Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with images and lyrics from Crowder singing … All My Hope … poignantly singing of how Christ’s blood has washed away our shackles, freeing us forever from selfishness and loneliness.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Psalm 16:9, 11 [NLT] … 9 No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. … 11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever
… Our life is ALWAYS secure in the powerful and personal presence of God.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalm 16:5-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Psalmist expresses his living joy and safety found in his relationship with God.
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Reference Passage : … John 15:9-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus promises His love always and forever … IF … we abide in Him.
Reference Passage : … Hebrews 13:5 [NLT] … 5 … For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
… God’s promise (quoted from Deut. 31:6) that He will never abandon us. So, we never need to be lonely in our relationship with Christ.
Reference Passage : … 1 Peter 5:7 [NLT] … 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
… Worry and despair are gone in an abiding relationship with Christ. My
Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Adam Holz, used a personal story of his loneliness to show us that we’re never alone in our relationship with Christ. The ODB author wrote: One night, I sat at home with my back against the wall. I opened my Bible and stumbled onto Psalm 16, where verse 11 promises God will fill us.
“Lord,” I prayed, “I thought this job was the right thing, but I feel so alone. Please fill me with a sense of Your nearness.” I offered variants of that plaintive plea for weeks. Some nights, my sense of loneliness eased, and I had a deep experience of God’s presence. Other nights, I still felt achingly isolated.
But as I returned to that verse, anchoring my heart in it night by night, God gradually deepened my faith. I experienced His faithfulness in a way I never had before. And I learned that my job was simply to pour out my heart to Him . . . and humbly await His faithful response, trusting His promise to fill us with His Spirit.
I would bet that all reading here with me have felt alone, isolated, and/or insecure in our selves, haven’t we? But in Christ that’s a needless emotion, … one which Satan loves to promote and use to get us to live in the lie of loneliness. But the more abiding and intimate our relationship with Christ, the less loneliness can occupy our mindset.
Because, as Crowder sings in the linked song, … all our hope is in Jesus, and He has promised never to leave us or forsake us (see Deut. 31:6 and Heb. 13:5). Therefore, loneliness is defeated in an abiding relationship with Christ; and we can ALWAYS give ALL our cares to a God Who cares deeply for us (see 1Pet. 5:7).
Right now, … here, … as I write this, He is with me; and He’ll never leave me.
So, … lonely? … NEVER!
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for always being here with me.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Lord, … let’s do Your work … TOGETHER … 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.
1 comment:
Hello Pastor Bill and sister Elly. I am also a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honored to get connected with you as well as know you as a Minister of the Lord. I went through our blog post on " Loneliness Defeated" and found very encouraging and strengthening. I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 39 yrs in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. We also encourage young and the and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have young people from your church to come to Mumbai to work with us during your vacation time. I am sure they will have a life changing experience. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings blessings on you, your family and friends also wishing you a blessed and a Christ centered rest of the your 2018.
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