November 19, 2014 … Grumble, Grumble!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 323

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in Sara Groves’ poignant and powerful song Eyes On the Prize. … reminding Christians that is so easy to get our eyes off of the prize of our relationship with our Lord and His promises for our eternal future.

Highlight Passage - NKJV Numbers 11: 1 … God shows off with His miraculous providence; and what do His children do … GRUMBLE!! …
  1 Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
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Highlight Context #1 - Numbers 11: 1-10 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   God provides and what do we do? … Grumble!!
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Reference Passage #1 … Mark 15: 11-15 [NKJV] ... USE THIS LINK …   The same people who cried HOSANNA, celebrating Christ’s entrance to Jerusalem as the Messiah, … just a few days later were grumbling and crying, “Crucify Him!!!”
   
Reference Passage #2 … Romans 8: 28 [NKJV] …
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. … 
True; … but do we believe it when things get tough? ... Or do we grumble?!

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Marvin Williams, hit me right where I needed God’s wisdom this morning, … a kick in the behind, reminding me of so many times when God’s people [and me] experienced His wondrous works and then … grumble, grumble, grumble!!!

 And Williams used a story about how his friend, Max Lucado, was trying to complete a triathlon; and desiring to quit during the race, Lucado found himself listening to another competitor who was grumbling about his pain and inabilities; and Lucado realized that if he stayed around this “loser,” he was going to end up being influenced by his grumblings and he would lose sight of why he was there … and that was to finish the race.

 When you go back and take in all those Old Testament stories, like the highlight passages linked above, of God intervening miraculously on the part of His people … delivering them from slavery in Egypt, taking them through a parted Red Sea, giving them manna to eat, and going ahead of them for 40 years in the wilderness; and what did God’s people do, over and over again? … GRUMBLE!!!

Jesus comes on the scene; and the people see Him perform miracle after miracle; and when He enters David’s city just before His time of glory over death, the people were acclaiming Him as their “Messiah.” … Then, just a few days later, many of these same people were grumbling and crying “Crucify Him!!!” … because they saw the God-Man being unjustly accused by the religious leaders. 

My friends, I would wager, though I’m not a gambler, that you who read with me here believe the truth of Romans 8: 28, copied above. But how often do we, who’ve been delivered to eternal life by our faith in Christ, grumble or complain when things get tough in our lives. I’m under conviction here today, … ad admitted grumbler, … and one who needs this heavy dose of faith testing from this ODB entry, … testing in order to realize the truth of Deut. 31: 8 and Prov. 3: 5-6, which you probably know by heart.

 But if not, and if you find yourself grumbling over small stuff and taking your “eyes off the prize” of where Christ is leading us (see the song link above), … then perhaps it would be a good idea to go to those latter verses, as I have today, and meditate on whether we are staying on God’s course for our life … or are we getting side-tracked by our grumbling spirits?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, … help me keep my eyes on Your prize! 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.

November 18, 2014 … Growing Tall and Strong

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 322

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in Steven Curtis Chapman’s poignant and powerful lyric as he sings His Strength Is Perfect. … repeated from yesterday’s blog because of its pertinence to letting God’s strength work to overcome the weaknesses we have in our human nature.

Click on photo for larger view - Then on "X" to return to blog

Highlight Passage - NKJV Hebrews 13: 15-16 … Standing in God’s full armor to do battle against the enemy …
  15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Hebrews 13: 15-25 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Doing good for God
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Reference Passage #1 … John 15: 1-8 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  We rely on our life sustaining power by our branches being connected to God’s life-sustaining fruitfulness

Reference Passage #2 … Philippians 1: 6 [NKJV] …
6 … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; … 

Reference Passage #3 … Hebrews 10: 24-25 [NKJV] …
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. 

Reference Passage #4 … 1st John 4: 4 [NKJV] …
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 Joe Stowell, has some of the same reference points as did my entry yesterday, especially since the author is making the point that we must be willing to set pride aside and seek God’s strength - and, as Stowell adds - intertwining our strength with the power of other Christians who are also surrendered to Christ for His grace of enablement and empowerment.

 Stowell today uses an illustration of the giant Sequoia Trees in Northern California (see attached photo), which grow to over 300 feet in height. One would think that they have very deep roots since the winds never fell these giants. However, from his research, Stowell points out that the roots of the trees, at relatively shallow depths, intertwine with one another to support each other from beneath the surface, allowing the trees to grow in such girth and height.

 I don’t think it takes a genius to see the word picture that we, as Christians, first getting our life sustaining power from God’s Spirit (see the picture of the vine in John 15: 1-8, linked above) by being connected to God’s empowering strength as a branch in His vine. But then, moving to the sequoia analogy, we also, as Christians in Christ’s body, can grow taller and more powerful by our roots being intertwined with other Christians. Hence the reference scriptures used above.

 If we take the truth in through these passages, we’ll no doubt see that we need to do all we can as Christians to do what Steven Curtis Chapman, sings in the song which is repeated from yesterday’s blog … to root ourselves to the strength of Christ and to allow us to grow in Christ to overcome our weaknesses as humans. i trust that this is the pursuit of all who read with me here.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, … in-fuse me, and all who are with me here today, with Your strength and help us to grow tall and strong in Your essence. 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.

November 17, 2014 … Run to the Roar

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 321

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in Steven Curtis Chapman’s poignant and powerful lyric as he sings His Strength Is Perfect. … proclaiming the reality that God’s strength is perfect to cover our weaknesses.

Highlight Passage - NKJV Ephesians 6: 10-11 … Standing in God’s full armor to do battle against the enemy …
  10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Ephesians 6: 10-18 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   God’s full armor for doing daily battle
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Reference Passage #1 … John 10: 27-28 [NKJV] …
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 

Reference Passage #2 … 1st Peter 5: 8 [NKJV] …
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because[a] your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

Reference Passage #3 … 1st John 4: 4 [NKJV] …
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. 

Reference Passage #4 … Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Here it is again - almost every day;… Jesus’ telling His followers the path to security in Satan’s world

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Cindy Hess Kasper, used a word picture which I often use when I’m teaching in the ministry God led my wife and I to found which helps men walk free from the clutches of Satan and habitual sexual sin (see our website at this link ). Kasper refers to Peter’s metaphor of satan being like a roaring lion, … “the king of the jungle,” as he’s often referred; and it’s a useful metaphor to describe the powerful, common foe of Christians in this world.

 It’s an apt word picture because of the way the lion hunts his prey. Maybe you’ve studied it; … I have. The pride of lions stalks a potential herd of weak sheep or gazelles in the bush; and then the alpha male gets upwind from the flock/herd and roars at his loudest. The flock (let’s imagine some sheep) hears the lion, and smells him in the wind; and most of the sheep, especially the immature and weak ones, bolt and run away from the roar of the lion. What they don’t know is that the females in the pride have set themselves into a semicircle down wind of the flock; and if the sheep run away from the roar, in fear, the females will be waiting to get the weak ones, especially any who are wounded.

 Satan is like that. He knows that the easy prey in God’s flock are those who are the weakest; and many of the men we see in our ministry have been severely weakened and wounded by their own obsessive-compulsive sin patterns. And in fear, when Satan stalks them with temptations, like p0rnography or other XXX devices, these men are easy prey for the stalking “king of the jungle.” 

However, we in Battle Plan Ministries teach - and prayerfully condition these men - to do what the Apostle Paul was teaching persecuted Christians in his letter to the church in Ephesus; and that is to prepare for the enemy by putting on the “full armor of God” [see the Ephesians 6: 10-18 linked above]. Because as Steven Curtis Chapman sings in today’s linked song, God’s strength is perfect (in His full armor) to cover our weaknesses.

 In God’s flock, we’ve got to learn to do what Jesus tried to teach His flock, … i.e., to stay close to Him, … the Good Shepherd. Because to return to the word picture of the lion and the flock, the mature and well-trained in the flock actually move toward the lion’s roar; because they’ve been trained to stay close to the Shepherd who will always move to the roar of the lion to protect His flock; and the Shepherd will lead them to safety.

 Mature Christians know and believe the truth of John 10: 27-28 and 1st John 4: 4 … that we serve a “Good Shepherd,” Who will protect us; and His Spirit within us is actually stronger and more powerful than that “king of the jungle,” who is stalking his prey and roaring to create fear in the flock.

 So, fellow Christian, if you hear the lion roaring or you smell him stalking you with temptation, run TO the roar and follow the Good Shepherd.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, … Good Shepherd, I know that You are always here to protect me. 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.

November 16, 2014 … The Director

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 320

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the classic hymn, sung an anonymous acapella group, He Leadeth Me. … proclaiming the truth of a disciple’s life in Christ

Highlight Passage - NKJV Joshua 1: 7 … Where God says, “Go!” … we go!…
  7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Joshua 1: 1-9 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …  … God is our Director … He knows the way; … we follow!
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Reference Passage #1 … Joshua 21: 45 [NKJV] … The Director says, “Action!” … And we act …
  45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken. 

Reference Passage #2 … Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV] … I’ll bet you know this one by heart … if not, look it up and meditate on its truth.

Reference Passage #3 … Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   If you’ve followed my blogs, this is the most oft quoted passage in my journaling. … Jesus’ telling His followers where we must go in life

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Poh Fang Chia, used the classic story of Joshua (see Joshua 1: 1-9) when he had been commissioned by God to take Moses’ role of “leader of the pack” in order to take God’s people into the Promised Land. And Chia used the illustration of how an actor trusts his/her Director in the making of a movie. Not really knowing what the movie’s full scope is all about, the actor listens to what the Director calls for; and simply acts as he/she is directed.

 When a Stephen Spielberg is directing a movie [see attached photo], often the actors really don’t know how a scene or their action will fit into the final scope of the movie; but Spielberg knows. And he lays out the scene exactly as HE sees it, directing the actor to go this way, or do the scene exactly as Spielberg sees it. And in the end the movie is pieced together exactly as the Director has envisioned it.

 Joshua, really didn’t know where he was going to be going when he led God’s children across the Jordan into that land which they had scoped out as being dangerous and risky. But Joshua trusted God, as his faithful Director; and He followed God’s will exactly as God directed Him, primarily through His word; and we know the final story … HIS-story!

 I pray today that anyone reading here is following the Lord’s direction and being His faithful disciple, … just as the passages above lead us. For if God is our Director; and we follow Him faithfully, He will lead us to our Promised Land.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You lead, … I follow!! Show me the way! 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.

November 15, 2014 … Just Enough

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 319

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the poignant song, sung by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, All Is Well. … declaring that all is well in our relationship with Christ … PTL!!! … Hallelujah !!!

Highlight Passage - NKJV Isaiah 40: 26 … Having just enough!!! …
  8b Give me neither poverty nor riches — Feed me with the food allotted to me; 9  Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.
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Highlight Context #1 - Proverbs 30: 1-9 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Agur’s wisdom in recognizing the weakness of his own selfish heart

Reference Passage #1 … Jeremiah 17: 7-9 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   The Prophet Jeremiah recognized the potential vulnerability of the human heart - see verse 9

Reference Passage #2 … Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] … How many times do I make reference to Jesus’ teaching on discipleship … I hope you know this one by heart! 

Reference Passage #3 … Philippians 4: 11-13 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Paul had learned how to be content … the key was His abiding relationship with Christ …

Reference Passage #4 … 1st Timothy 6: 6-10 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Paul teaching us to reward of the harmful lusts which can overcome us in living for Christ - especially note verse 6 [see photo] which reports that “godliness with contentment is great gain”

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Mart De Haan, notes the often realized outcomes of lottery winners, gaining millions of dollars and then to squander the money and often become bankrupt or even end up committing suicide. Then, … there is the result of being abased by poverty, where the poor will often resort to stealing or even violence to try to live. 

Today one of the authors of Proverbs, Agur [in this case see the link to Proverbs, Chapter 30 linked above], had discovered that he would have a vulnerability of his own selfishness if he became wealthy or for evil in his soul if he became poor. So, in the highlight passage, he prayed for God to allow neither in his life. Jeremiah, the Prophet wrote of the human tendency to be vulnerable to one’s own deceit-ridden, wicked heart (see Jer. 17: 9). And the Apostle Paul wrote (see Phil. 4: 11-13) of the antidote to a Christian becoming distorted by either wealth or privation, which was a deep and abiding relationship with Christ [see also 1st Timothy 6: 6-10].

 What would happen to us if we won the lottery or all-of-a-sudden we became dirt poor? Would we be able to handle either condition as Paul wrote about to the Christians at Philippi or to Timothy? 

Personally, I’m like Agur … I don’t trust myself to be able to handle great wealth; and I’m afraid I would have great trouble being consumed by poverty. I just feel terribly grateful that God has provided just enough to meet the needs of our family, with enough resources saved to protect against poverty. And I pray that I will always be trying to go deeper to achieve a more abiding relationship with my Lord, knowing that it is the key to what Paul wrote about to Christians or what Jesus demanded of His disciples (see Luke 9: 23).

My Prayer for Today … Lord, thank You for helping me to be content. 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.

November 14, 2014 … God’s Faithfulness

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 318

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the classic hymn, sung by George Jones,  Amazing Grace. … with the singer pleading the tribulation of his life and how God’s grace saved him anyway … And that is most certainly God’s faithfulness

Highlight Passage - NKJV Lamentations 3: 25 … Our God is ever faithful !! …
25   The Lord is good to those who wait for Him. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Lamentations 3: 1-6 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
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Highlight Context #2 - Lamentations 3: 16-25 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   No matter what our life holds … God is faithful
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Reference Passage #1 … Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Again… Jesus’ telling His followers where we must go in life

Reference Passage #2 … Romans 8: 28 [NKJV] …
  28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. …
BUT … do we really believe it and live it?

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David McCasland, highlighted the life and times of the “weeping Prophet,” Jeremiah, who went through many trials and tribulations in his life, some personal and some in his association as a Prophet when Judah was over run and taken captive by the Babylonians. But as the Prophet declared in one of my favorite OT passages, “Great is Thy (God’s) faithfulness!!” [see the link above to meditate on Lamentations 3: 22-23].

 And then to illustrate God’s truth, the ODB author made reference to the life of the more modern country & western singer, George Jones, who put himself through many toils and troubles by his own raucous living and addictions. Yet, late in his life, just as the weeping Prophet would declare, God was faithful to His promise; and George Jones, in his own woeful style, could sing the old classic, Amazing Grace about the truth that God was faithful and could save “a wretch” like George. 

I don’t know about you readers here, but I am one who could sing about the woes of my early life as could George Jones or proclaim it in poetry as did the Prophet Jeremiah. But it is so comforting to know that God’s amazing grace and His faithfulness are there for me just as they are for anyone who will come to our God in faith.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You are so faithful as my Savior. 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.

November 13, 2014 … O YES, … Celebrate Christ !!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 317

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the poignant song, sung an anonymous group, a contemporary version of the old Christmas classic ...  Joy To the World. … expressing a sentiment which should be in our hearts 365 days a year.

Highlight Passage - NKJV Galatians 4: 4-5 … God sent forth His Son …
  4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
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Highlight Context #1 - Galatians 4: 1-7 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   God’s greatest gift!! 
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Reference Passage #1 … 2nd Corinthians 9: 15 [NKJV] … God’s greatest gift could be - should be - celebrated 365 days per year. ...
  15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 

Reference Passage #2 … Philippians 2: 5-11 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   God’s greatest gift came in a strange package

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Bill Crowder, expressed a commonly held belief … that the public promotion of Christmas is coming earlier and earlier each year. BAH HUMBUG!!! As Crowder wrote, in line with my childhood, Christmas promotions used to be off limit until after Thanksgiving; but now we begin to see Christmas tinged ads and store promotions as early as September.

 But then the Our Daily Bread logic took a turn for me.

 Is it really so bad that the celebration of God’s greatest gift - His Son and our Redeemer - is promoted by the world earlier and earlier, putting the concept of Christmas out there in the public arena longer and longer to announce the coming of the Christ child? … Is it a bad thing that the public hears music like that linked above in the stores for longer periods of time? Sure, most of the images we see in stores and online during the pre-Christmas hullabaloo is to market worldly stuff; but it’s still connected with the greatest gift of all - that of God bringing His Son to mankind as His gift of grace; and if that can at least be out there for us to use as a witness of our faith, when we hear someone complain of the worldly early Christmas, it gives us the opportunity to tell them … “Isn’t it so great that we can celebrate Christ earlier and earlier each year!” 

I hope we’ll take advantage to witness our joy this year as we’re coming up on Thanksgiving; and aren’t we all so very thankful for God’s wondrous gift of a Savior? !!! Yes, He is JOY TO THE WORLD, isn’t He?

 So, let’s join in and say, "MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!"

My Prayer for Today … Lord, tis the season to bring nothing but joy to the world!! 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.

November 12, 2014 … God’s View

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 316

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the poignant song, sung by Don Moen and a praise chorus, God Will Make A Way. … His way, not necessarily our way …

Highlight Passage - NKJV Isaiah 40: 26 … God is God and we are not!! …
  26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see Who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Isaiah 40: 21-31 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …  … God’s perspective on His creation - including for His sovereignty over our lives
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Highlight Context #2 - Isaiah 40: 22 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …  …What we see in life is often very limited … God sees it all !!
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Reference Passage #1 … Psalms 139 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Even in our mother’s womb, God was creating HIS masterpiece in us

Reference Passage #2 … Isaiah 55: 8-9 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Quite often we just don’t see the same world which God sees His creation or circumstances

Reference Passage #3 … 1st Corinthians 3: 9 [NKJV] … God has the master plan, … we are his workers …
  9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 

Reference Passage #4 … Romans 8: 28 [NKJV] … In faith we know that God is in control; and HE is the master builder. Only HE has the master plan …
  28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

Reference Passage #5 … Philippians 1: 6 [NKJV] … God is working out HIS plan for completion in all who are His …
  6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; … 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Julie Ackerman Link, used an interesting illustration to remind us of God’s sovereignty in our lives. In her illustration, Link writes …
"What started as an empty 11-acre field in Belfast, Northern Ireland, ended up as the largest land portrait in the British Isles. Wish, by artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada. It is made from 30,000 wooden pegs, 2,000 tons of soil, 2,000 tons of sand, and miscellaneous items such as grass, stones, and string. … At the beginning, only the artist knew what the final artwork was going to look like. He hired workers and recruited volunteers to haul materials and move them into place. As they worked, they saw little indication that something amazing was about to emerge. But it did. From the ground, it doesn’t look like much. But from above, viewers see a huge portrait—the smiling face of a little girl." 

You can see a photo of the portrait taken from above the 11 acre portrait in the attached photo; and it illustrates that we often have a very different view on life than does the creator of life, … our God. How often do we lose the faith perspective that GOD IS GOD AND WE ARE NOT. Yes, God sees all in our lives from HIS VIEWPOINT; and always His view is from the perspective of the artist Who can see every detail of what HE is doing to create HIS finished work in and through our lives. And if we take in the truths in the passages referenced above, we need to remember - IN FAITH - that God is doing His own masterpiece in our lives.

 We may not see it; … but HE does!!!

My Prayer for Today … Lord, in faith I yield to Your work 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, 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.

November 11, 2014 … That Light To Freedom

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 315

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the poignant song, sung by Hillsong, Light of the World. declaring that we can only become lights of worship when we’re in total surrender to our Lord, Jesus, Who gave it all that we could become reflections of His light in a dark world.

Highlight Passage - NKJV Philippians 2: 15-16 … To be able to reflect the light of Christ, the light of truth, into a very dark world …
  15 … that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, … 
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Highlight Context #1 - Philippians 2: 12-18 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Who are the light bearers?
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Reference Passage #1 … Matthew 5: 14-16 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Jesus’ calling His followers to be lights in His kingdom

Reference Passage #2 … John 14: 6 [NKJV] … Reflections of His light … the way and the truth …  
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. … “ 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Dennis Fisher, illustrated the point today by telling of the “underground railroad” in the Civil War, which was set up to be a caravan of light for the slaves to escape from bondage to freedom. The slaves were to follow what was coded as “the drinking gourd,” which referred to the lights in the sky of the big dipper, pointing the way to the north star (see attached photo) by the dark of night. But even more important the slaves were to follow human points of light, i.e., the abolitionists, who would lead them from point-to-point from the south to the north and on to freedom.

 And that is a historical word picture of the points of light that we, as born-again Christians, must become in this very dark world, reflecting the light of Christ in order to lead those in the bondage of sin to the north-star of freedom, Who is Jesus. And the question becomes, from meditation on the picture, song, and Scriptures today, … “Are we being the big dipper, showing the way from the darkness of sin, … by leading these lost ones onward to the freedom they will only find in the north-star of our Savior, Jesus?!!” 

 I was led by a Spirit-led underground railroad of faithful followers, who were shining Christ’s light into my life; and they led me to THE LIGHT of freedom that only our Lord could bring into my life of darkness. And now I walk in that light, declaring loudly, … HALLELUJAH!!!

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You are THE LIGHT Who led me to freedom. 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.

November 10, 2014 … Following Him

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 314

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the poignant song, sung by my friend, Clay Crosse and two of his friends, Bob Carlisle and BeBe Winans, singing I Will Follow Christ. declaring the way all Christians should follow as disciples of the Lord Jesus

Highlight Passage - NKJV Matthew 4: 20-21 … The fishermen dropped all to follow this man whom Andrew believed was the Messiah …
  19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Matthew 4: 18-22 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Jesus calls for the fishermen to come and follow Him
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Highlight Context #2 - Mark 1: 16-20 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …  The fishermen followed Jesus in faith and the prevenient calling of God’s Spirit
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Highlight Context #3 - Luke 5: 1-11 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   The fishermen were astonished by Jesus command of the catch of fish; and when He called them, they followed Him

Reference Passage #1 … Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] … I think any reader here will know this one …
23  The Jesus said to them all (Jesus’ followers) … “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself; and let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me. … " 

Reference Passage #2 … Matthew 28: 18-20 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Jesus’ calling for my life and for the lives of ALL His Disciples

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Joe Stowell, reminded me of a scene I had witnessed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem a few years ago. Like Stowell apparently witnessed, I saw small groups of younger, orthodox Jewish men following an older man, likely their Rabbi; and they mimicked everything the Rabbi did or said. These younger men are called, according to Stowell, “FOLLOWERS,” which is a humbling and honored position in Hasidic Judaism, having been called by their Rabbi to follow his lead in the traditions of the orthodox Jewish faith.

 And then Stowell made a connection to the historical Christian scenario of the most preeminent Rabbi in history, Jesus, when He walked a beach on the shores of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum and called four of those who would become His innermost Disciples (see the three scenes linked above as highlight passages). The attached photo depicts that time when Jesus called out two sets of brothers, James and John, as well as Andrew and Simon Peter, to lay down their nets and follow Him; … and they did? And as they say, THE REST IS HIS-STORY.

 Today’s ODB devotional, calls out to me to realize I’m one of those called ones, a FOLLOWER of Christ, … one who’s been beckoned to become one of His disciples. And like the song to which I’ve linked readers above, I have made the declaration that “I Will Follow Christ.” And prayerfully, if you know me, you have observed that I’m have taken this calling onto the front lines of daily Spirit-led warfare, following my Lord into battle against many of the scourges and devices of God’s arch enemy, Satan.

 I am called by my Lord’s Great Commission (see Matthew 28: 19-20 linked above) as I pray are you.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You’ve called; and it is You I follow. 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.

November 9, 2014 … Tear down the walls !!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 313

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear the poignant song, sung by Jackie DeShannon, What the World Needs Now Is Love. written in the 1960s as a plea for God to bring His love into a world in desperate need Him. … Can’t we pray the same thing today?

Highlight Passage - NKJV Genesis 50: 20-21 … Where a wall of hatred had been built by Joseph’s brothers in the past, Joseph tore it down with God’s love …
  20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Genesis 50: 15-21 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Joseph’s brother got a lesson in God’s love
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Reference Passage #1 … John 3: 16 [NKJV] … I think any reader here will know this one

Reference Passage #2 … John 13: 34-35 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Our Lord’s love commandment

Reference Passage #3 … 1st John 4: 17-19 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Love casts out all fear and tears down the walls of hatred

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David MacCasland, reminded me that 25 years ago, on this very date, it was announced that the Berlin Wall could come down as a symbol of separation and hatred. Many of us remember the images (see attached photo) of that wall being torn down as the people of western Europe could flow freely back into what had been a repressive east Germany.

 In the mid 1960s when the song I have linked any readers to above was written by Burt Bacharach, it became a protest song against the war in Viet Nam as well as against the racial prejudice which was prevalent in those day, especially in the south of the US. And Bacharach’s anthem of love was proclaimed as the antidote for hatred and walls built by mankind to divide ourselves. The song was recorded and became one of the cries which ultimately produced walls like the one in Berlin to come down.

 However, I think I could get an “AMEN” from any reader here today if I claim that the world still needs to surrender to the love of God as the answer which Joseph represented in today’s highlight passage (see Genesis 50: 15-21 linked above). Joseph’s brothers had built up a wall of hatred for their younger brother; and in the highlight scene in Genesis 50, Joseph showed his brothers that God’s love, exhibited by Joseph, could dispel any human wall of hatred.

 That’s what Jesus’ message of love was all about in both John 3: 16 and John 13: 34-35. It’s what John also wrote about in his own love-letter in 1st John 4: 17-19. It’s what God put on display when the wall of hatred in Berlin came down on this date in 1989. But my friends, what the world STILL needs now is God’s love - sweet love. And just as Joseph was to his brothers, we can be agents of God’s love in our world - maybe even today.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me to be an agent of Your love to others, tearing down any walls I see between me and anyone else 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, 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.

November 8, 2014 … Milk-to-meat

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 312

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear the poignant song, sung by Queen Latifah, Fix Me, Jesus. pleading with Jesus, through His Spirit, to bring us into a growing ability to rely on Him to help us deal with life’s challenges.

Highlight Passage - NKJV Hebrews 5: 14 … When we mature in Christ, our discipleship will grow in our need to surrender self to our Savior through His Spirit
14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Hebrews 5: 5-14 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   We must grow in knowing God through discipleship
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Highlight Context #2 - Hebrews 5: 5-12 [NKJV] … We grow in Christ so that we can disciple others ... 
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
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Reference Passage #1 … Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] … Jesus lays out the principles of discipleship …
  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 #1 … 1st Corinthians 2: 6-16 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  Paul lays out the reality of growing to rely on God’s Spirit for God’s wisdom rather than relenting to worldly wisdom

Reference Passage #2 … 1st Peter 2: 1-3 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Note verse 2 which speaks of growing in Christ

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Jennifer Schuldt, opens with an illustration of how our choices change as we grow from babes, through childhood, on into adulthood. Certainly adults would be expected to make more mature choices than do toddlers in life.

But, do they?

God’s word [see above passages] speaks of disciples of Christ growing in maturity, using the word picture of babes requiring only milk early in their development until they must feed on the meat of life later to be able to handle the more rigorous choices of adulthood.

 Jesus said (see Luke 9: 23 above) that this process involves coming to be able to deny self and to follow Him in handling the daily crosses of life. The Apostle Paul taught (see the 1st Corinthians 2 passage) that a disciple must grow in his/her ability to rely on God’s Spirit to be able to reflect Godly wisdom as opposed to relying on the world or self for our direction in life. And later Peter (see the 1st Peter 2 passage, linked above) also used the milk-to-meat word picture in describing our need, as Christians, to grow in maturity as followers of Christ.

 So, today’s ODB challenges us to deepen our relationship with Christ … to be able to feed on deeper and deeper understanding of God’s truth, through His word, so that our decisions will be measured by deeper and deeper discernment of God’s will and His ways through His word. I’ll leave it to any reader here with me to do a self inventory of what we’re feeding on in our discipleship; but for me, I feel that I’ve grown a lot over the years since I came to know Christ as my Lord/Savior; and my following Christ has led me into some degree of leadership.

 However, I’ve still got a lot of growing to do. So, you’ll see me back here tomorrow, feeding on the meat of God’s word and doing all I can to build my Spiritual muscle in Christ.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me to grow to be stronger in You tomorrow than I am 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, 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.

November 7, 2014 … Imagine + Way More = Heaven

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 311

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear the poignant song, sung by the group Mercy Me, I Can Only Imagine. proclaiming the glory of Heaven when it is realized when we’re absent with the body and present with the Lord forever

Highlight Passage - NKJV Revelation 22: 3 … Really?!!! No more sin!!
  3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 
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Highlight Context #1 - Revelation 22: 1-5 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …  Christ, through John’s vision, to get a glimpse of Glory
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Highlight Context #2 - Revelation 1: 1-3 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   Jesus gave His beloved Disciple, John, His revelation of glory to come for any and all who come to the throne of glory in faith

Reference Passage #1 … John 14: 1-3 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  Jesus preparing a place for me in glory!!!

Reference Passage #2 … 2nd Corinthians 5: 1-7 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Note verse 8 - as Paul taught … for Christians to be absent with the body is to be present with the Lord

Reference Passage #3 … Philippians 1: 21-23 [NKJV] …
  21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Anne Cetas, opens with a story about a young girl who received word from her oncologist that she only had weeks to live from the cancer with which she was diagnosed. Being a Christian, she asked her Pastor what he thought heaven would be like, … to which he replied, …
"I believe that your life there will be far more beautiful and amazing than anything you ever loved or experienced here on earth. Think about what’s best here for you and multiply it over and over and over. That’s what I think heaven will be." 

 Today’s link to a song is that wonderful contemporary Christ favorite, I Can Only Image, which was preformed by the group Mercy Me. I just love to meditate on the imaginings of what it might be like in Heaven. I’ve read two books about heaven, one by Randy Alcorn and the other by Joni Eareckson Tada, which really helped me to realize that my eternal existence in Heaven, which has been prepared for me by my Savior (see John 14: 1-3), is going to be way, WAY, WAY more wonderful than I can even imagine. In fact, it’s going to be way better than even the Apostle John could describe in Christ’s Revelation and the vision John tried to describe in the last book in our Bible (see highlight passages above).

 So, fellow Christian, … take the most wonderful things you’ve experienced in this life and the most wonderful things you can envision or imagine about Heaven; and then magnify those INFINITELY MORE, and we won’t even come close to what Heaven is going to be like. But if for no other reason than what the Apostle Paul wrote about to the Corinthians (see 2nd Corinthians 5: 1-7 linked above) … that, for the Christian, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,”; … that’s enough, isn’t it?

 Can you just imagine, getting a hug from Jesus [see attached photo], Who says, “Well done, my faithful servant!” … That would be enough for me; but there will be SO MUCH MORE!!!

My Prayer for Today … Lord, all I can think to say when I imagine being with You is … HALLELUJAH!!! 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.

November 6, 2014 … Creation Declares God’s Glory!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 310

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear the poignant song, sung by Brian Doerksen Creation Calls. proclaiming the glory and reality of God in His creation, which calls us to recognize our Lord and worship Him

Highlight Passage - NKJV Job 38: 4 … Job had a moment of weakness in the midst of his strong faith … and God came to help God’s man, Job, to restore that faith
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. … “ 
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Highlight Context #1 - Job 1: 20-22 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …  In spite of all that Satan was allowed to do and did to Job, His faith in His God remained for a time before wavering
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Highlight Context #2 - Job, Chapters 38-41 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …   God’s rebuke and restoration of Job’s wavering of faith

Reference Passage #1 … Romans 1: 18-21 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Man has no excuse for lack of faith in God as all creation calls him to believe

Reference Passage #2 … Philippians 1: 6 [NKJV] …
  6 … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; … 

Reference Passage #3 … 2 Peter 1: 2-4 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   In Christ we have all we need to get the job of life done

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Dave Branon, took his readers back [that’s me!] to the account and journal of the life of Job, who was called out by God to give witness, in faith, to God’s glory; and even after Satan was allowed to buffet Job’s life with horrible troubles, Job seemed to retain his faith (see Job 1 20-22 linked above). But then as Job’s time of trial and his privation elapsed and Job’s worldly friends interceded, Job’s faith wavered a bit. But then God (see Job, Chapters 38-41) came to call His man, Job, back to faith; and as God does for all mankind, the Lord used images from His creation to bring Job back to closeness with his Lord.

Mankind really has no excuse to claim “there is no God,” as Brian Doerksen sings in the linked song above; because, as is stated by the Apostle Paul in Romans 1: 18-21 God’s very creation is displayed to declare the glory of God. And those of us who know Christ as our Savior and Lord, must declare that He is the creator; and He is the one Who is completing us into His own image (see Phil. 1: 6). 

So, today, as any read here, I hope I sense an “Amen” or a “Hallelujah” to the truth of seeing God in His creation and reveling in our faith in the Lord of the universe.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You are the Lord God and the Creator of my world … and it is You, … and only You, … Whom I worship. 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.

November 5, 2014 … Mercy Undeserved

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 309

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear the poignant song, sung by Queen Latifah Fix Me, Jesus. proclaiming the prayer of any contrite and humble Christian who recognizes his/her sin and desire God’s undeserved, but ever gracious, mercy.

Highlight Passage - NKJV Genesis 32: 10a … Jacob prays to God with incomplete contrition …
  10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; … 
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Highlight Context - Genesis 32: 3-12 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Jacob, broken and afraid, finally comes to surrender to God’s mercy

Reference Passage #1 … Psalm 147: 11 [NKJV] …
  11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, … in those who hope in His mercy. 

Reference Passage #2 … Isaiah 53: 6 [NKJV] …
  28 All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. 

Reference Passage #3 … Romans 9: 14-18 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   God has mercy on those He wills to have mercy

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David Roper, with highlight and reference Scriptures [see above], helps this forgetful sinner to remember that God didn’t have to save His children. He didn’t have to save or make a covenant with a con-man like Jacob. He didn’t have to allow me, a reprobate, to come to the cross and receive His loving mercy and saving grace.

 No, He didn’t have to; … but He did.

 And He first prophesied [see Isaiah 53: 6] and then God sent His son to die on a cross [you know John 3:16] so that even sinners like me … or Jacob … or the Apostle Paul … could be saved through our faith in His undeserved mercy and amazing grace.

 Will you join me, taking in my journaling this day, to be thankful to God for the undeserved mercy He has extended through the cross … to reach down and save and sanctify His wayward lambs? That's you and me, friend. ... Oh, let us be ever grateful for His tender mercy and His amazing grace.

My Prayer for Today … Thank You, Lord, as Queen Latifah sings, … for fixing me! … 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.

November 4, 2014 … Perception = Reality

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 308

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear the poignant song, sung by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, I Choose To Believe. proclaiming the reality which belief in Christ brings into our lives

Highlight Passage - NKJV Psalms 30: 10 …
  10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me;… Lord, be my helper!”; … 
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Highlight Context - Mark 4: 25-31 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …   Jesus rebukes the wind and saves His fearful disciples

Reference Passage #1 … Proverbs 23: 7a [NKJV] …
  7a For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. 

Reference Passage #2 … Romans 8: 28 [NKJV] …
  28 All things work together for the good of those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Bill Crowder, reminds his readers of the premise upon which the entire advertising industry is based … that “PERCEPTION IS REALITY.” And then Crowder highlights the story in the Mark 4 passage [linked above] of Jesus and His Disciples in the fishing boat engulfed in a terrible storm; and Jesus was in back of the boat taking a nap.

 And as Mark told the story to impress Roman readers, we read about how the Disciples perceived they were about to die in the storm; but in reality they were completely safe; because Jesus was in the boat with them. And we see that it was their perception of the storm and lack of belief in Jesus as the Messiah which caused them to fear death. And though their belief couldn’t perceive it at the time, Jesus was the Lord of the storm, which He summarily showed them as He rebuked the waves which died down immediately, demonstrating that their perception was not God’s reality. And this was a lesson those 12 would have to learn over and over again; … and even had to see Jesus raised from the dead to REALLY believe in the reality of Whom they were following.

 Many times in life what we see (i.e., perceive) may be very real to us; but it’s what we believe that really counts. I fully believe in the truth espoused in the NKJV of Proverbs 23:7a which states, ”As a man (or woman) thinks in his (or her) heart, so is he (or her).” In other words, it’s not necessarily what we perceive which counts, … it’s what we believe that leads us to make decisions or act in certain ways.

 Again, that’s what the entire advertising industry is based upon. If we really BELIEVE that drinking a certain type of beer will make life more fun and us more “cool,” we will exercise that belief in our buying choices, won’t we?

 So, what is our reality when it comes to belief in Christ? Do we REALLY believe that Jesus is the Lord of our lives; and that He is in TOTAL control of all the storms which we encounter? When we look in the mirror (see attached photo), do we REALLY believe that we are the lion God sees in us; or do we believe that we are the kitten whom we FEEL ourselves to be? I don’t know about you; but I need to work on whom I see in the mirror this morning and BELIEVE that Romans 8: 28 is absolute truth.

My Prayer for Today … Lord; … You ARE my Lord and You ARE in control of all I think, say, or do. Help me to perceive it; … nay, help me to believe 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.

November 3, 2014 … Enough - Really?!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 307

Devotional Song: Go to this link … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear the poignant song, written and sung by Steven Curtis Chapman, His Strength Is perfect. a song which had to be so close to Chapman who lost little adopted daughter to a horrible family accident

Highlight Passage - NKJV Psalms 30: 10 …
  10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me;… Lord, be my helper!”; … 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Psalms 30 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  Yes, Jesus is enough!

Reference Passage #1… 2nd Samuel, Chapter 24 — GO TO THIS LINK   … David sinned and thousands of God’s people died because of the sin

Reference Passage #2 … 2nd Corinthians 12: 7-10 — GO TO THIS LINK   … Paul discovered that God is enough - especially not verse 9

Reference Passage #3 … 1st Peter 5: 7 [NKJV] … 
7 Casting all your cares on Him, for He cares for you !! … 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Randy Kilgore, began by Kilgore describing a true story of George and Minnie Lacy, who, while serving as missionaries in 1904, lost all five of their children to scarlet fever. And in that time of horrible loneliness and grief, when writing back to their mission board, George Lacy wrote, “Sometimes it seems more than we can bear.” But then he added, “The Lord is with us and is wonderfully helping us.”

 There are times in our lives when God seems so very far away, especially when we’re weakened by life’s circumstances; … maybe in a time like that experienced by the Lacy family or in the linked song for Steven Curtis Chapman, when the loss of loved ones seems so unfair or personally devastating; … or a time like that experienced by the Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians 12: 7-10 (linked above), when physical pain or privation seem overwhelming.

 Or maybe we, like David in writing today’s highlight passage from Psalm 30, have committed some lamented sin against God, and we wonder how could God forgive us. David wrote Psalm 30 in lamenting his own sin which led to over 70,000 of God’s people dying from a plague [see 2nd Samuel, Chapter 24 linked above]; and David prayed that God would be with him. And we know from History that God in His mercy forgave David and the Jews to this day celebrate a festival annually honoring God for His forgiveness.

 And of course, the greatest story of forgiveness and kindness in the face of our own weakness or separation from God is the story of God sending His own Son, our Lord, Jesus, to die for our sins, when all the horrors of mankind where placed on the person of The Messiah, Who died on the cross to bring us eternal life.

 Yes, my friend, Jesus is enough. And we can cast any or all our cares upon Him, because He cares for us. [see 1st Peter 5: 7 above] God’s grace is sufficient to cover our weakness with His strength. Perhaps today someone reading here needs to cast all his/her cares on a God Whose strength is perfect to cover our weakness.

My Prayer for Today … Lord; … Your grace is sufficient; and You are here with me to lift me in my weakness. … 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.

November 2, 2014 … “Hands Off !!”

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 306

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear an anonymous group singing the old hymn, the lyrics written by Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. worshipping God and singing of the truth of Whom we rest and have our being - our mighty God!!

Highlight Passage - NKJV Psalms 46: 10a …
  10 Be still, and know that I am God; … 
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Highlight Passage, Version #2 - NET Psalms 46: 10a …
  10 He says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! …” 
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Highlight Passage , Version #3 - TLB Psalms 46: 10a …
  10 ”Stand silent! Know that I am God!…” 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Psalms 46 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  God is our refuge … ALWAYS !!

Reference Passage #1… Deuteronomy 31: 6, 8 — GO TO THIS LINK   … We need never be anxious because God will never forsake us. He even goes ahead of us.

Reference Passage #2… Psalms 37: 7a [NKJV] … Faith is our resting power … 
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; … 

Reference Passage #3… Philippians 4: 6-7 — GO TO THIS LINK  … Paul repeating Jesus’ teachings to avoid any anxiety … but to rest in the care of the Lord …

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Joe Stowell, began his devotional by describing an old game we used to play at halloween parties … i.e., bobbing for apples, … where the contestant had to hold his hands behind his back and dunk in a tub of water and try to grab a floating apple in his mouth, getting prize if successful, but likely getting dunked in the process. That’s what sparked Stowell’s title for this ODB entry, which I have stolen for my blog today … “HANDS OFF!”

 Well, the title also fits the essence of Stowell’s highlight verse for the ODB devotional, … Psalm 46: 10a, because the praise “BE STILL” in the verse, where God declares, “Be still and know that I am God …” is the Hebrew term “rapha,” which means … to be quiet, … also to relax … or to let go … or to refrain or forsake … or to let something or someone drop from concern.

 As God, through the Psalmists in Psalms 37:7 and 46:10 [see above], where the term “rapha” was used, were trying to exhort, we believers in the living God should drop our natural desires to take control; and as the song I’ve linked above, we should take refuge in our mighty God, Who is our fortress of every situation in life, no matter how anxiety producing.

 The term “rapha,” as in Psalm 46: 10a or Psalm 37: 7, is much like the military commands such as “at ease” or “stand down.” God is saying, as even Paul in the NT exhorted in Phil. 4: 6-7 that we are to be anxious about NOTHING; because as the song proclaims (linked above), He, our Lord, is our refuge; and as God declares in Deuteronomy 31: 6, 8 (also linked above) our God will never NOT drop us or forsake us; and He will even go ahead of us to forge our way through the toughest of times.

 So, can we take refuge in our God today, and drop our own hands of control, and let God be God … because we are NOT ?!!

My Prayer for Today … Lord; … TODAY … help me to go “hands off” and let You take control. … 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.

November 1, 2014 … Artful Sacrifice

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 305

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please take the time to take in the lyrics and hear a congregation at Martin Luther College singing the old hymn The Church’s One Foundation. worshipping God and singing of the truth of Christ’s sacrifice to create His Bride, THE one united Church, which will prevail against all for eternity.

Highlight Passage - NKJV Ephesians 2: 10 …
  10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Ephesians 2: 10-22 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …  The church was built by Christ’s blood and sacrifice

Reference Passage #1… Romans 12: 1 [NKJV] ... Becoming the living sacrifice Christ desires of all His disciples
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 

Reference Passage #2… Ephesians 2: 16, 21 — GO TO THIS LINK   … Jesus shed His blood in sacrifice on the cross to become the Cornerstone of His Church, creating and building His Church, (i.e., His Bride) who will prevail forevermore

Reference Passage #3… Revelation 19: 7-8 — GO TO THIS LINK   … When Jesus comes for His Bride, we, His Church, needs to be ready with our linens prepared for the wedding feast of the Lamb

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Julie Ackerman Link, used an interesting illustration to bring across the point of Christ’s blood sacrifice in creating His Bride, the Church. Ms. Link wrote of a mosaic depiction of Christ on the cross, created by the artist, Mia Tavonatti in 2011 [see the attached photo].

 The mosaic is created out of thousands of tiny pieces of colored glass, and Julie Link learned that in creating the 9ft X 13ft masterpiece, Tavonatti, often shed her own blood from fingers of love in the process of placing the tiny shards of glass into the depiction of Christ on the cross. It took over 2500 hours of blood-letting sacrifice to create the mosaic; and about the work of art, ODB author Link writes …

“As I gazed at the beautiful rendition of what was a horrific event, I saw more than a representation of the crucifixion. — I saw a picture of the church, the body of Christ. In each piece of glass I saw an individual believer, beautifully shaped by Christ to fit together into the whole (Eph. 2:16, 21). In the artist’s story, I recognized the shedding of Jesus’ blood so that this unity could take place. And in the finished artwork, I saw the act of love required to complete the project despite pain and sacrifice.” 

And the thought of the artist, Tavonatti, creating this work of art, shedding her own blood to do so, inspires me to do all I can to become the “living sacrifice” and “workmanship” Paul wrote about in Romans 12: 1 and Ephesians 2: 10. And as the Bride of Christ, all in the Church He built with His shed blood, should be willing to prepare our purified linens in preparation for His coming again for His bride and for the wedding feast of the Lamb (see Revelation 19: 7-8)

 And the old, old hymn I’ve selected for my journal entry today, speaks of that as well. So, I exhort any reading here to take in the photo, the song, and today’s highlight and reference passages and see if we aren’t more motivated to go out today and do a work of sacrifice for the Lord.

My Prayer for Today … Lord; … TODAY … help me to be Your living sacrifice, preparing my linens as Your Bride for Your return. … 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.