September 13, 2023 … Welcome the Strangers …

September 13, 2023 …  Welcome the Strangers  …    

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in this song with lyrics from a worship group singing … We Welcome the Stranger … poignantly singing of God’s call for His people to give grace and love to foreigners and strangers.  

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Highlight Passage: … Deuteronomy 10:19 [NLT] … 

19 So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.   

…God, thru Moses, reminds God’s people to show mercy and grace to strangers and foreigners just as God showed mercy to His people wandering in the wilderness from Egypt. .             

               

Highlight Passage (Context): … Deuteronomy 10:17-20 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK …  

… God calls on His people to show love and grace to foreigners as He showed His love to then when they were foreigners wandering in the wilderness from Egypt.                                              

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Reference Passage: … Leviticus 19:33-34  [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

…God, thru Moses, strongly commands His people to show love and caring grace to foreigners just as God showed mercy/grace to them as they wandered in the wilderness.   

Reference Passage: … Matthew 25:35 [NLT] …  

35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.  

… Jesus teaches Christians that His true disciples were those who cared for Him in the person of those in need.

Reference Passage: … Romans 15:7  [NLT] …  

7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.  

… God, thru Paul, exhorts Christians to accept each other just as Christ has accepted the lost.          

Reference Passage: … Hebrews 13:2  [NLT] …  

2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!  

… God’s word, thru the Author of Hebrews, commands Christians to show hospitality to strangers.          

Reference Passage: … 1Peter 4:9  [NLT] …  

9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.  

… Peter exhorts fellow Christians to cheerfully show love and grace to those in need of a place to stay.         

                                                                                                                                        

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Sheridan Voysey  … AT THIS LINK …  wrote of how many German citizens opened their homes to displaced Ukrainian refugees when they were displaced recently as Russia invaded their country.    

Many of the Germans opening their homes to these “strangers” did do with empathy as many of their relatives had been shown protection as they fled from the Nazis in WW2.   And that is the spirit of caring and grace that God calls on His people to show to any/all who are in need of help and mercy.  I pray we all can respond to God’s call for us to help those in need just as He offered His life for the lost in need of His eternal home.           

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for showing me Your love and mercy when I was lost.       

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to open our lives to help strangers in need of Your love and mercy, Lord.   … 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.