Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with images and lyrics from Laura Story singing her song … Grace Abounds … poignantly singing of how God’s grace is there to give us His strength when we know what we must trust and depend on Him in the trial of life.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Matthew 6:17, 33 [NLT] … 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? …33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
… Jesus shows that all our worries are for naught; and we should always come to Him first when we’re needy.?
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Highlight Passage [context]: Matthew 6:19-34 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that we must trust the Lord always, especially when things seem beyond our ability to cope.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… But do we really trust Him to be our Good Shepherd, following Him out of the valley into His pasture.
Reference Passage : … Matthew 11:28-30 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus clearly tells us to bring our worries, trials, and troubles to Him and let Him help us carry them.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 4:19 [NLT] … 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
… We need to trust that God will ALWAYS supply what we need.
Reference Passage : … 1 Peter 5:7 [NLT] … 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
… God, thru Peter, shows us where we should take our worries.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Xochitl Dixon, uses a botanical word picture to teach on how we can be bent by our troubles, but still not broken. The ODB author wrote: As a native Californian and lover of all things sunny, I shy away from all things cold. I do, however, enjoy beautiful photos of snow. So I couldn’t help but smile when my friend from Illinois shared a winter picture of a sapling outside her window. Admiration turned to sadness when I noticed its bare, knotted branches bowing under the heavy fringe of sparkling icicles [see photo].
How long could those bending boughs endure before breaking under their icy burdens? The heaviness threatening to crack the tree’s limbs reminded me of my shoulders, hunched beneath the weight of worries.
I would guess that any reader here has been in a place of trial where they felt very bent over and maybe even close to breaking. Maybe you’re feeling that way now. Well, that’s probably where a lot of those followers of Jesus felt when they heard Him preach that Sermon on the Mount, where He was telling them (and us) where to take our worries [see highlight verses].
And I’m hoping that my fellow Christians here, who may feel bent and close to breaking right now, would hear the messages of the linked song and from Jesus’ own words, as well as the God’s leading from Solomon, Paul, and Peter in the reference Scriptures above. Because they’re all telling us to take our brokenness right to Jesus, who will help us carry our burdens (specifically Matt. 11:28-30).
So often I feel compelled, mostly by ego and pride, to want to show others, and even God, that I can handle all my trials; but today I’m not going to do that. I’m taking them to my Lord. How about you?
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for always being there to help me carry my burdens.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Help me use Your empowering grace, as Laura Story sings, to give me Your strength today to carry my burdens. … 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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