October 7, 2023 … Choosing To Follow Christ …

October 7, 2023 …  Choosing To Follow Christ …   

]Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in this song with lyrics from Clay Crosse, Bob Carlisle, and Bebe Winans singing … I Will Follow Christ …  Powerfully singing of how we Christians must choose to follow the Lord’s call to obedience.      

Choosing to follow Christ ... 

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Highlight Passage: … Deuteronomy 30:19 [NLT] … 

19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!   

…Moses relays God’s choices which He puts before His chosen people.  Which do we choose to follow?     

              

Highlight Passage (Context): … Deuteronomy 30:15-20  [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK …  

…Moses shares God’s choices which the Lord puts before His people … to choose to follow the Lord’s way of life or man’s way of death.                                                                                         

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

Reference Passage: …  Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … 

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  6 Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. 

… God, thru Solomon, shows the choice we must take to follow God’s way and not our own..  

Reference Passage: … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 

23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

… Jesus demands that all born-again become His disciples by choosing to follow Him.   

Reference Passage: … John 8:12 [NLT] … 

12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

… Jesus charges His followers to choose to walk in His light and not in our own darkness. 

Reference Passage: … Acts 1:8 [NLT] … 

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  

…Jesus calls on ALL born-again Christian to choose to be His witnesses in all the world. 

Reference Passage: …  1Peter 2:21 [NLT] … 

21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in His steps. 

… Peter calls on fellow Christians to be willing to follow Christ even if it means suffering for Him.                                                                                 

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Katara Patton… AT THIS LINK …   tells of the author trying to minister to a grieving widow by asking how she was coping and dealing with her loss.  The widow’s response was  “Listen, … I choose joy!”

And if my readers today have taken in the linked song and meditated on the Scriptures provided here, including the Highlight passage about the choices God sets before His faithful followers, I pray that we’re all choosing to follow the Lord’s calling for us to follow HIS will and HIS ways and to walk in HIS light rather than choosing to follow the curses of darkness we will encounter if we choose to follow our own selfish ways.  Personally, like the song sings so powerfully, I choose to follow Christ.  How about you?   

 

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for showing me the way to follow You.                               

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to choose to follow You, Lord, no matter where that will lead us.   … 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.