Devotional Song: ... Go to this link … Please take the time to take in a video of the group, Newsong, singing… For Goodness Sake, declaring what should been the life all Christians should life - for Jesus and for “goodness sake.”
Highlight Passage James 2: 15-16 [NKJV] …
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
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Highlight Context - James 2: 14-17 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ brother nails the essence of Christian living
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Reference Passage #1 - Matthew 25: 35-40 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus said it, … we do it!
Reference Passage #2 - Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] ...
25 Then He said to them all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. …”
… Jesus on being His disciple
Reference Passage #3 - Galatians 6: 9-10 [NKJV] ...
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
… Paul’s exhortation to keep on keeping on in Christ.
Reference Passage #4 - Philippians 2: 3-4 [NKJV] ...
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
… More from God, though Paul, on sharing our lives with others.
Reference Passage #5 - Hebrews 13: 16 [NKJV] ...
16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
… And finally the author of Hebrews gives his inspired two-cents worth on sharing.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Dave Branon, quotes the Greek Philosopher, Sophocles, to make the main point of his entry for this morning: “To be doing good [for others] is man’s most glorious task.” And, the two words, “for others,” in the parentheses above is my addition which helps the ODB readers who are with me here on what God’s word teaches about Christian living.
Dave Branon, today’s ODB author, went on to tell a delightful and poignant story to illustrate his point further. He wrote about a woman going to visit a child she sponsored through the mission group, Compassion International: " [The woman] decided to take the child, who was living in abject poverty, to a restaurant. … The boy ordered a hamburger, and the sponsor ordered a small salad. When the food came to the table, the boy, who assuredly had never had such a meal in his life, surveyed the scene. He looked at his huge hamburger and over at his sponsor’s small salad. Then he took his knife and cut the burger in half, offered it to his sponsor, rubbed his tummy, and asked, ‘Hungry?’ … A child who had next to nothing his whole life was willing to share half of what he had with someone he thought might need more."
Well, if you’ve meditated on the attached photo, listened to the song linked above sung by Newsong, and taken in the Scriptures provided above, I should not have to write any more here to embellish, enhance, or enlighten you on the point today’s OBD author is teaching. And it begs the question: What can we do - even today - to share our lives with others, reflecting Christ’s desire for us, to deny self and follow Him?
My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to be sensitive to the needs of others when they come into my life with needs You bring to my awareness. 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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