Sunday, May 13, 2018

May 13, 2018 … Treasures of the Heart …

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 132 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and lyrics from Matt Maher singing … Your Grace Is Enough … poignantly singing of how we must trust that God’s grace is enough to sustain us.


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Highlight Verse[s]: Matthew 6:21 [NLT] … 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. 
… As Christians, Jesus tells us that whatever is in our hearts will express itself in our desires. 
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Highlight Passage [context]: Matthew 6:19-21 [NLT] …USE THIS LINK
… Jesus teaching on what’s really important in life.
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Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] … 9 Each time he said, My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 
… Jesus reminds Paul (and us) that His grace is enough to sustain us - ALWAYS!

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Cindy Hess Kasper, used a personal story to illustrate how we try to protect the treasures in our lives. … The ODB author wrote: When I was growing up, my two sisters and I liked to sit side-by-side on top of my mother’s large cedar-lined chest. My mom kept our wool sweaters in it and handiwork that was embroidered or crocheted by my grandmother. She valued the contents of the chest and relied on the pungent odor of the cedar wood to discourage moths from destroying what was inside. Most earthly possessions can easily be destroyed by insects or rust, or can even be stolen. Matthew 6 encourages us to place a special focus—not on things that have a limited lifespan but on those that have eternal value. When my mom died at fifty-seven, she had not accumulated a lot of earthly possessions, but I like to think about the treasure she stored up in heaven (see highlight passage). 

What are we storing away in the treasure chest of our hearts? Is it some driven desire for MORE of what this world offers? Or, … if we opened the chest of your heart (see photo), would we find all that your relationship with Christ has provided, … along with the gratitude of trusting that His grace is enough (2Cor. 12:9).

I think those are good questions to ask and answer today, my friends, … don’t you? Jesus taught clearly that we were to pursue heavenly treasures (see Matt. 6 passage) and to avoid pursuing and amassing the stuff of this world. Jesus also reminded Paul, when the Apostle was in dire need of relief, that God’s grace is ALWAYS enough when we feel deprived?

Again the question: What are we pursuing to fill up the treasure chest of our heart?

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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for sustaining grace.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Lord, help me today - and all days - to pursue heavenly treasures … that give glory to You. .… 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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