December 4, 2022 … Service With Purpose …

Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 338 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in song and lyrics of Kristian Stanfill singing … More Like Jesus … poignantly singing about how Christ came into the world to be our King by serving mankind and how we should do the same in serving Hime.  

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Highlight Passage: … Colossians 3:23  [NLT] …  

23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 

…To fellow Christians, Paul calls on us to serve The Lord in all we do.                                                                     

Highlight Passage (Context): … Colossians 3:23-24 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle Paul exhorts fellow Christians to serve our Lord by serving others just He did for us.                                                                                                                                                     

===============                                                                     .                                                                      

Reference Passage: … Mark 10:41-45 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

…  Jesus teaches His disciples (and us) that to be leaders in the kingdom of God we must be servants [i.e., “slaves”] of others here on earth, just as He was in His time on earth.    

Reference Passage: … John 12:26 [NLT] … 

26 Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.  

…  Jesus teaches that God, the Father, will honor those who serve Him in this life.   

Reference Passage: … Romans 12:1 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …   

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters,  I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.  

…  Paul calls on all Christians to become living sacrifices of service for the Lord.         

<b><u>Reference Passage </u>: … 1Corinthians 15:58 [NLT] … </b>

<i> 58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. </i>

…  Paul teaches that we Christians have been called out to be strong in serving the Lord ALWAYS, because anything we do for the Lord is NEVER useless.    

Reference Passage: … Galatians 5:13 [NLT] … 

13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

…  Paul repeats his call to fellow Christians to serve one another in love just as Jesus served us.                                                                     

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread< author, Kimya Loder … AT THIS LINK …   tells of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831–95), the first African-American woman to receive a medical degree; and how she faithfully served the families of former slaves thru all the strong discrimination she predictably encountered.          

And if you’ve taken in the linked song and meditated on the Scriptures above, how many of my readers are duly convicted - as am I - that we can - AND SHOULD - be doing more to serve our Lord in all that we’re called to do in life?  

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for calling me out to serve You more today and then even more tomorrow.        

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to serve You more, Lord, today by serving others.    …  Amen

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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.