Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and lyrics from Kathy Troccoli singing I Will Choose Christ ... poignantly singing of how, in spite of the trials of life, we must CHOOSE to follow Christ.
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Highlight Verse[s]: John 19:40 [NKJV] ... 40 Then they [Joseph and Nicodemus] took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
… The two Jewish leaders took great risk to courageously bury the body of Jesus in Joesph’s grave site.
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Highlight Passage [context]: John 19:38-42 [NKJV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… It took great courage for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to openly bury Jesus’ body in that infamous grave after The Lord’s death.
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Reference Passage : … Isaiah 26:3 [NKJV] ... 3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
… The only real place of peace and safety is found in a courageous pursuit of Christ.
Reference Passage : … Isaiah 41:10 [NKJV] … 10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
… God’s promise; … but do we have the courage to believe it and forge ahead with the courage that comes from faith?
Reference Passage : … John 16:33 [NKJV] … 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you [a]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
… Yes, we will have trials in this world; but do we follow the One Who has overcome the world?
Reference Passage : … Hebrews 13:5-6 [NKJV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… God’s exhortation to courage and His promise that we need not fear because He’ll never forsake us.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Remi Oyedele, uses a reference to a courageous soldier in WW2 who served with great courage in the face of great personal risk. … The ODB author wrote: … Desmond Doss enlisted to serve in World War II as a non-combatant. Though his religious beliefs prevented him from carrying a gun, Doss ably served as a combat medic. In one battle, he withstood intense and repeated enemy fire to pull seventy-five soldiers in his unit to safety after they had been injured. His story is told in the documentary The Conscientious Objector and dramatized in the film Hacksaw Ridge. [see photo]
The true story of Desmond Doss in WW2, portrayed in the recent movie, was a story of great courage and faith in God in the face of great personal risk. Doss just kept going back to save wounded soldiers over and over again at Hacksaw Ridge. And his story reminded the ODB author of two others in the Bible, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who, at great risk, courageously took Jesus’ body and buried their newly found Lord/Savior in that grave from which Jesus rose again three days later.
Sometimes, the trials of this world challenge us to take a stand of faith and courage in the face of personal risk because we simply seek to follow Christ and honor Him with our choices. As the ODB author quotes Nelson Mandela, … ”Courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.”
So, … what will we be called to say or do today which shows that we believe the Scriptures above and seek our peace in life only by following our Lord … no matter where He may lead us or what He may call us to do?
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, ... for ALWAYS being there for us when we need Your strength or courage.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me to take a stand today for our Savior. … 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.</ span>
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