Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube version with images and lyrics from Gordon Mote singing … Hold Me Up … poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, so desperately needs God’s encouragement at times and He can use us to be His love letter to others by our encouragement to those who need His touch.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Colossians 1:9 [NLT] … 9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding
… Paul’s sincere encouragement by letter to all of us as well as those in Asia Minor in his day.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Colossians 1:9-12 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul wrote this letter to encourage his fellow Christians in Colosse.
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Reference Passage : … Romans 15:4-5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul tells Christians how God’s word is his love letter of encouragement to His children.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 1:1-2 [NLT] … 1 This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. … I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons. … 2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
… Paul writes his letter of joy, encouragement, and love to his dear friends in Philippi.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, John Blase, uses a personal reflection to teach about the need we all have for God’s touch of love and encouragement, especially in times when we’re down and out. The ODB author writes … Like most four-year-olds, Ruby loved to run, sing, dance, and play. But she started complaining about pain in her knees. Ruby’s parents took her in for tests. The results were shocking—a diagnosis of cancer, stage 4 neuroblastoma. Ruby was in trouble. She was quickly admitted to the hospital.
Ruby’s hospital stay lingered on, spilling over into the Christmas season, a hard time to be away from home. One of Ruby’s nurses came up with the idea to place a mailbox outside her room [see photo] so family could send letters full of prayers and encouragement to her. Then the plea went out on Facebook, and that’s when the volume of mail coming in from friends and complete strangers surprised everyone, most of all Ruby. With each letter received (more than 100,000 total), Ruby grew a little more encouraged, and she finally got to go home.
Ever been down and have a friend send you a letter (or an email these days) which lifted you up? Perhaps they wrote that they were praying for you; or if they were at a distance, they expressed their desire to be there with you. That’s what the letters did for Ruby when she was suffering from cancer in the hospital.
And that’s what the Apostle Paul desired to do as he wrote letters to fellow Christians, many of whom were being persecuted or led astray with false doctrine. And when you read these Pauline epistles (see a few examples above), one can read Paul passing along God’s love and uplifting encouragement to his fellow Christians.
And as I was reading today’s ODB entry, I couldn’t help but think of several dear ones in my life that God’s Spirit was showing me who could use a dose of His love and grace. And as God’s timing would have it, one such brother, called me this week to request sharing breakfast with me this very morning. And I happen to know he’s been through a lot the past weeks with a lot of sickness in his family. So, I’m duly convicted to do all I can this morning to listen to his needs and encourage him if I can.
Perhaps some of you, reading here, know of someone who could use a letter, an email, or a phone call to lift them up as Gordon Mote prays in the linked song of that kind of need. And if you do know of someone needing your encouragement, … you know what to do!
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for sending me Your everlasting encouragement thru Your word.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to do all we can TODAY to encourage someone we know with God’s love/grace. … 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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