Devotional Song: ... Go to this link … Please take the time to take in a video of Queen Latifah singing the song all of should sing … Fix Me, Jesus, praying the prayer of redemption we all must pray to Christ to overcome the selfishness inherent in our souls as humans.
Highlight Passage Psalm 119: 2 [NKJV] …
2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!
… The love of the Philippians was a “sweet aroma” of praise to Paul in prison in Rome
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Highlight Context - Psalm 119: 1-8 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God blesses the one who knows God’s way and His will from His word - and pursues it with all His heart.
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Reference Passage #1 - Judges 21: 25 [NKJV] ...
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
… It was the pattern of God’s people, knowing His will from His word, to ignore God’s ways and do life their own way.
Reference Passage #2 - Isaiah 53: 6 [NKJV] ...
6 All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
… The prophesy of The Messiah coming to take our sinful nature on Himself
Reference Passage #2 - Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] ...
23 Then He said to them all, … “If anyone would follow Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me!”
… Jesus calling us out of the puddle to follow Him.
Reference Passage #3 - Romans 7: 19-20, 24-25 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul recognized the boy in the puddle within himself; but ultimately looked to Jesus for his redemption.
Reference Passage #4 - Romans 8: 1-11 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… But Paul, after recognizing his nature toward selfishness and sin, wrote of the redemption and restoration he found - and all Christians can find - by faith in the completed work of King Jesus.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David C Egner, used a very familiar word picture to make his point … that we Christians so often defiantly do what we shouldn’t do, knowing God’s will from His word, and being like a little boy in a puddle of water who’s been told to stay out of the puddle [see attached photo].
We’ve got one of those little urchins in our family, a grandson, who very often gets in a puddle when he’s been told to avoid the muddy mess. He’s like the little boy in the attached photo; and he’s me! Actually, the little boy in the puddle is every Christian who really knows where not to go but goes there anyway [see Judges 21:25 or Isaiah 53: 6].
The Apostle Paul recognized that little boy in the puddle inside himself when He wrote [see the Romans 7 passages linked above] “Oh how wretched man am I.” But then this launched him to recognize his relationship with Christ and write the famous victory over sin chapter of Romans 8 (see verses 1-11 linked above).
I exhort any reading with me here today, to meditate on the attached photo, the poignant song, linked and sung by Queen Latifah above, and the highlight and reference passages above, recognizing that we are all like that little boy in the puddle, so often doing what we want to do rather than what we know God, our Heavenly Papa, is leading us to do. The Psalmist, in Psalm 119: 1-8 linked above, nails it when he writes that those who, in reality, follow and do what God lays out in his word, will be blessed.
So, do we want to be blessed today? I, for one, do!! Well, if so, Jesus told us what we need to do [see Luke 9: 23 above]. So, seeking His blessing, let’s get out of the puddle and follow King Jesus.
My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to quit kicking the filthy water in my little puddle and step out to follow You and Your ways through Your word. … As Queen Latifah sings, “Fix me, Jesus, fix 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.
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