May 1, 2023 … Planting Seeds of Faith

Berry Patch Devotions in 2023 - Day 121 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Steve Green singing … People Need The Lord … poignantly and powerfully singing of how we Christians are called to share seeds of our Faith in Christ with others who need His saving and sanctifying grace.  

Seedling of faith growing in fertile soil ... 

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Highlight Passage: … 1Peter 3:14-15 [NLT] … 

14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.  

… Peter exhorts fellow Christians, … even in the face of suffering or persecution, … to be willing - AND ABLE - to share their faith by the way they live for Christ, sharing their Christlike spirit with others who need the Lord.                  

Highlight Passage (Context): … 1Peter 3:8-16 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK …  

… Peter writes to persecuted Christians to be willing to share the seeds of their faith with others who desperately need God’s saving and sanctifying grace.                                      .                     

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Reference Passage: … Matthew 28:19-20 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus, in His “Great Commission” … at His ascension back to heaven, commissions all of His born-again ambassadors to go and share the Good News of His Gospel of faith and hope with those who need God’s saving and sanctifying grace; … and that’s to all of us who know King Jesus as LORD and Savior.         

Reference Passage: … John 15:1-7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus teaches His disciples (and us) that we must abide in Him to provide us the grace to plant His seeds of saving grace to be fruitful as His called ambassadors.    

Reference Passage: … 1Corinthians 3:6-9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul charges fellow Christians to work in unity to plant and harvest their (our) seeds of the Gospel to all whom God desires to be part of His eternal kingdom harvest.         

Reference Passage: … Galatians 6:7-9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul also encourages fellow Christians to not become discouraged by rejection as they (we) share in planting their seeds of faith in Christ with others.   

Reference Passage: … James 5:7 [NLT] … 

7 Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.

… God, thru Jesus’ brother, James, exhorts fellow Christians to be like farmers who plant their seeds and wait for the harvest to come in.   

                                                                                                                         

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Kirsten Holmberg … AT THIS LINK …  wrote of a storm bringing down many seeds from the trees in her yard, followed by many of the seedlings popping up to grow follow the storm (see photo).   

And the ODB author used this image as encouragement for Christians, … as we read in the Scriptures above,…  for us Christians to do all we can to send out our seeds of faith, by the way we live for Christ and with our calling to share the Gospel with any and all who need God’s saving and sanctifying grace.  And as Steve Green sings in the linked song, we, who are in Christ, are called to be ready - and able - to share the seeds of the Gospel to so many we will encounter who need the Lord.

I pray we’re all ready to go forth, maybe even today, with the seedlings of God’s grace, to plant those seeds as we share the Gospel with those who need the Lord.   

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for calling me to be Your seed planter today.   

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to go, as we’re commissioned by You, Lord, to plant and water Your Gospel seeds today.    …  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.