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.
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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.
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