December 18, 2023 … His Nearness Lifts Me …

December 18, 2023 … His Nearness Lifts Me  …    

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in this song with lyrics from Shane and Shane singing  … Your Nearness …  Poignantly singing of how God’s nearness is our good.  

God is ALWAYS near ... 

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Highlight Passage: … Philippians 4:5-6  [ESV] … 

4-5 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. …  The Lord is at hand; 

… The Apostle Paul exhorts fellow Christians to rejoice in the nearness of Christ’s return. 

Highlight Passage (in context) … Philippians 4:4-7  … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle Paul assuring fellow Christians that we can have God’s peace, know that God is near and to have joy in knowing that Christ will come again.                            

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Reference Passage: … Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… Solomon teaches that when we trust and follow The Lord, He will lead us as we follow His will. 

Reference Passage: … Isaiah 41:10 (NLT] …  

10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. 

… God, thru Isaiah, promises believers His strength to lift them (us) up.     

Reference Passage: … Matthew 28:20b (NLT] …  

 20b … And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

… Promises all who trust and follow The Lord … to be with them (us) ALWAYS.  

Reference Passage: … 2Corinthians 12:9 (NLT] …  

<i>  9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.   </i>

… Paul assures fellow Christians, remembering and declaring Christ’s promise to provide His empowering grace and power when we are feeling weak.                 

Reference Passage: … 1Peter 5:7 (NLT] …  

7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.  

… God’s promise, thru Peter to oppressed Christians, that we can ALWAYS take our worries to God, because God ALWAYS cares for them (us).        

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread Author , Karen Huang -  AT THIS LINK -   Tells of Lourdes, a voice teacher in Manilla, who had taught her students face-to-face for over thirty years; … but, likely for health reasons, … was forced to go to online teaching with conferencing platforms, about which Lourdes was not confident.   But later, often praying the words of Philippians 4:4-7 (see above), Lourdes was quoted as saying, “How I clung to those words.” … and … “God led me to websites about fixing computer glitches; …  and He also gave me patient students who understood my technological limitations.”

We all, at times, have to deal with circumstances in life where we might be fearful and feeling weak and unable to cope with life’s demands.  But, … if we truly hold on to the truths from God’s word, shared above, we can, as the Apostle Paul did in the Highlight passage above, actually REJOICE, … knowing that God is with us now, and will be forever, giving us His strength to cover our weaknesses and to lift us up with His caring and victorious right hand.      

   

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for ALWAYS being with me.  

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray. again today, that all reading here will join me, … knowing that You’re always there to lift us and guide us, 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.