Dec 31 2025 … Surrender To Him …

Dec 31 2025 …  Surrender To Him  … 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...     and PLEASE take the time to listen to music and lyrics, from Brandon Heath, singing No Turning Back … calling on Christians to decide to follow Jesus - no matter what! 

Highlight Passage: … John 15:7-8 … [NLT] … 

7 But if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. …

… Jesus shows His disciples that surrendering to follow Him is the way to glorify God.

Highlight Passage in Context:  John 15:4-12 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus called - no, rally commanded - His disciples to surrender and follow Him ALWAYS to become fruitful for God’s glory. 

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

… Solomon shows that trusting and following God’s way is the key to finding our way in life. 

Reference Passage: … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ... 

… Jesus shows HIs followers what it cost to follow Him … really EVERYTHING!   

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

… Paul teaches truth to fellow Christians about surrendering self to become living sacrifices, giving up our way, or the world’s way, to follow His way.

Reference Passage: … Galatians 2:20 [NLT]   … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul testifies as to how surrendering self allowed him (and us) to live for Christ.

Reference Passage: … 1Peter 5:6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle Peter shows what it takes to be lifted up by God’s grace … i.e., … to humble ourselves to receive God’s enabling/empowering grace. 

Reference Passage: … 1John 2:6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle John shows fellow Christians that they (we), who call ourselves by the name of Christ should live like Him.

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread from Monica La Rose …  USE THS LINK        …  writes about Author, Amy Wilson, who reminds her readers that well over 80 percent of the resolutions made by all of us at New Years are failures by February of each year.  She suggests that we “do less” for weighty commitments and decide to follow the One Who offers to take us and bring us to be more than we could ever be on our own.           

And I believe “surrender” … NOT “commitment” … is the key to growing more and doing more for God in this upcoming year.  So, after taking in the linked song and the truth of God’s word shared above,  I, for one, am going do more “to do less” in 2026.   And I’m making my surrender to follow Christ my priority for the New Year.  And … I’m going to use God’s “GPS,” … His word … to show me the way.   Are you with me?

My Thanksgiving: … Oh, King Jesus, thank You …Lord, … for giving me Your word to follow You into the New Year.

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, … We’re surrendering our all to follow Your ways this year.   … 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.

Dec 30 2025 … God’s Faithful Love …

Dec 30 2025 …  God’s Faithful Love  … 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...      and PLEASE take the time to listen to music and lyrics, from Cece Winans, singing The Goodness of God … showing Christians of God’s faithfulness and goodness ,,, all the days of their (our) lives.

Highlight Passage: … Genesis 39:21a … [NLT] … 

21a  But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him His faithful love. … 

… God’s faithful love and grace was ALWAYS with Joseph.

Highlight Passage in Context:  Genesis 39:20-23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Joseph was thrown into prison; but God’s faithful love was with Joseph as The Lord had been all of Joseph’s life.  

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Reference Passage: … Deuteronomy 7:9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… God’s promise, thru Moses to His beloved/chosen people, … to be faithful and ALWAYS protect those who believe in and follow The Lord.  

Reference Passage: … Psalms 36:5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… King David sings of God’s unfailing and infinitely vast love.

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

… Solomon teaches his son, and all believers, of trusting in God’s faithful love to lead in life.

Reference Passage: … !Corinthians 10:13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul teaches truth to fellow Christians of God’s faithfulness to lead them (us) through the temptations and trials of life.

Reference Passage: … 2Thessalonians 3:3 [NLT]   … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul assures fellow Christians of God faithful love and His protective grace.

Reference Passage: … 1John 1:9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle John reminds fellow Christians of God’s faithful and forgiving grace. 

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread from Karen Huang …  USE THS LINK     …  related a personal encounter d with a man named Ed, …  a resident of a nursing home which was visited in a ministry outreach by the ODB author’s church.  Ed related how his daughter had dropped him off at this nursing home in his wheel chair years before and had abandoned Ed.          

The story reminded the ODB author of how Joseph’s brothers abandoned him and sold him into slavery to Egyptian traders (see Highlight passage).  And if my readers have taken in Joseph’s life story in Genesis, we learn that God watched over Joseph’s life with His faithful love and sustaining grace.  And that love from God can be ours, if we believe in and follow The Lord’s faithful leading in our lives.  Personally, after taking in the linked song and the Scriptures above, I’m in for God’s faithful love for the rest of my life!   How about you?

My Thanksgiving:… Oh, King Jesus, thank You …Lord, … forYour faithful love today and ALWAYS.

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, … You watch over us ALWAYS with Your faithful love.   … 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.

Dec 29 2025 … Joy From Suffering …

Dec 29 2025 …  Joy From Suffering  … 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...      and PLEASE take the time to listen to music and lyrics, from an unnamed voice, singing Joy In Suffering …showing us how we find our joy in times of trial and suffering through our faith in Christ.

Highlight Passage: … Habakkuk 3:17-18 … [NLT] …  

17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,  18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!  

… Habakkuk learned to be joyful and praise God, even from the trials and suffering in his life.

Highlight Passage in Context:  Habakkuk 3:16-19, 16-22 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jeremiah relates God’s promise to His chosen people to transform their hearts to be able to live for and follow the Lord.  

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

… Solomon shows believers that trusting in God, … ALWAYS, … shows us the way to go in life.  

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

… God, thru the Prophet, Isaiah, promises to give His strength to when His people encounter trials and suffering..

Reference Passage: …  Matthew 11:28-30 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus invites His chosen to yoke themselves (ourselves) to His strength to help them (us) deal with times of trial.

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

… Paul teaches fellow Christians that the trials of life produce joy and hope as we deal with suffering thru our faith in Christ.

Reference Passage: … James 1:2-4 [NLT]   … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus’ brother, James, shows fellow Christians that our joy comes from dealing with the trials of life with our faith in Christ.

Reference Passage: … 1Peter 4:12-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle Peter shows fellow Christians that our joy - as faithful Christians - comes from dealing with the sufferings of life thru their (our) faith in Christ. 

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread from Marvin Williams …  USE THS LINK        …  shared about social researchers studying the histories of many civilizations and discovering - somewhat surprisingly - that cultures and peoples grew stronger from times of adversity or suffering rather than from times of worldly joy.      

But if we believe in the truth of the the Scriptures shared above - and I certainly do - we should - and prayerfully do - find our hope and our joy when we, as did Habakkuk, go through trials and suffering (see Highlight passage), come out stronger in our faith for going thru the trials.  So, I say, “BRING IT ON!”, whatever it is; … and let’s find our joy by going thru the tough times … TOGETHER.    Are you with me? 

My Thanksgiving: … Oh, King Jesus, thank You …Lord, … for being my strength as I deal with the trials of life.

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, … We come together, here today, Lord, seeking Your strength to deal with the trials we face in life, finding our Joy in You.   … 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.

Dec 28 2025 … Transformed Hearts …

Dec 28 2025 …  Transformed Hearts … 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...      and PLEASE take the time to listen to music and lyrics, from  the group, Mercy Me, singing Then Christ Came …showing us how hearts and lives are changed when Christ comes in the hearts of those who surrender to follow The Lord.

Hearts Transformed By The Cross ... 

 

Highlight Passage: … Jeremiah 31:33 … [NLT] …  

33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  

… God’s promise, thru Jeremiah, of the New Covenant from God to transform the hearts and lives of those who believe in and follow The Messiah as Lord.

Highlight Passage in Context:  Jeremiah 31:31-34, 16-22 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jeremiah relates God’s promise to His chosen people to transform their hearts to be able to live for and follow the Lord.  

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Reference Passage: … Psalms 51:10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… King David sings/prays for God, after his sin with Bathsheba and her husband, to give him a new heart.

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

… The Apostle Paul teaches truth to fellow Christians about becoming living sacrifices to God by avoiding selfish sin and the influences of the world.

Reference Passage: …  2Corinthians 5:17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

… Paul also teaches that those who surrender to follow Christ become new creatures, living new lives for The Lord.

Reference Passage: … Ephesians 4:24 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul also exhorts and encourages fellow Christians to put on their new, Spirit-led nature, to live for and follow the ways of The Lord.

Reference Passage: … Philippians 1:6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

… The Apostle Paul tells of his certainty that God transforms the hearts of those who follow Christ to be like Him. 

Reference Passage: … James 4:8 [NLT] ... USE THIS LINK ...   

… Jesus’ brother, James, calls fellow Christians to come close to God by choosing to live lives which honor The Lord with purified hearts and clean hands.

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread from Tom Felton …  USE THS LNK    …  wrote about a young man, named Russell, who had been exposed to pornography at a young age and became addicted to seek it out.   But after Russell surrendered his life to Christ, over time he was able to walk a walk that honored Jesus, … free from the sinful pursuit of porn.    

Today, … I really identified with the ODB entry; because Russell’s story was very much like mine.  And I know, first hand, the transforming power of God’s Spirit and the freeing influence of God’s word … to transform a heart and lead one like Russell - or me - to a walk which honors God. God is the One, Who provides the freeing power to be transformed into a walk which honors our Lord.  I for one will be able to walk that walk today because of the freeing power of God’s Spirit, and the leading influence God’s truth.   How about you? 

My Thanksgiving: … Oh, King Jesus, thank You …Lord, … for transforming me to walk a walk with a heart that honors and glorifies You.

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, … We, who read here, know how You have transformed ALL, who know You as Lord, to walk free from ourselves and the world, knowing and following Your Truth.   … 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.