Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing their poignant song, He’ll Do Whatever It Takes,… declaring the reality that we, who have received God’s saving grace in Christ, will have to face in life to be sanctified and to give God the glory for how we’ve suffered.
Highlight Passage: 2nd Corinthians 4:8-9; 17-18 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul lays out the theology of suffering … the WHY behind the WHAT!!
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Highlight Context – 2nd Corinthians 4:8-18 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… What we go thru in this life is merely preparation for eternity with Christ.
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Reference Passage #1 - John 16:33 [NKJV] …
33 “… These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
… In Christ we become overcomers of the the trials in our lives.
Reference Passage #2 - Acts 1: 8 [NKJV] …
8 “… But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
… Trials reshape us to be His witness.
Reference Passage #3 - 2nd Corinthians 11:22-33 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul was a role model in his suffering for Christ and for the Kingdom Gospel.
Reference Passage #4 - James 1:2-4 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ brother challenges Christians to let trials have their way in our lives … that we can develop the patience we need to be witnesses for Christ
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Dave Roper used a rather challenging word picture to illustrate the trials we will encounter in life for God’s glory. He wrote: I like to watch birds at play, so years ago I built a small sanctuary in our backyard to attract them. For several months I enjoyed the sight of my feathered friends feeding and flitting about—until a Cooper’s Hawk made my bird refuge his private hunting reserve [see attached photo]. Such is life: Just about the time we settle down to take our ease, something or someone comes along to unsettle our nests. Why, we ask, must so much of life be a vale of tears?
As the ODB author today points out, we are going to encounter various trials in life. Jesus even promised that to His Disciples (see John 16:33); and the Apostle Paul was certainly a role model of suffering for Christ’s sake (see 2nd Cor. 11:22-33). But as Jesus’ brother pointed out (see James 1:2-4), there is a reason for the trials of life. They are to shape or reshape us for Glory; and as the linked song declares above, God will do whatever it takes, sometimes the tough trials of life, to allow us to become a semblance of His own image. And that can be tough at times.
But today, I plan on facing up to whatever comes my way so that I become the witness my Lord challenged me to become for His glory [see Acts 1:8]. … How about you?
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Bring it on, Lord; … and I pray I’ll be up for whatever You have for me 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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