Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a You Tube video of Dennis Jernigan and Natalie Grant singing Dennis’ song … You Are My All In All, poignantly expressing the reality of God’s dream to have all He has called and saved to some to Him forever.
Highlight Passage: Matthew 7:12-14 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK
… God’s desire and our reality.
=========== Highlight Context – Matthew 7:12-23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus from His Sermon on the Mount on God’s dream for His Church.
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Reference Passage #1 … Luke 9:23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
23 Then He said to them all [Jesus to His followers], “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
… Jesus’ reality for His disciples
Reference Passage #2 … John 14:6 [NKJV] …
6 Jesus said to him [one of His disciples], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. …”
… Both God’s desire and our reality.
My Journal for Today: … Our Daily Bread author, Tim Gustafson, went back to Jesus and His Sermon on the Mount to teach about the tension between God’s Kingdom dream for His Chosen and the reality of our humanity. He wrote: When a British scholar called on the world’s religions to work together for worldwide unity, people everywhere applauded. Pointing out that the major religions share a belief in the Golden Rule, she suggested, “The chief task of our time is to build a global society where people of all persuasions can live together in peace and harmony.”
Yes, that would be the pipe-dream of mankind, wouldn’t it? And Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount showed His dream for mankind as well, when, in Matt. 7:12 He expressed what we call the “Golden Rule.” And some claim that almost all religious share this lofty principle. However, when we look at the world mankind has built and what we are building (or rather destroying), we’d have to say that the “reality” doesn’t match the dream of the Golden rule, … does it?
Well, Jesus also spoke as to why that tension exists between His dream for His chosen few and the reality of mankind in our darkened world [see all of the passages above]. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we read of what God’s kingdom living SHOULD BE all about; but unfortunately, when we read of what it takes to bring it about, we fall way short. And Jesus spoke of His desires and our reality in the reference passages above; and once again most of mankind don’t - or won’t - live out God’s dream of Him being “the way, the truth, and the life” for our lives. And when our Lord commands us to deny self and follow Him, … most don’t … do they?
So, here we are; … and we must ask ourselves. Are we going to set about living out God’s dream for our lives as expressed in the Golden Rule? And do we proclaim to others that Christ is the “way, the truth, and the life?” And will we deny ourselves and follow Him today?
My Prayer Today: O, Heavenly Father, … May I join all reading here with me and do all You desire for us this day … and all days. 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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