Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a You Tube video of images from Paul McCartney and the Beatles singing … The Long and Winding Road, poignantly expressing the reality of life being a long and winding road … but [and it’s my take on the song’s meaning] that our desire as Christians should be to led, by repentance and transformation, to the door only Christ can open unto salvation and sanctification.
Highlight Passage: Isaiah 40:3-4 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Isaiah even prophesies another prophet, coming to announce The Messiah’s coming
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Highlight Context … Isaiah 40:1-11 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Isaiah prophesies the coming of The Messiah to make the way straight for His people.
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Reference Passage #1 … Luke 9:23 [NKJV] …
23 If anyone is come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
… Following Christ is the only way to find our way down the long and winding road of life.
Reference Passage #2 … 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.”
… Our road in life is rough; but Christ has overcome the world.
Reference Passage #3 … Revelation 3:20 [NKJV] …
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
… Jesus’ promise of fellowship and help - IF - in faith we open the door to let Him into our lives.
My Journal for Today: … Our Daily Bread author, Mart DeHaan, used an illustration of one of the toughest roads for tourists to travel to see the breathtaking scenery in Madagascar. He writes: Madagascar’s National Road 5 offers the beauty of a white sand coastline, palm forests, and the Indian Ocean. Its 125 miles of two-track road, bare rock, sand, and mud, however, have given it a reputation for being one of the worst roads in the world. Tourists looking for breathtaking views are advised to have a four-wheel-drive vehicle, an experienced driver, and an onboard mechanic.
Seven hundred + years before John the Baptist came as the last Prophet of God to call for repentance of God’s people and to announce The Advent of The Messiah, Isaiah had prophesied John’s coming and how God’s Messiah would make the rough road smooth for His people (see Isaiah 40 passages linked above). John, the Baptizer, recognized that His cousin, Jesus, was THE ONE; but he also knew that God’s people were going to have to repent and turn from centuries of religious dogma and selfish living to find the path to salvation by following Christ in faith.
And our lives are like that long and winding road The Beatles sing about, … aren’t they? And that road can only lead to our Savior when we repent of self and come, in faith, to follow The Savior. And when we are willing to repent of self and seek the Savior, as He promises in the red-letter reference passages copied above, He will help us overcome the rough road we face in life.
And I don’t know about you fellow readers, … but I’m all in for those promises!!
My Prayer Today: O, Heavenly Father, … Show me the way, Lord, and I will follow. 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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