Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Alan Jackson singing … Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus … poignantly expressing a plea for all who follow Christ to look at Jesus, … especially in moments where things seem dark and doubtful.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 2Corinthians 4:6 [NKJV] …
6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
… God will light the way
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2Corinthians 4:1-15 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul exhorts all Christians to let the light of God shine in our hearts, especially when we’re surrounded by darkness.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon wrote of surrender all in our hearts to follow the Lord God and avoiding doing life on our own.
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … Isaiah 41:10 [NKJV] …
10 Fear not, for I am with you; … be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, … yes, I will help you, … I will lift you up with My righteous hand.
… God’s promise that He’ll be there for us in the tough times.
Reference Passage #3 [NKJV] : … Romans 8:28 [NKJV] …
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
… True … but so tough to believe and live out in the tough times.
Reference Passage #3 [NKJV] : … 1st Peter 5:7 [NKJV] …
7 … casting ALL your cares on Him, for He cares for you …
… Yes, … but do we really?
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Phillip Yancey, writes from the heart of his experience in teaching about following God in the tough times. The OBD author wrote: Much of my career as a writer has revolved around the problem of pain. I return again and again to the same questions, as if fingering an old wound that never quite heals. I hear from readers of my books, and their anguished stories give human faces to my doubts. I remember a youth pastor calling me after he had learned that his wife and baby daughter were dying of AIDS because of a tainted blood transfusion. “How can I talk to my youth group about a loving God?” he asked.
I have learned to not even attempt an answer to these “why” questions. Why did the youth pastor’s wife happen to get the one tainted bottle of blood? Why does a tornado hit one town and skip over another? Why do prayers for physical healing go unanswered?
I would imagine that all reading here with me identify with author Yancey in this ODB entry. Most, if not all, of us have come to our “WHY GOD?” moments, haven’t we? But as I meditated thru today’s song, by Alan Jackson, and the Scriptures above, I had to agree with something else Yancey wrote: One question, however, no longer gnaws at me as it once did: “Does God care?” I know of only one way to answer that question, and the answer is Jesus. In Jesus, God gave us a face. If you wonder how God feels about the suffering on this groaning planet, look at that face.
My relationship with my Lord answers the “WHY GOD?” question; and the deeper my walk with Jesus becomes, i.e., the more faithful my walk, … the more I trust where He’s leading me … no matter where I’m led. And as the song rings true above, when I look to Jesus, “… the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … I’m following You, Lord, wherever You lead me. … 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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