Tuesday, January 23, 2018

January 23, 2018 … Loving Is Helping Others

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 23 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with images and lyrics from the group Avalon singing their song … Testimony To Love … powerfully singing of the testimony of God’s love which shows itself in the witness of the way we live our lives as Christians.


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Highlight Verse[s]: 1st John 3:18 [NLT] … 18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 
… We say “YES” to God’s love by the choices we make and our way of living - more and more like Christ.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1st John 3:16-24 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK
… God, thru John, shows Christians what real love is.
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Reference Passage : … Galatians 5:22-23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK
… How can one see the fruit of God’s Spirit unless our actions reflect these fruit in the way we help others?

Reference Passage : … James 2:14-17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK
…God, also thru James, shows us that God’s love is shown in our hearts when we help others.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Dave Branon, related story about a couple who really showed God’s love by the sacrificial offering of their time, talents, and treasure by helping flood victims they had never known. The ODB author wrote: On August 21, 2016, Carissa posted photos on social media of a devastating flood in Louisiana. The next morning she included a note from someone in the flooded area pleading for help. Five hours after that, she and her husband, Bobby, sent out a call for others to join them on their 1,000-mile trip to provide help. Less than twenty-four hours later, thirteen people were on their way to serve those whose homes had been severely damaged. 
What motivates people to drop everything and drive seventeen hours to move appliances, do demolition work, and provide hope in a place they’ve never been before? It’s love

Well, we may not be called to reach out to travel 1000 miles and help flood victims; but the testimony of God’s love in our hearts (hear today’s linked song) is seen when we have opportunities to help others, with the use of our time, talents, and treasure; and we’re willing, as the couple in the story, to show God’s love by the choices we make to freely reach out and help.

Whom might we be called to help today; and are we willing to show God’s love to them? 

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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for Your love which I desire to share with others.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Let me show your love and grace, even today, in my being willing/able to help others. … 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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