Tuesday, January 21, 2020

January 21, 2020 …One Step At A Time

Berry Patch Devotions in 2020 - Day 21 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and song from Clay Crosse, Bob Carlisle, and Bebe Winans singing … I Will Follow Christ … powerfully singing of how we, as disciples of Christ, must choose - step-by-step - to follow our Lord, leading us out of the dark and into His light with His word.

Following Christ ... one-step-at-a-time !!! 

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Highlight Verse[s]: 2 Samuel 12:7 [ESV] ...  7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,  …” 
… The Prophet, Nathan, calls out David for his sins and the cover-up …
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Samuel 12:1-14 [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… David made bad choices and got WAY OFF TRACK in following The Lord, but Nathan helped him get back on track.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 119:105, 139:23-24 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK
… Using God’s word as our “GPS” (God’s Positioning System) and praying that we stay on track … HIS TRACK!

Reference Passage : … Luke 9:23 [ESV] … 23 And He said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. …” 
… Jesus calls us all - to those who would so choose - to follow Him.

Reference Passage : … Revelation 3:20 [ESV] … 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 
… Everyday Jesus calls us to open the door of our hearts and let Him in.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Mike Wittmer, uses recent news story of boys getting stuck in a cave by following the wrong path … one step at a time. … The ODB author wrote: In northern Thailand, the Wild Boars youth soccer team decided to explore a cave together. After an hour they turned to go back and found that the entrance to the cave was flooded. Rising water pushed them deeper into the cave, day after day, until they were finally trapped more than two miles (four kilometers) inside. When they were heroically rescued two weeks later, many wondered how they had become so hopelessly trapped. Answer: one step at a time. 

The youth soccer team got in trouble because they ended up in the wrong place by taking the wrong path … one step at a time. King David (see highlight passage) was called out by Nathan because the King, who had a heart to follow God, made one bad choice after another which led to adultery and even murder.

I would expect that most - if not all - reading here have answered Jesus’ call to follow Him (see Luke 9:23); and as in the linked song, we may have even declared our desire to follow Him. The question is, however, … ARE WE?!! … And if we’ve gotten off track, what steps could we take today to get back on the patch to follow our Lord? (see photo).

The reality is … that we’re all vulnerable to our own flesh, the world’s lures, and Satan’s ploys; and we need to do all we can to use God’s “GPS” (i.e., His word) to keep us on the right track in life. That’s why you find me here every day, seeking God’s light to keep me on His path (see Ps. 119:105 and 139:23-24). I pray you join me today.

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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for calling us and giving us Your light to follow Your path.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me today, to carefully follow our Lord’s call and His “GPS” … to take one step at a time to follow Him. 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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