success,” rather than looking like a person the interviewer can’t trust.

Therefore, as born-again Christians, who’re being “made-over” in Christ [see 2Cor. 5:17], we need to “put on” that newness (i.e., the image of Christlikeness as in Col. 3:12) so that others can see Christ’s character in our actions, avoiding being seen wearing the old, sinner self in us. The world is such a dark place; and so, as Jason Gray sings in the linked song, we need to “glow in the dark” with Christlikeness.

So, fellow chosen one, let’s all go out and glow for Jesus today, wearing His robes of righteousness rather than choosing to put on our rags of sin.

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Let others see me wearing Your robes of rightness 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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