Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of images and lyrics from Steve Green singing … People Need the Lord … poignantly singing of the reality of our confronting many each day who are lost without Christ … but how much do we do to share His saving grace with them.
Highlight Verse[s]: Romans 9:2-3 [NKJV] … 2 … I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my [a]countrymen according to the flesh, …
… Paul grieved deeply for his unsaved brother/sister Jews. Are we as grieved by the lost around us, especially our family or loved ones.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Romans 9:1-5 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… Note how far Paul was willing to go to pray for the conversion and salvation of his fellow Jews in Rome [and for us as well].
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Reference Passage : … Luke, Chapter 15 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus tells three stories (i.e., parables) which illustrate just how much he cares for the lost
Reference Passage : … John 3:16-17 [NKJV] … 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
… Jesus explains to Nicodemus (and the world) just how much the Heavenly Father was willing to give up to save the them from themselves.
Reference Passage : … 2 Peter 3:9 [NKJV] … 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
… God deeply desires that all be saved; but He will not do the saving for us.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Tim Gustafson, used a personal of a friend’s lost and unsaved loved one to illustrate just how much God desires that all be saved. The ODB author wrote: As a convert to Jesus Christ, Nabeel Qureshi has written books to help his readers understand the people in the religion he left. His tone is respectful, and Qureshi always displays a heart of love for his people.
Qureshi dedicated one of his books to his sister, who has not yet put her faith in Jesus. The dedication is brief, but powerful. “I am begging God for the day that we can worship him together,” he wrote.
Perhaps other readers with me today, as this man did, and as I do, have unsaved loved ones where we grieve the possibility they may never, in this life, choose to surrender and receive God’s saving grace. And besides sharing our desire with them - or anyone we encounter who’s lost - we must pray, pray, pray that their hearts soften and they are able to come humbly in repentance and receive God’s eternal love.
Certainly the linked song sings it … “People (really, ALL PEOPLE) Need The Lord!” And as the Scriptures above clearly state … that it’s God’s desire that we all do come to Him; … but faith would have no meaning unless we could - by free will - accept or reject God’s saving grace.
So, I will continue to pray for my lost family and I will pray today that God brings someone into my life - maybe even a stranger - with whom I can share God’s grace … so that they too can find Him as I have found Him.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for pursuing me and offering me Your saving grace.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Please break, bring, and bless my lost family … and allow me to share Your salvation with others in my life. … 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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