September 18, 2014 … Telling HIS Story

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 261

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of of folk singer Emmy Lou Harris and Academy winning Actor Robert Duvall singing the old hymn I Love To Tell The Story declaring the need of the saved to relate the story of salvation in their lives.

Highlight Passage: 1st Chronicles 16: 8 [NKJV} … David sings a medley of thanksgiving for God’s love for His people …
8  Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
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Highlight Context - NKJV: 1st Chronicles 16: 7-13 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …

Highlight Context # 2 - NKJV: 1st Chronicles 16: 7-36 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Psalm 105: 1-15… [NKJV] ... GO TO THIS LINK … Note the parallel with 1st Chronicles 16: 8-22

Reference Passage #2: Psalm 96: 1-13… [NKJV] ...  GO TO THIS LINK … Note the parallel with 1st Chronicles 16: 23-33

Reference Passage #3: Psalm 106: 1-3; 47-48… [NKJV] ... GO TO THIS LINK … Note the parallel with 1st Chronicles 16: 34-36

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Randy Kilgore, used a song of David, the song in 1st Chronicles, chapter 16, verses 8-36, to illustrate how telling God’s story, primarily through the lives of God’s children becomes one of the most joyful acts of witness we, as His saved ones, can do in this life.

 I just love the simple, but pure, rendition of an old 19th century hymn, ”I Love To Tell The Story,” sung so simply (see link above) by Emmy Lou Harris and Robert Duvall, which declares the joy one experiences when the saved Christian has the opportunity to share the story of how God, in His mercy, forgave our sins and has reshaped our lives.

 Have you ever had the opportunity to share your story of salvation and transformation with someone who was seeking to know Jesus? I have on many occasions; and it’s a delight which is almost impossible to describe. King David loved to share THE STORY of how God delivered him personally or about how God, in His infinite mercy, was willing to save His sinful children - over and over again. One such song is found in today’s highlight passage, 1st Chronicles 16: 7-36, which turns out to be a medley of three of the Psalms [see the references above to Psalms 105, 96, and 106, from which the song in today’s highlight passage comes.

 David just loved to tell the OLD, OLD STORY of how God’s love and mercy brings His glory into the lives of those He saves. Personally, if I’m given the opportunity to share my story of salvation and sanctification with anyone, I will joyfully and gladly do so. I pray we all get such opportunities - maybe even today!

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I pray for divine appointments to share my story, which is Your Story, with anyone who seeks after You. Amen

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.

September 17, 2014 … “ALL” Means ALL

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 260

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of at the sibling group of Dave’s Highway singing I Surrender All dedicating their career and lives to the only One worthy of such surrender.

Highlight Passage: Mark 10: 21-22 [NKJV} … Jesus teaching about surrender to the “rich young ruler” … 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Mark 10: 17-22 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Luke 9: 23… [NKJV] … Without a doubt the most repeated scripture which I’m so often led to quote or reference in my daily journaling …
  23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. … “ 

Reference Passage #2: 1st Timothy 6: 17-19 … [NKJV] GO TO THIS LINK … … Paul helps Timothy to know how to preach/teach to the rich in God’s kingdom

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Dave Branon, raised one of Jesus’ oft repeated lessons by using the passage from Mark 10 about Jesus’ encounter with a rich, young Jewish leader. And this story was also rendered by two of the other Gospel authors (see Matthew 19: 16-22 and Luke 18: 18-23). And long ago, I learned in my discipleship that anytime multiple Gospel authors repeat the same parable or teaching from Jesus, this is the Holy Spirit’s way of saying … PAY ATTENTION!!!

 So, this story, by all three of the synoptic Gospel authors, is in God’s word as God’s way of telling me (and any Christian), that our Lord wants me (us) to FULLY grasp the lesson Jesus was trying to get across to the main character in this encounter, … a rich, younger man, whom many scholars believe might have been a younger member of the Sanhedrin, the group of committed Pharisees who were a part of the ruling leadership of the Jews in Jerusalem.

 But no matter if the latter is true, it was obvious to Jesus, in His encounter with this rich, young man, that the inquisitive Jewish leader didn’t have a clue WHOM he was encountering, asking Jesus how one can be led into Heaven. Jesus saw deep into this young man’s soul and perceived that the young man was a slave to his riches and the power that came with the wealth. So, when the young man asked the LORD, and his unrecognized “Messiah,” Jesus told him - straight out - that the young ruler must be willing to give up ALL of his riches and power and come to follow Jesus if he really desired entry into God’s kingdom. And we know the result of the encounter. The young man couldn’t get it … or wouldn’t! And he went off desiring to hold on to all his earthly riches.

 How many potential kingdom followers encounter Jesus; and walk away from the encounter as did the rich, young ruler, … lost forever because of their unwillingness to see that when Jesus says “ALL,” He means “ALL.” And I’ll leave it to you, in meditating on this thrice repeated story in Scripture, as well as the Apostle Paul’s teaching to Timothy (see 1st Timothy 6: 17-19 linked above), to consider whether we are holding on to STUFF or power or control in our lives too tightly, … not really having given ALL to Jesus?

 Because when the song, linked above and sung by a young man and his two sisters today, sings “I Surrender ALL,” and we meditate on our desires and holdings, we have to decide wether we truly understand that when Jesus says “ALL,” He means … “ALL!”

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I know You mean it when You say “ALL” to me. I pray I get it. Amen

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.

September 16, 2014 … My Sanctuary

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 259

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of a worship service with the congregation singing Sanctuary praying for God to prepare all believers to become a living sanctuary of prayer and worship

Highlight Passage: Psalms 27: 7-8 [NKJV} … David - A man after God’s own heart in prayer …
  7  Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 
  8  When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Psalms 27: 7-14 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: 1st Chronicles 28: 9… [NKJV] … King David’s instructions to his son, Solomon, including exhortation to search for the mind/heart of God …
  9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. … “

Reference Passage #2: Romans 8: 26-27; 12: 1-2… [NKJV] GO TO THIS LINK … Our search of the sanctuary of God can lead to our become a living sacrifice of worship

Reference Passage #3: 1st Thessalonians 5: 16-18… [NKJV] … 
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. … 
Prayer is our passion - 24/7 - for the presence of God.

Reference Passage #4: Philippians 4: 6-8… [NKJV] GO TO THIS LINK … We become a living sacrifice - a sanctuary - of worship when we can set aide the world and dwell continually on those thoughts which honor God

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Anne Cetas, took readers back to examine what our lives would be like if we could become sanctuaries of worship, i.e., “living sacrifices” i- n the words of the Apostle Paul (see Romans 12: 1-2 - a passage we all should internalize).

 The Author’s highlight passage came from one of King David’s Psalms (see the link above for study and mediation), where David was likely reflecting on the times when he was either on the run from Saul or from his own son, Absalom. … We know David was referred in Scripture as a “man after God’s own heart” [see 1st Samuel 13: 14]; and we know from the Psalms that David was a man who had a passion for the presence of God, continually seejubg after that relationship through prayer. But how and when did David become such a living sanctuary of prayer as the attached photo and linked song declare?

 Well, I believe that David’s prayer life was forged out in the wilderness while, as a boy, he was watching over his father’s sheep as the primary family shepherd. And we know that as a boy in that lonely and dangerous wilderness, David forged a deep/abiding faith in God, … strong enough to fight off lions/bears as a shepherd and to defeat Goliath in battle. David had become a “living sanctuary” and the definition of the type of “living sacrifice and worship” which Paul wrote about in the New Testament (see Paul’s writings copied/linked above).

 So how do we, with our deceit-ridden hearts (see Jeremiah 17:9) become the living sacrifice, modeled by David in the OT or Paul in the NT? Well, we do what David and Paul did. … They became what they modeled and preached, … by consciously pursuing a deep and abiding relationship with God, primarily by the way they thought and the decisions they made from those thoughts.

 To me, prayer (especially the prayer called for in 1st Thessalonians 5: 17) is an attitude even more than one stopping to pray all day (i.e., “continually). So, being a living sanctuary of prayer/worship is - to me - a passion for the presence of God; and that is what David and Paul became, … living lives of sacrifice for their Lord.

 Were they perfect in this? … We know they weren’t (e.g., David’s failure with Bathsheba and Paul’s declared weaknesses described in Romans 7). But their minds and lives were primarily in pursuit of God’s own heart; and in that pursuit they became sanctuaries of living worship for their Lord. And that should always be our passion and pursuit as well.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I am here today doing all I can to become a living sanctuary of worship for You. Amen 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.

September 15, 2014 … WHAT IF?

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 258

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of Crystal Lewis and Ron Kenoly singing Beauty For Ashes reminding us what God can do when we’re willing to surrender to His love and mercy and let him uproot the bitterness in our lives and turn it into His love and our darkness into His light.

To see a larger view of the photo - click on it - 

and then on the "X" to return to blog 

Highlight Passage: Genesis 16: 5 [NKJV} … God’s promise through Isaiah …
  5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.”
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Genesis 16: 1-6; 12: 8-13 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Matthew 5: 16… [NKJV] … God shows us what can happen when let His love shine through our lives rather than let our roots of bitterness dispel his love in our lives …
  16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Reference Passage #2: Ephesians 4: 17-32… [NKJV] GO TO THIS LINK … What we could be … IF … we could lay aside all bitterness and take up and wear God’s forgiveness

Reference Passage #3: Colossians 3: 1-11… [NKJV] GO TO THIS LINK … Cutting out the root of carnality from our lives and putting on the new man

Reference Passage #4: Hebrews 12: 12-17… [NKJV] GO TO THIS LINK …  Especially noting the exhortation of verses 14-15 which proclaims we “pursue peace” and avoid letting “any root of bitterness” from growing deep into the soil of our lives …

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Marion Stroud, took his readers to a lesson from history and the results of bitterness when it’s roots are allowed to grow deep without being uprooted and replanted with God’s balm of love, mercy, and forgiveness. It’s the story of when Sarai’s and Hagar’s mutual bitterness could not be replaced with God’s love and where it has led us - even today with what we see still festering in the Middle East.

 And oh how how true Sarai’s proclamation became prophetic reality when she said, in today’s highlight verse ”The Lord judge between you and me.” And we now see the results of that root of bitterness … with Arabs hating and killing Jews and Muslims slaughtering Christians and other Muslims. Oh, how interesting - yet fruitless I’m afraid - to speculate “WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN” … IF … Sarai and Hagar could have parted and sought God’s balm of love to replace their mutual and carnal root of bitterness … which grew between their progeny throughout history.

  WHAT IF … in the fulfillment of the New Covenant, however, we could have seen the results of the proclamations of truth as exposed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6: 16, or the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to the church in the Eph. 5 and Col. 3 passages copied above, or from the Author of Hebrews when God wrote, through him, for us to avoid a root of bitterness in our lives (see Heb. 12 linked above)?

  WHAT IF … we could - and we can! - dig up any root of bitterness we might hold in our hearts and replace it with the Lord’s roots of love, mercy, and forgiveness, which have certainly been amply doled out on the cross and from the power of love from Christ’s resurrection?

  WHAT IF … you or I were able to forgive any/all who have wronged us and have led our very carnal feelings of anger to become roots of bitterness, as pictured in the attached photo?

 Would our lives be any different … IF … we tore out any such roots of bitterness and allowed God’s balm of Gilead to soothe our soul … where we could replace those roots of bitterness and darkness with God’s love and peace, allowing us to shine His light into the world rather than letting the darkness consume us?

 Well, I believe my WHAT IF speculations could be replaced by the loving truth which Crystal Lewis and Ron Kenoly sing about in today’s song, linked above. We could experience God’s beauty for the ashes of our humanity … IF … we could cut out any roots of bitterness in our lives and live in the light of God’s love.

 So … WHAT IF?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, thank You for allowing me to set aside any past anger and bitterness and giving me Your love. Amen

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.

September 14, 2014 … Jesus and the Kids

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 257

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of the Glasgow High School choir singing Charles Wesley’s hymn, written in 1742 - Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild - extolling the heart of a child to be like that of Jesus.

Highlight Passage: Matthew 18: 2-3 [NKJV} … God’s promise through Isaiah …
  2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. …” 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Matthew 18: 1-10 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Matthew 11: 28-29 … [NKJV] … Jesus in describing Himself for any of His children [i.e., disciples]…
  28 “… Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “ 

Reference Passage #3: Matthew 19: 13-15 … [NKJV] Oh how Jesus loved the kids …
  13 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And He laid His hands on them and departed from there. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David McCasland, took his readers - including myself - back to the reminder, from Matthew’s Gospel, of Jesus’ attitude toward children. Jesus obviously loved kids; and they obviously flocked to Him; and in His teaching on God’s kingdom, the children w\ho came to Him (see the Matthew 18 & 19 passages copied above) became examples of the attitude it takes to enter Heaven.

I don’t think I’m being lazy here by my ending this journal entry with these question:
... Do we have the attitude of those kids who jumped in Jesus’ lap in those passages quoted by Matthew? 
… And are we doing all we can to make sure others come to our Lord in the same way?

Please take the time to listen to that classic old hymn, linked above, written by Charles Wesley in the 18th century, which describes the attitude of a child in coming to know Jesus as Lord. And then let’s ask ourselves ...
… Is that my attitude toward my Savior? 

 And how I pray we answer a resounding “YES!” to all of these questions.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I am Your child - forever! Amen

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.

September 13, 2014 … Into the Sea of Forgetfulness

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 256

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of Helen Baylor singing her soulful song - Sea Of Forgetfulness - reminding all those who’ve put their faith in the saving grace of Jesus’ favor on the cross, that our sins have been set aside, as far as the east is from the west, … into God’s sea of forgetfulness.

Highlight Passage: Isaiah 43: 25 [NKJV} … God’s promise through Isaiah …
  25  “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins. 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Isaiah 43: 22-28 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …

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Reference Passage #1: Psalm 103: 11-18… [NKJV] …GO TO THIS LINK …  especially remembering verse 12 …
 12  As far as the east is from the west,
 so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 

Reference Passage #2: Micah 7: 19… [NKJV] … God’s wonderful prophesy …
  19 He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea. 

Reference Passage #3: 1st John 1: 9 … [NKJV] GO TO THIS LINK … Can we believe it … I pray so!! ...
  9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David Roper, reminds any who read and mediate here today of the extent to which God was and is willing to eradicate the sinfulness of the faithful remnant who are willing - in faith - to receive the Lord’s saving grace.

 So, every now and again - and that’s in my time with God this morning - I need to be reminded of God’s promises - and His reality - when He was dying on that cross; and just before His soul was cast into His Father’s hand, He declared, “It is finished!” … AND IT IS … FOREVER!!

 And I pray you take the time to revel this day in the truth of the attached photo … that the sins of the faithful are, as the Prophet Isaiah declared in today’s OBD highlight verse, “remembered no more.” … No, … they have been cast as far as “the east is from the west,” [see Psalm 103: 12] and “into the depths of the sea,” [see Micah 7: 19] or, as Helen Baylor sings in today’s devotional song, … into “the sea of forgetfulness.”

 Dear one, … do we know this? Do we really believe it? … Because if we do, and each time we can - in consciousness - confess our sins [see 1st John 1: 9], God cleanses us from ALL our sins and cast those sins into His sea of forgetfulness. … Now in my humanity, I don’t think I can fully comprehend this truth. But I’m here today believing it and reveling in it’s reality; … and all I can say [and very loudly!!!] is … HALLELUJAH!!! 

PS: … BTW … for all who know my testimony of “13s” … did you note what date this is. Yeah, all the big stuff happens to me on the “13th” of a month. So join me in praising the Lord for His reminder of truth today!  <'wrb>< 

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You are so merciful to forget my sins - FOREVER. Amen

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.

September 12, 2014 … Facing the Giants

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 255

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of organ music and lyrics to Charles Wesley’s hymn Father of Jesus Christ, My Lord, which strongly proclaims that our relationship with Christ provides us wit the power to overcome all enemies. … And THEN TO THIS LINK  to view a 90 minute movie of the life story of Dennis Jernigan, whose testimony can help anyone who has been oppressed by personal “Goliaths.”

Highlight Passage: 1st Samuel 17: 37 [NKJV} … David’s confidence in His God to defeat Goliath …
  37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
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Highlight Context - NKJV: 1st Samuel 17: 31-37 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: 2nd Corinthians 12:9 … [NKJV] …
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  

Reference Passage #2: Galatians 2: 20… [NKJV] …
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Reference Passage #3: 1st John 4: 1-6 … [NKJV] ... GO TO THIS LINK … Especially note verse 4 -
...    4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Poh Fang Chia, opens with a very familiar Bible story - that of David confronting his Goliath; and Chia predictably uses the story to reference the “Goliaths” we all face in life as Christians.

 Perhaps, today, like most of us, the world is presenting itself as a “GOLIATH,” trying to get us to wilt under the stature of its intimidating presence and fierce rhetoric. Maybe, you’ve been beaten down by past wounds to think that you’re worthless and have no real importance in this world. … Perhaps, like Dennis Jernigan, in the movie [linked above] which came to my attention by God’s timing yesterday, there are those who believe - by the intimidation of the so-called “gay lobby” in the world, that they were born gay and will always be gay. … Maybe the intimidation of radical Islamic terrorists, which we thought about yesterday on 9/11, has many thinking that we must cower to its tactics of terror. … And I think of many young people these days, who are totally intimidated by the bullying tactics and sexting extortion of their fellow classmates.

 Yes, we all confront “GOLIATHS” in our lives, don’t we? And these forces of evil can be just as intimidating as was the original Philistine, Goliath, was for the Israelites under Saul’s command [see the 1st Samuel passage above]. But for Saul and God’s army, David showed up and actually believed that this Goliath didn’t stand a chance against his LORD. David, even as a young lad, actually believed what Paul had to learn in 2nd Corinthians 12: 9 and what the Apostle John taught in 1st John 4: 4 … that we serve a God Who is always greater than the “GOLIATHS” we face in life.

 What is your GOLIATH? Are you combatting a father wound, having been beaten down to believe that you’re worthless? … Have you come to fall prey to the lies that if you have same-sex desires that you were born “gay?” … Are you captive and bound up by some addiction in your life, believing that God could never give you the strength to overcome these demons? … Maybe you’re like many young people today, who are thinking that suicide would be better than to face up to bullies who would do all they can to make one feel unwanted, alone, or worthless.

 I don’t know what your GOLIATH might be, dear one. But whatever or whoever it might be, I pray we take in the truths above today, and BELIEVE - as did young David - that our God is greater than any Goliath. And if you can carve out 90 minutes from your life, I would exhort you to use the link above and watch the testimonial movie of Dennis Jernigan, the well-known Christian music artist, who was close to suicide in his college days, believing the lie that he was “born gay,” and living for several years captive to that lifestyle. Well, you may know some of Dennis’ story, now that he and his wife have nine (count them, NINE) children;. Dennis J came to die to himself (see Galatians 2: 20) and was reborn with Christ’s strength to overcome his goliath.

 So, now, … let’s go out and believe that we have a God who will help us defeat any “GOLIATH” in our life.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You are my power to overcome! Amen

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.

September 11, 2014 … Reborn to Serve

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 254

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of Marty Goetz singing his modern psalm Heneni, which tells the story of those who are re-born by God to serve Him.

Highlight Passage: Mark 10: 45 [NKJV} … Jesus - Born to serve …
  45 “… For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Mark 10: 35-45 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Isaiah 6: 5-8 … [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Here is the story of Isaiah, the Prophet, who was reborn and sent to serve The Lord

Reference Passage #2: Matthew 28: 18-20 … [NKJV] ... GO TO THIS LINK …  Christ’s charge to all those who are reborn in Him - to go and serve Him …

Reference Passage #3: 2nd Corinthians 5: 17… [NKJV] …
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

Reference Passage #4: Galatians 5: 16-26 … [NKJV] ...  GO TO THIS LINK … Paul teaches that Christians are to walk in the Spirit, using the fruit of the Spirit to serve the Lord.

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Dennis Fisher, opens with an interesting word picture to illustrate what reborn Christians become in their relationship with Christ. Fisher tells of service dogs, who are born and bred to provide service to their Masters (see attached photo). Some are seeing-eye dogs; … yet others are trained to smell when their master needs insulin; … or others serve the needs of the physically challenged (as in the photo). But in that illustration, we Christians should see that we were “reborn to serve.”

 Today’s OBD highlight Bible passage (see Mark 10: 35-45 linked above) tells of two of Jesus’ inner 12 disciples, James and John, learning of THE ONE Who was truly “born to serve;” and in this passage, we also see Jesus teaching His followers (that’s me too) that in our faith in our Lord we are reborn to serve Him in our lives as His disciples. That’s what Isaiah came to learn when he surrendered his life to his Lord (see the Isaiah 6 passage above). It’s what Jesus commanded His disciples as He was raised to return to His Father in Heaven (see the “Great Commission” passage linked above). And it’s what the Apostle Paul was teaching the early church - i.e., that we are reborn in newness of Spirit to use His fruit to serve others; and in doing so to serve our Lord [see the 2Cor. 5 and Gal. 5 passages above].

 Today’s devotional song, linked above, is one of my favorites, … Marty Goetz, a born-again Messianic Jew, singing about those who surrendered to God’s call of service, … those like Isaiah, or Jesus’ early church disciples, or those, like you and me, who realize the seriousness of Christ’s great commission, … TO GO … in our lives, with the gifts and fruit we’ve been given by God’s Spirit … and TO SERVE our Lord for His glory.

 Where/how will we do that today?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I pray that any reading here with me today answer our Lord’s call to service … yes, even today; … and we go forth as called ones in Christ. Amen

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.

September 10, 2014 … God’s Love Letter

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 253

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of the group 4Him singing The Message, which reminds all Christians that then lives we live may be the only love letter others will see from God.

Highlight Passage: Psalm 119: Verses 11, 16, 105, 113 [NKJV} … Use this link ... Carrying our respect and faith in God’s word as far as this faithful Psalmist …  
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Psalms 119 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  A Psalmist honors God’s word …
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Reference Passage #1: Proverbs 3: 5-6 … [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  I hope you know this one BY HEART. It”s true; but do we have this kind of trust; especially in God’s word?

Reference Passage #2: Joshua 1: 8 … [NKJV] … God’s prescription to Joshua for spiritual success was staying in God’s word …
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 

Reference Passage #3: Isaiah 55: 11 … [NKJV] …
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth. It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please; and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 

Reference Passage #4: 2nd Timothy 3: 16-17… [NKJV] …
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Dave Branon, opens with a poignant story illustrating his point today about God’s wondrous love letter to mankind, … The Bible. He pointed to something I’ve experienced more than once, … the ability to read short letters, written by our girls or grandkids very early in their lives when their writing skills were not yet developed. Yet, in reading those crude, incomplete letters, the love which poured forth from them was indescribable, … yet undeniable.

 Well, God’s writing skills are most certainly not imperfect or undeveloped. In fact, His love letter to any of His children who will read and study The Bible is a reflection - through translation - of God’s perfect and powerful expressions of His love for His children. When we study and do all we can to understand God’s word, we’re reading the most perfect letter every written; and it comes from God’s inspired truth. The Bible is God’s love letter for all time; and one of God’s most powerful descriptions of this love letter came from a Psalmist, in Psalm 119, a man, who in poetic language, expresses a deep love affair with God’s word; and I believe this love song is a perfect reflection of what our attitude should be toward God’s truth in The Bible.

 And if you’ve taken the time (I hope you have!) to read the various Scriptures, linked or copied above, from Psalm 119 and other reference sources, one has to come away with the realization of the power of God’s word to shape or reshape our lives. Read above how we can avoid sin by burying God’s word deeply into our hearts (Psalm 119: 11). Read how God gave Joshua (and us) the prescription for spiritual success (Joshua 1: 8). See how God’s word, if used for His purposes, will never come back void (see Isaiah 55: 11). And read from Paul to Timothy (and all of mankind) that God’s inspired word leads us toward completeness, providing us with all we need to live our lives (2nd Tim. 3: 16-17).

 So, today’s ODB devotional and my blog scream out loudly for us to develop the attitude which the author of Psalm 119 had for God’s word. Personally, it’s why you find me here EVERY MORNING, diving into God’s word and doing all I can to be loved by God through His love letter. I’ll pray that we all become obsessive in being in God’s love letter and letting His love grow in us until it overflows into the lives of others.

 Go, dive into God’s love letter today, … and then, write a love letter to someone else [a journal from God’s truth], letting God’s love flow from His word into someone else today.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I pray that any reading here with me today sense your love, flowing from my keyboard to them through Your word. Amen

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.

September 9, 2014 … Perfect Peace

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 252

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of a Bill Gaither celebration of Billy Graham’s tent revivals with Billy’s worship leader, Cliff Barrows, leading the praises by having the congregation sing… Blessed Assurance, which proclaims the truth for any/all believers who have their peace and strength in a relationship with Christ.

Highlight Passage: Matthew 11: 28 [NKJV} … Do we rest in Jesus when we’re feeling anxious …28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. …” 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Matthew 11: 28-30 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  Our relationship with Jesus is where we find our peace …
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Reference Passage #1: Proverbs 3: 5-6 … [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   I hope you know this one BY HEART. It”s true; but do we have this kind of trust.?

Reference Passage #2: Isaiah 26: 3 … [NKJV] … Again, truth; but do we rest in its reality . …
  3  You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

Reference Passage #3: Philippians 4: 6-7 … [NKJV] … Paul hits most of us right between the eyes with conviction …
  6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Reference Passage #4: 1st Peter 5: 7… [NKJV] … And Peter said it too!! …
  7 … casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Jennifer Benson Schuldt, had an interesting word picture in today’s ODB to illustrate her lesson. She spoke of the curious strategy used by possum’s to “play dead” when threatened by danger. And that reminded me of another, more personal picture, which I remember from my own past.

 When my wife and I moved into our home, our first dog was a tiny little toy poodle, named, “Scamp,” who only weighed about 4 pounds. It was always getting into stuff it shouldn’t; and when Scamp knew it was “busted” and was about to be yelled at, it would almost do a “possum pose,” lying down, belly up, totally prostrate, in a posture of total surrender to me, … her MASTER!

 And that picture reminded me of the posture God’s truth paints for us when we’re feeling oppressed or when we’re anxious. And God said it through many of His truth sayers, like Jesus in today’s highlight passage of Matthew 11: 28; … or by Solomon in Proverbs 3: 5—6; … or through the Prophet, Isaiah, in Isaiah 26: 3, … or from the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4; 6-7; … or from Paul’s buddy, Peter, in 1st Peter 5: 7 … all passages of truth either linked or copied above for your study and meditation.

 How many times does God have to say, through how many spokesmen, that He wants us to come, just like our little dog (see the attached photo). and lie in total surrender, trusting TOTALLY in the Master Who ALWAYS has our well being in His hands?

 Our question today, as is always God’s question, … DO WE BELIEVE these truths enough to surrender ALL of our will to His, trusting that He cares for us and will be our protector and guide in life?

 I pray we do.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, as the video prompts me to sing, THIS IS MY STORY; … You are my BLESSED ASSURANCE … all my life long! Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 8, 2014 … Sow what?!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 251

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of the group 4Him singing … The Basics of life, which I’m repeating from yesterday’s blog because the principle being taught in today’s blog is so basic to our lives … and it’s a principle which we should be applying EVERY DAY by our choices [i.e., the basics of life].

Highlight Passage: Mark 4: 20 [NKJV} … Jesus laid the law of the harvest out in a parable   …
  20 “ … But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Mark 4: 1-20 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  We reap what we sow … God’s inviolable law of reciprocity …
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Reference Passage #1: Proverbs 11: 18-19 … [NKJV] … Truth!! …
18 The wicked man does deceptive work,

But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. 
19  As righteousness leads to life,

So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death. 

Reference Passage #1: Matthew 7: 12 … [NKJV] … Jesus taught the principle of sowing and reaping too as “the Law of the Prophets” …
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 

Reference Passage #2: Luke 6: 38 … [NKJV] … Jesus re-emphasizes the truth of sowing and reaping …
  38 “… Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” 

Reference Passage #3: Galatians 6: 7-10 … [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK ...   Paul teaches God’s law of sowing and reaping …

Reference Passage #4: 2nd Corinthians 9: 6 … [NKJV] … In the context of teaching about giving, Paul reinforces the reality of God’s law of reciprocity …
  6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 

Reference Passage #5: James 3: 18 … [NKJV] … In the context of peacemaking, Jesus’ brother taught about God’s law of sowing and reaping as well …
  18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Julie Ackerman Link, emphasized one of the more inviolable spiritual laws, that of the law of sowing and reaping. And I’ve stolen here great title for my blog today. Yes, it is a LAW of God. Jesus called it the “Law of the Prophets;” [see Matthew 7: 12] and one sees it repeated over and over again in God’s word.

 Long ago, in my discipleship and growth in the faith, I learned that when God’s word - i.e., God Himself - teaches one principle multiple times with multiple authors, God is trying to emphasize a truth; and today’s ODB is trying to reinforce a Spirit-given LAW about which God wants His children to learn and apply in our lives. The big-fancy theological term is “God’s Law of Reciprocity;” and we often think about it as the law of sowing and reaping. Sometimes we hear one say about this truth, … “What goes around, comes around!” 

 But what we need to know - and more importantly, apply - from all the scriptures above is the seriousness of this truth. When God - through authors like Solomon, the Apostle Paul, Jesus’ brother, James, and from Jesus Himself, teach one truth over and over again, God, the Father, wants His kids to pay attention, to learn, and to apply His truth as a law just … as sure as the law of gravity.

 Yes, what goes up, WILL come down! And be sure about it, … what one sows, one will reap! So, we must continue to do an inventory of our life choices, must we not? We need to occasionally ask ourselves, "What do I want to reap as a harvest in my life?” … And at the same time, we need to ask, “Am I sowing the seeds, from my choices and behaviors, which will predictably yield the future harvest I desire?” And as the attached photo implies, one can apply this law of reciprocity to any area of our lives, … can’t we?

 If we sow hatred, what can we expect in return? … If we so love, what will come back? … If we sow generosity, what will come back from God? If we sow selfishness, … what will be the harvest? I’ll let you deal with this truth for yourself. But when it comes to giving to God’s kingdom, our check stubs or online bank statements will tell the story of our sowing and reaping for God’s glory.

 How did we do this week when the offering plate was passed in Church? … Are we sowing God’s seeds of love and forgiveness to others … EVERYDAY? … What seeds can we sow today to plant for God’s harvest in our lives tomorrow?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I know Your Law on sowing and reaping is true; and I pray my heart is right as I sow Your seeds in my life. Amen

  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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 7, 2014 … The Basics = Knowing God

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 250

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of the group 4Him singing … The Basics of life, which prayerfully helps all who read here to stay tuned into the primary teachings and directions of Christ through His word (see attached photo).

Highlight Passage: Philippians 3: 8 [NKJV} … Paul saw the first things first in life - i.e., knowing God. …
  8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Philippians 3: 1-11 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … … Knowing God more today than yesterday - back to the basics!! …
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Reference Passage #1: Matthew 6: 33 … [NKJV] … Jesus nailed the basics of Christian choice-making …
  33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

Reference Passage #2: John 14: 21 … [NKJV] … Jesus so wants to manifest Himself in/through me … but only when I can surrender myself to His will and His ways through His word …
  21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Joe Stowell, reminded the OBD readers of my song link for today, one which I’ve used in several of my past journal entries, the group 4Him singing The Basics of Life [see link above].

 And my ODB teachings today took me back to a time, early in my Christian discipleship, when a key mentor in my life pointed me to the rock solid basics of my newly found faith. He asked me, “Bill, what is your #1 goal as a Christian?” I really didn’t know how to answer him; and looking for direction I asked Dr. Bob, this Godly man whom I was following, what his #1 goal was; and he told me that his primary goal in life was “to know God more that day than the day before;” and he went on to show me that he sought, through his choices, to know God even more the next day than he knew our Lord that day.

 And that is my challenge for any/all who’re reading here with me today. We all need to be following our Lord (see Luke 9: 23) and seeking after His will and His ways through His world (see attached photo) EVERY DAY and in every way we can in our lives to fulfill the reference commands above (see Matt. 6: 33 and John 14: 21). Because, as I’ve written here in my past blogs, when we’re truly seeking for God’s way in life, primarily by following His word, our Lord will provide the direction and power we need to be His light in this ever darkening world [see Matt. 5: 16].

 So, … back to the basics today [please take the time/effort to use the link above to watch the entire video to which I’ve linked you on GodTube].

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I pray it almost every day … shine Your light so brightly on our path that we can clearly see where we need to go to follow You.… And we will !!!Amen

  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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 6, 2014 … PTL in song!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 249

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of a choir and orchestra playing/singing Handel’s great … Hallelujah Chorus, reminding us that God’s creation sings and shouts out … HALLELUJAH!!! … with praises to the Creator … FOREVER AND EVER … HALLELUJAH!!!

Highlight Passage: Psalms 150: 3-6 [NKJV} … The Psalmist sings “HALLELUJAH!!” to our Lord …
3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the lute and harp! 
4  Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 
5  Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with clashing cymbals! 
6  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. 
Praise the Lord! 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Psalms 146-150 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … These are God’s Hallelujah Chorus …  
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Reference Passage #1: Psalm 59: 16-17 … [NKJV] … David sang of God’s praises even when he was being oppressed …
16 But I will sing of Your power;

Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;

For You have been my defense

And refuge in the day of my trouble. 
17  To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;

For God is my defense,

My God of mercy. 

Reference Passage #1: Psalm 146: 1-2 … [NKJV] … The Psalmist recognized his need to sing “HALLELUJAH!” to His God continually …
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 
2  While I live I will praise the Lord;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David McCasland, reminded the OBD readers of our need to sing our praises to God as His word so often exemplifies. And if you come here to read my daily journaling into God’s truth and His word, you know that EVERY MORNING in my quiet time, I have developed the discipline of finding some song, which I believe praises God by worshipping the Lord in song to amplify or exemplify my blogging.

 Today it was a no-brainer to find a song to illustrate what the OBD author was trying to convey. McCasland was using the last five Psalms as his highlight Bible passages today. In this section of the Psalms, often call “God’s song book,” this particular collection of songs is often referred to as “God’s Hallelujah Chorus.” And if you use the link above and go back to study and meditate on these Psalms, you’ll see the psalmist[s] saying over and over and over again, the refrain of “Praise the Lord!”

 And that phrase in the original Hebrew is the term ’HALLELUJAH!” And hence my use of Handel’s classic “Hallelujah Chorus” as my song reference today. And as I indicated, songs and music are very, very important in my daily devotionals. Having taught in the Dept. of Neurology at a major medical school for over 35 years, I know how the right kind of music activates the entire brain and creates neurochemistry which either pacifies or excites our mind. So, I try to find music each day which helps me (and prayerfully my fellow Christians) to worship God more personally or powerfully or peacefully. And how could one not PRAISE THE LORD when he/she listens to the classic Hallelujah Chorus, especially when the video shows scenes of God’s creation.

 Oh, how I pray that we are all releasing our minds/hearts to sing ”Hallelujah!!” to our LORD today … and every day.

My Prayer for Today … Oh Lord, hallelujah, … Hallelujah! … HALLELUJAH!!! … PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME!! … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 5, 2014 … What A Deal !!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 248

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing… Your Grace Still Amazes Me, reminding us just how far God’s grace extends - to FOREVER!!

Highlight Passage: James 4: 13-14 [NKJV} … God’s grace is a forever deal!! …
  13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: James 4: 11-17 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: John 3: 16 … [NKJV] … I”m sure you know this FOREVER AND EVER passage … And the truth of Jesus’ declaration here is so simple … but yet so amazing … that it is almost incomprehensible to the human mind.

Reference Passage #2: Romans 10: 9-13 … [NKJV] ...   GO TO THIS LINK … God’s promise of His forever deal of salvation ; and what a deal it is!! …  

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Bill Crowder, reminds his readers (that’s me!) of an old phrase most of us have probably used - ”This too shall pass!” - often used when we’re confronting some very unpleasant circumstances in life.

 That passage could likely have come from the ODB highlight passage for today, written by the very practical brother of Jesus, … James, … which, in his letter, James, Chapter 4, Verse 14, is copied/linked above. This life truly is, as James writes, like a vapor, … here and gone; but then we Christians have the wondrous forever plan and promise of our Lord; … and we read of that promise in the reference passages above, which I hope all readers know - BY HEART - and believe to receive God’s deal of His amazing saving grace!!

 John Newton wrote about it in His poem which became the more sung and copied song in history, … Amazing grace, … how sweet the sound, which saved a wretch like me. And that is certainly me, through and through.

 I hope you know these promises; because they are the FOREVER & ALWAYS (see photo) promises from God of salvation. And if you believe - truly believe - in your heart of these promises, you already have God’s AMAZING GRACE … the deal of a life time. It’s a deal I could not pass up! I pray you have grabbed on to it too!!

My Prayer for Today … Lord, thanks for the AMAZING GRACE of your forever deal … Your life for my eternity. … WHAT A DEAL!!! … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 4, 2014 … A Lion Barking

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 247

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of Chris Rice singing… Go Light Your Wolrld, reminding us of our responsibility to GO out and be what others perceive as CHRIST to a very un-Christlike world.

Click on photo to more easily read text - then on "X" upper right to return to blog

Highlight Passage: Proverbs 22: 1 [NKJV} … Many times we are what others think we are …
1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold.
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Proverbs 22: 1-5 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … 
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Reference Passage #1: Matthew 5: 16 (SEE ATTACHED PHOTO) … [NKJV] … How can we shine Christ’s light when others see us as the personification of the devil? We are what others believe us to be! …
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. 

Reference Passage #2: Acts 1: 8 … [NKJV] … The power of our witness is so often in the perception of those who see it …
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

Reference Passage #2: Ephesian 4: 1 … [NKJV] … We must be perceived by others as walking worthy of our calling as “CHRISTIAN” …
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, … 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Poh Fang Chia, tells an interesting story to illustrate the ODB teaching today. Chia writes of a well-known zoo which had lost its lion as one of its main attractions. So, the zoo disguised a large bull mastiff dog as a lion and kept it at a distance from the patrons. But when the crowd heard the “lion” barking, they knew it was a sham; and the zoo had to close because it lost its reputation.

 Chia quoted Shakespeare in the ODB devotional, who wrote, ” The purest treasure mortal times afford is a spotless reputation.“ And in today’s social media conscious world, many times someone’s reputation can be totally devastated or destroyed by some post on Facebook or Twitter. And all too often we’ve seen how the careers of giants in the world of conservative Christianity have been reduced to dust when it came out in the media that they were into sexual sin.

 And as the co-founder, leader, and Director of a ministry which promotes the healing and restoration anyone can find from the chains of habitual sexual sin, such as an addiction to pornography, I’ve often said that the truth and power of God using Battle Plan Ministry [BPM] rests in the reputation our ministry has from our online social perception. Would men, broken by their addiction to porn, come to a ministry for healing where the leader, after decades of a pure walk in Christ, were perceived to be back into the sinful pits of sexual sin.?

 I think not!!

 So, today’s highlight passage, from Proverbs 22: 1, rings very, VERY true for this one Christian; and most certainly, any Christian who desires to carry forth the banner of Christ as the Apostle Paul wrote in Eph. 4: 1. As Christians, we must be perceived as CHRISTLIKE in our witness and personal walk in the world. Hence, our “REP,” as the kids would say, is important! And so often that reputation is created by the way we carry ourselves for others to see. Like it or not, if we are going to do what Jesus commanded His disciples to do - and shine his light in witness to Him in this world (see Matt. 5: 16 and Acts 1: 8) - we must let others see CHRIST shining in our works so God will be glorified.

 So, I pray that others - even today - will see my Lord shining through me in all I do and say … yes, even on Facebook or in the words I write in this blog.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, let others see Your light shining in this witness and in all I do in the world today. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 3, 2014 … Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 246


Devotional Song: Go to this link … Please take the time to see a video of Fernando Ortega singing a rather new, but poignant arrangement of the old, classic hymn… Great Is Thy Faithfulness, his listeners, me included, being reminded that with each new day we see the faithfulness of God when the “Son” rises in our lives.  ... And THEN ON TO THIS LINK ... to hear the character "Annie" singing her favorite song for the Broadway play ...

[See text copied below in devotional journal entry]

Highlight Passage: Lamentations 3: 22-23 [NKJV} … In the face of the storms of life, the Son rises in the morning - every morning for the believer …
  22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23  They are new every morning; … great is Your faithfulness.
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Lamentations 3: 19-33 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … In the midst of the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem, the weeping Prophet proclaims the truth of God’s faithfulness …
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 Highlight Context #2 - NKJV: Lamentations 3 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … The entire lament of Jeremiah over God allowing the Babylonian plunder of Jerusalem…
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Reference Passage #1: Deuteronomy 31: 6 … 8 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK ... See also Joshua 1: 5 and Hebrews 13: 5 …

Reference Passage #2: Psalm 30:5 (SEE PHOTO) … [NKJV] … With each new morning we must know that God’s mercies are new for us …
5  For His anger is but for a moment, … His favor is for life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. 

Reference Passage #3: Psalm 36:5 (SEE PHOTO) … [NKJV] … Sometimes the trials of life seem worse in the night time … then there is always the dawn …
5  Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; … Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Anne Cetas, took me back to one of my favorite memory passages - that of Lamentations 3: 22-23 … the hopeful lament of Jeremiah, who was charged to prophesy and bring God’s truth to His people as The Lord allowed the Babylonians to plunder Jerusalem.

 Things seemed so dark to God’s people in these times, just as times may get dark for any of us in life; but God’s promise is with the sun (i.e., the “Son”) rising at dawn to shine God’s light brightly again, … when the night has been so dark [see the highlight passage as well as the two reference Psalms). That’s why I love the song to which I’ve linked any reader today, … Great Is Thy Faithfulness. It speaks the truth of God’s love and mercy into life’s toughest trials.

 If any of us is going through the darkness of challenge right now, let’s all remember that God will ALWAYS rally to be there for the remnant of the faithful. He will never leave us or forsake us (see Deut. 31: 6,8 and Joshua 1: 5 and Hebrews 13: 5). And all of these reinforce what God was saying through Jeremiah to His people of that day; … the same message He sends to us every morning as the sun (i.e., “The Son”) rises in our lives.

 GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS!! 

My Prayer for Today … Thanks, Lord, … I needed that! … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 2, 2014 … Only One Shines Forth

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 245

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of The Gaither Vocal Band singing a classic song written by Bill and Gloria Gather… He Touched Me, which gloriously declares what happens when we witness God’s cleansing and saving grace to others.

Highlight Passage: Luke 17: 17-19 [NKJV} … Only one in ten …
  17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Luke 17: 11-19 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … Jesus heals 10 lepers; but only one, a Samaritan, returned to give thanks and glorify God for the healing …
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Reference Passage #1: Matthew 5: 16 … [NKJV] … Focusing on what we must do in response to our being made whole in Christ …
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. 

Reference Passage #2: Acts 1: 8 … [NKJV] … Are we His grateful witnesses, glorifying our Lord with our testimony of salvation …
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Randy Kilgore, reminded the author’s ODB readers about Luke’s telling of a story about Jesus healing 10 lepers of their disease, making them all completely clean of the disease; but only one, a dreaded Samaritan, came back to glorify God with his thankfulness.

And Kilgore used a story of how a driver in traffic was kind enough to let a car in ahead of him but when the driver of that vehicle didn’t show any thankfulness, the first driver, the one who had been graceful, became enraged and tried to pursue the other vehicle, rudely trying to ride his rear bumper; and Kilgore asks, who was more wrong? … The first driver for not even giving a gesture of thanks or the second who, though letting the first car in ahead of him, reacted in anger.

In the episode related by Luke [linked for study above], Jesus cleansed ten lepers (see Luke 17: 17) but only one was thankful enough to come back and glorify God with his thankfulness; and he was a dreaded Samaritan. And whom did Jesus offer the ultimate cleansing - i.e., salvation in a complete healing, spiritual as well as physical? Yes, … of course it was the Samaritan … the one in ten who went out, with a thankful heart from his cleansing and gave glory to God.

Jesus’ act of redemption, as the Lamb of God, offers cleansing to all; but whom are the ones who received the Lord’s complete healing from sin? It’s the ones who have repented and go out, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 5: 16 and shine their light of thankfulness, showing any/all who will see, that Jesus saves!

Are we the one in ten who is thankful enough, to show how Jesus saves, by shining our light of salvation for others to see Christ in us? I certainly pray that we are that Samaritan who will go forth and glorify God in thankfulness with our testimony of thankfulness and healing. Let’s return thanks to the Savior, Who cleansed us, with our willingness to be His witnesses today.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me witness, whenever You give me the opportunity, to shine Your cleansing light of salvation for all to see Your healing grace. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

September 1, 2014 … WAITING … and waiting and waiting!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 244

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to see a video of Steve Green singing a song I very often use to illustrate the thoughts I have in my quiet times with God … the song is Find Us Faithful, which, as my thoughts go this morning, can be so very difficult at times when the circumstances of our lives oppress us and when God seems far away in our prayers for His mercy and grace. … But onward, in faith, we go!!

Highlight Passage: Psalm 13: 1 [NKJV} … Sometimes God seems so far away …
1 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me? 
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me? 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Psalms 13 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … A personal and poignant plea from young David, likely when he was trying to escape the wrath of Saul … 
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Reference Passage #1: Psalm 33: 20-22 … [NKJV] … Waiting can be the toughest at times … 
20  Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield. 
21  For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name. 
22  Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You. 

Reference Passage #2: Proverbs 3: 5-6 … [NKJV] … Holding on to the trust is where the battle in life often centers…
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understudying. 
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Marion Stroud, wrote about a reality which sometimes shouts at us in the oppression of evil or the doubts of life when God seems far away in our prayers. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Maybe you’re there now, … praying and praying for God’s mercies to lift some shroud of trial or tribulation from your life. But He doesn’t seem to answer; and Satan pours gas on our flames of doubt.

Yes, we want to be a faithful waiters on God, don’t we? We want to be the Christian, which Steve Green sings about in the song which I so often link readers here. We want to be found faithful, trusting in God to lead us - as is expressed in Proverbs 3: 5-6. … However, sometimes under lift’s oppression, … as days turn to weeks; and weeks turn to months; and months to years in our prayers for God to hear us in times of trouble, our faith is sorely tested, isn’t it? … Yes, we’ve all likely been there, felt that, and have a T-shirt we’d rather not wear, which reads ...

“Sorrowful … Waiting on God !!” 

The young, anointed King to be, David, was like that at times in his life. Certainly when he penned the highlight passage from ODB today- PSALM 13, Davod was like that. Dr. Jack Hyles, in his piece, The Story Behind The Psalms ...  [GO TO THIS LINK], writes of the origin of of this song, which was sung later by God’s people in times of trial. In Hyles description, David was being chased and his life threatened by King Saul. At the outset of the Psalm, David expresses exasperation at his plight [see verse 1]; but later, at the end of the song [see verses 5-6], we read of David choosing to trust God and to rejoice in His salvation.

Yes, there are going to be times when our faith is challenged by the oppressive of stress-filled circumstances in life; but it’s in those times when we must hold on and - in faith - CHOOSE to know that God’s timing is ALWAYS the best timing. I pray that we all can be found, as Steve Green sings, FAITHFUL in waiting on God’s mercy and grace to express itself in our lives.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me (us) hold on and be faithful in the fires of life. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.