May 13, 2023 … Living and Loving

Berry Patch Devotions in 2023 - Day 133 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Mack Brock singing … The Love of Jesus … poignantly and powerfully singing of how the love of Jesus is alway there for us to share with others, … just as He shared His love with/for us. 

Living for the Love of God ... 

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Highlight Passage: … Romans 12:9-10 [NLT] … 

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.    

… Paull exhorts fellow Christians to live to love others with genuine Christlike love.                         

Highlight Passage (Context): … Romans 12:9-18 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK …  

… Paull urges and encourages fellow Christians to live out God’s law of love, genuinely loving others as Christ loved us.                                         .                     

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Reference Passage: … Leviticus 19:18 [NLT] … 

18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 

… God, thru  Moses, charges God’s people to live out of love for all as our neighbors.  

Reference Passage: …  Matthew 22:36-40 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus, when challenged to give God’s greatest commandment, quotes from Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18, giving God’s law of love. 

Reference Passage: …  John 13:13-17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus shows His Disciples how to live and love like Him by washing their feet like a Servant would. Jesus said, “Do as I have done to you.”      

Reference Passage: …  Romans 13:8-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul teaches fellow Christians how loving others fulfills God’s Law.     

Reference Passage: … 1John 5:3 [NLT] … 

3 Loving God means keeping His commandment, and His commands are not burdensome. 

… John strongly challenges those who say that we live for Christ should. obey and keep His commandments

                                                                                                                       

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Marvin Williams … AT THIS LINK …  relates the story of young 14 year old cross-country runner Susan Bergeman being a good example of God’s love, as she pushes her brother, Jeffrey, in races, … Jeffrey being brain-damaged from an accident, leaving him with cerebral palsy (see photo).  

And I was promptly challenged and strongly convicted by today’s ODB entry to realize that I could be doing so much more to fulfill God’s law of love,  which is spelled out in today’s linked song and the Scriptures above.  How about my fellow readers, … those of us who claim to follow Christ; …  are we really showing the love of Christ by the way we live for others these days?               

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for being my model to live out Your love for others today.      

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to do more today to live out Your Law of Love, Lord, by reaching out to help others 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.