Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Chris Tomlin singing his song Jesus Loves Me,… declaring the reality of God’s love for us. … Yes, we are truly the apple of Jesus’ eye … for eternity.
Highlight Passage: Zechariah 2:8 [NKJV] …
8 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. …”
… God’s proclaims that His chosen people are the “apple of His eye.”
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Highlight Context – Zechariah, Chapter 2 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru the Prophet, Zechariah, proclaims His love for His people.
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Reference Passage #1 - Psalms 17:6-9 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK ...
… During a time of oppression, David prays in song to remain as the “apple of God’s eye” and to be hid under His wings [see verse 8].
Reference Passage #2 - Proverbs 7:2 [NKJV] …
2 Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye.
… God’s prophesy of His plans for His chosen ones, … the “apple of His eye.”
Reference Passage #3 - Jeremiah 29:11 [NKJV] …
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
… God’s prophesy of His plans for His chosen ones, … the “apple of His eye.”
Reference Passage #4 - John 3:16-17 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK ...
… God’s love given to all of us who believe in Him and repent of our sins. And when we do, we become the apple of His eye.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Amy Boucher Pye, told a story about a friend in trouble to illustrate just how much God loves us; and Ms. Pye’s ODB blog was titled the same as my journal here today. She wrote: A friend’s baby was suffering seizures, so they sped to the hospital in an ambulance, her heart racing as she prayed for her daughter. Her fierce love for this child hit her afresh as she held her tiny fingers, recalling too how much more the Lord loves us and how we are “the apple of His eye.”
And then the ODB author today referred to her highlight biblical example of God’s love for His people, when Zechariah, prophesying to the Tribe of Judah, returning to Jerusalem after decades of slavery, referred to God’s chosen as “the apple of His eye.” And that latter reference to how God sees all of His chosen ones (hey, friend, that’s you and me!) tells us just how much God loves us.
And we see that phrase being used when David prayed that he would remain protected as the “apple of God’s eye” (see Ps. 17:6-9). And David’s Son, Solomon, also turned that phrase around into the eyes of believers, when he declared that we should see our Lord as the apple of our eye through His word (see Proverbs 7:2).
As the attached photo implies, we should be holding Jesus as the “apple of OUR eye” because we are the apple of HIS eye. Why else would God send His Son to die for us and to save us (John 3:16-17). My friend, … we know that ultimately, when our Lord comes again for us, He has internal plans for the “apple of His eye” (see Jer. 29:11), i.e., His chosen ones.
So, dear one, rest assured, as Chris Tomlin sings (linked above), that …. JESUS LOVES YOU and me!! And I just can’t help … AGAIN … declaring HALLELUJAH!!!
My Prayer Today: O, Heavenly Father, … it’s overwhelming to realize that I’m the apple of Your eye. And I pray, everyday that you’ll be mine as I feel Your presence here in Your word. 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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