Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Chris Rice singing Come To Jesus… declaring truth of God’s eternal promise to be there for His beloved in times of need … for us to come to our Savior for His strength when we are weak.
Highlight Passage: Luke 9: 11 [NKJV] …
11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.
… Jesus was a “rock star” of His day; and the people flocked to see Him perform miracles of healing … to be fed by His charisma.
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Highlight Context – Luke 9:10-17 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… The multitudes followed Jesus to be fed by His miracles.
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Reference Passage #1 - Matthew 11: 28-30 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus invites any and all to come to Him when our burdens are too heavy.
Reference Passage #2 - Mark 6: 44-46 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… After Jesus feeds the multitudes …goes to a quiet, high place to be alone with His Father, Knowing that His disciples would need Him in the storm they were about to face.
Reference Passage #3 - John 6:1-14, 15 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus feeds the multitudes … then needs to be alone with His Father before going out to meet the needs of His Disciples in the impending storm - see John 6:15
Reference Passage #4 - 2nd Corinthians 12: 9-10 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… We all need God’s enabling/empowering grace to help lift us up in our moments of weakness.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, David McCasland, teaches about the need for solitude and renewal. He wrote: Comedian Fred Allen said, “A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well-known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.” Fame often brings loss of privacy along with a relentless frenzy of attention. … When Jesus began His public ministry of teaching and healing, He was catapulted into the public eye and thronged by people seeking help. Crowds followed Him wherever He went. But Jesus knew that having regular time alone with God was essential to maintaining strength and perspective.
The scriptures, highlighted and referenced above, show one such instance (see also the attached photo) where literally thousands had flocked to a hillside near Capernaum during Jesus’ ministry, to see this Spirit-led “rock-star” of His day, THE ONE some were saying was “The Messiah.” And in this one scenario, we know from these Gospel accounts above that Jesus fed almost 10,000 people one day with just a few loaves and fishes. And then He sent His inner disciples out on the waters of the Sea of Galilee to face a storm. But in-between these events, we see that the celebrity Messiah needed some alone time with His Heavenly Father; and He went up to a high-place to find solitude from the multitudes … to be alone and to receive regeneration from God, The Holy Spirit.
If even Jesus needed some solitude … some times during His ministry to be refreshed and fed by God’s Spirit, … don’t you think we also need to get away from the madding times of our day to be alone and receive God’s empowering grace [see also Paul’s teaching in 2nd Cor.: 12:9-10 when he had a time of weakness]?
Why do you think I’m here today, … as I was yesterday, … and as I will be tomorrow? It’s so that I can be alone with my Lord and receive His refreshing, renewing, and regenerating grace. Like Chris Rice sings in the linked song today, I come here to to be with my Jesus; and He is here for me every day.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Fill my spiritual tank again for the walk ahead today. … 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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