June 4 2025 … Grieving With Love …

June 4 2025 … Grieving With Love   …  

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to hear music and lyrics with the group Casting Crowns  singing… Scars In Heaven,  showing that the only scars in heaven are the ones that hold all those who’ve surrendered to receive God’s saving grace.

The Only Scars in Heaven ... 

Highlight Passage: …Genesis 23:1-2  … [NLT] … 

1 When Sarah was 127 years old, 2 she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.            

…  Abraham grieves for His wife who died in a foreign land.       

           

Highlight Passage (in context)  … Genesis 23:1-4, 17-20  [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… At Sarah’s death, Abraham’s love for his wife was honored by the purchase of a special burial place in Hebron, purchased from the Hittite elders.                                                                         

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Reference Passage: … Psalm 34:18 (NLT) …  USE THIS LINK …

… David sings of His Lord being close to he brokenhearted, … rescuing their (our) spirits.

Reference Passage: … Psalm 147:3 (NLT) …  USE THIS LINK …

… The Psalmist, likely David, declares that our God heals the hearts of the brokenhearted. 

Reference Passage: … Matthew 5:4 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, declares that God gives blessing to those who mourn.  

Reference Passage: … Romans 8:18 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle Paul encourages fellow Christians with the truth that we may suffer in the here-and-now but those who love and follow the Lord will one day experience His glory forever.

Reference Passage: …  1Peter 5:7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Peter assures oppressed Christians that they (we) can give all our worries and suffering over to our God Who ALWAYS cares for His chosen

Reference Passage: …  Revelation 21:4 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

… John shares what Jesus revealed to him about what believers will experience in heaven.

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread Author - John Blase … AT THIS LINK     … quoted from a poem, over a thousand years old, which wrote, ”Tis a fearful thing/ … to love what death can touch.”  And the poem conveys the reality that we quite often mourn what we love, but lose, to death; and that was conveyed by citing the time Abraham lost his one, true love, Sarah (cited in above in Genesis 23).  

But our mourning the loss of a loved one, as did Abraham in the Highlight passage, or any of us who mourn such a loss we feel now, … can be - and will be - healed by God’s truth in the linked song and God’s word, shared above. … Yes, we may mourn now but we look forward to sharing eternal glory with our Lord in heaven … FOREVER!!  Perhaps some reading here need that healing today.  if so, receive God’s love and grace, thru His truth shared above.  

My Thanksgiving: … Oh, King Jesus, thank You, … for holding all of us who love You, with Your nail-scarred hands, … the only scars in heaven.

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I praise You, … again today, Lord. … for being there in Heaven, Lord, to love and hold us with Your nail-scarred hands.      … Amen

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Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site. 

June 3 2025 … God REALLY Cares …

June 3 2025 … God REALLY Cares   …   

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to hear music and lyrics with Kristian Stanfill and Melodie Malone  singing… God, You’re So Good,  showing all Christians that our God ALWAYS watches over and cares for His chosen.

But do we believe it?! ... 

  

Highlight Passage: … Psalms 95:6-7  … [NLT] … 

6  Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, 7 for He is our God.We are the people He watches over, the flock under His care. If only you would listen to His voice today!            

…  God is our Good Shepherd, ALWAYS watching over His flock.       

           

Highlight Passage (in context): … Psalms 95:1-7  [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… King David sings of our great God Who always cares for His chosen children..                         

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Reference Passage: … Deuteronomy 31:8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … </b> 

… Moses shares God’s promise with His people that He, The Lord, will NEVEr leave, nor abandon, His people.

Reference Passage: … Psalms 55:22 (NLT) …  USE THIS LINK … 

… David sings of believers trusting God to care for them (us) ALWAYS.

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

… Solomon shares God’s wisdom about trusting The Lord to show us the way - HIS WAY - in life.  

Reference Passage: … Isaiah 41:10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… God, thru Isaiah, promises to provide His strength when we, HIs people, are feeling weak.

Reference Passage: …  Matthew 11:28 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus invites any who believe in Him as King to come and find rest in our faith in Him.

Reference Passage: …  1Peter 5:7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Peter assures oppressed Christians that they (we) can give all our worries and cares over to our God Who ALWAYS cares for His chosen.

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread Author - Xochitl Dixon … AT THIS LINK       … shared about a friend and her husband who were raising a son with autism who struggled intellectually in a very demanding world.  And Diane, the mother, with a strong and unwavering faith in God, learned over the years, even writing a book to help other parents of special needs children, that an unwavering faith in God is warranted; … because our Lord ALWAYS cares for and forever watches over His children.    And that’s what is conveyed by the linked song and the Scriptures share above.

That’s why, ever day you can find me here, opening my day, being strengthened in faith thru God’s word, that I can ALWAYS rely on my God to faithfully watch over and guide me through His word to find my way in life by following God’s way rather than relying on my own way.   Oh how I pray that all who read with me here join me in this quest to build our faith.  Are you with me?

My Thanksgiving: … Oh, King Jesus, thank You, … for showing me Your caring Spirit every day thru Your word.

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I praise You, … again today, Lord. … for guiding us to see and follow Your way, Lord, … thru Your word.     … Amen

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Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 2 2025 … Run For the Prize …

June 2 2025 … Run For the Prize    … 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to hear music and lyrics with Steven Curtis Chapman singing… His Strength Is Perfect,  showing all Christians that God gives us HIs strength to run the race of life.

Running to win !! ... 

Highlight Passage: … 1Corinthians 9:24  … [NLT] … 

24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!          

…  The Apostle Paul exhorted and encouraged fellow Christians to run the race of life in sharing the Good News of Christ in order to win more souls for God’s Kingdom.       

           

Highlight Passage (in context): … 1Corinthians 9:19-27  [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… Paul uses an athletic word picture to motivate fellow Christians to run the race of life in sharing the Gospel with those we encounter in life.                                                                         

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Highlight Passage (in context): … Isaiah 40:31 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… If we trust in the Lord,,,, as we follow Him, He will give us the strength to run the race of life with His strength 

Reference Passage: … Matthew 24:13 (NLT) …  USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus teaches His followers that tha those who endure to the end are the ones who will saved.

Reference Passage: … 2Corinthians 12:9-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle Paul teaches Christ’s truth about overcoming our weaknesses by relying on and trusting in God’s strength.  

Reference Passage: … Philippians 3:12-14 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul encourages and exhorts fellow Christians to “keep on keeping on” the race of life.

Reference Passage: …  2Timothy 4:7-8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

… Paul testifies and encourages Timothy, and all fellow Christins, of his life of strife and struggle for Christ, waiting for the prize that awaited Paul (and for us) in heaven.  

Reference Passage: …  Hebrews 12:1-2 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

… The Author of Hebrews shows God’s call to run the race of life, enduring what we encounter, but running by keeping our eyes on Christ and running the race for God’s glory.

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread Author - Monica La Rose … AT THIS LINK      … wrote of the research of Professor Monica Wadhwa, who discovered that losing can be - and often is - more motivating to become a a better runner than winning can be, … the latter often causing aspiring runners to become complacent.   

Decades ago, I decided to run the race of life to honor God.  And along the way, I’ve often failed in my desire to win - FOR HIM.  But those failures  have become what the linked song and the Scriptures shared above relate.  They have helped me “keep on keeping on” as I run my life’s race for God’s glory and the heavenly trophies my Lord has waiting for me in Heaven.  Is Christ calling you to run hard  in this race we call life? Well, let’s go for it again today and then onward tomorrow.

My Thanksgiving: … Oh, King Jesus, thank You, … for giving me Your strength to run this race of life.  

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I praise You, … again today, Lord. … for lifting us up with Your strength as we run Your race of life.     … Amen

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Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 1 2025 … God’s Thoughtfulness …

June 1 2025 … God’s Thoughtfulness    …   

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to hear music and lyrics with the group Casting Crowns singing… God Of All My Days,  showing all Christians that God cares about all our days.

Highlight Passage: … 2Kings 20:19  … [NLT] … 

19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “This message you have given me from the Lord is good.” For the king was thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.”             

…   Hezekiiah recognizes that all that God has for His people if for their good even if it meant exile to Babylon..       

           

Highlight Passage (in context): … 2Kings 20:12-19  [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… Isaiah shows Hezekiah that one day Judah was going to be exiled to Babylon.                         

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Highlight Passage (in context): … Psalms 139:17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… King David sings of God’s thoughtfulness and caring heart for him.

Reference Passage: …  Luke 6:31 (NLT) …  USE THIS LINK …

… Jesus teaches what we know of as His “Golden Rule” about thinking and caring for others as we would have them care for us.

Reference Passage: … Ephesians 4:32 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle Paul teaches truth about treating and caring for others as Christ has cared for all Christians.

Reference Passage: … 1Thessalonians 5:11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul encourages and exhorts fellow Christians to encourage one another and build each other up.

Reference Passage: …  Hebrews 10:24 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

… God, thru the Author of Hebrews, calls for fellow Christians to do all we can to think of ways to edify one another.  

Reference Passage: …  1Peter 5:7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Peter calls on fellow Christians, especially those who are persecuted, to take all our cares to our God Who deeply cares for His chosen ones.

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread Author - James Banks … AT THIS LINK       … wrote of visiting a friend in the hospital being treated for an infection who also was already paralyzed from a past accident, rendering his friend quadriplegic.  And as his hospitalized friend showed the ODB authorities the scar from the recent surgery, his paralyzed friend revealed that he was not able to feel any pain from the incision due to his previous paralysis.  And the incident caused the ODB author to realize that he had no real empathy for his friends ailments.    

Today’s ODB entry, the linked song, and the Scriptures shared above, reminded me how shallow my feeling can be for others when I can’t feel for their pain like God does, … our God, Who ALWAYS knows all the pain we encounter in life and calls for us to feel and care for others the way He, our Lord, cares for us.  So, I’m convicted here today to do all I can to reach out with God’s “Golden Rule” in mind and share God’s love and grace with others today.   Will you join me?

My Thanksgiving: … Oh, King Jesus, thank You, … for calling me to do all I can to reach out with God’s love/grace today.   

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I praise You, … again today, Lord. … for calling us to be Your ambassadors of grace and thoughtfulness today..     … Amen

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Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.