Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from an old song … It Is No Secret What God Can Do … poignantly declaring the message of the Good News of God’s saving and sanctifying grace, … a message that needs to “go viral” to the world.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1st Thessalonians 1:8 [NLT] …
8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God.
… Paul had heard of how the Thessalonians had spread the good news of Christ throughout their area of God’s Kingdom and beyond.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul expressed His shared joy with fellow Christians at the word of their sharing the good news of Christ throughout Asia Minor in those days.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Matthew 4:18-20 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
... Jesus called His new disciples to follow Him and become “fishers of Men.” They did, shared God’s news with others and changed the world.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David McCasland, used the modern techno-term “going viral” to illustrate how God’s truth was shared in the past. The ODB author wrote: The Viral Texts project at Northeastern University in Boston is studying how printed content in the 1800s spread through newspapers—the social media network of that day. [See attached photo] If an article was reprinted 50 times or more, they considered that “viral” for the Industrial Age. Writing in Smithsonian magazine, Britt Peterson noted that a nineteenth-century news article describing which followers of Jesus were executed for their faith appeared in at least 110 different publications.
In today’s techno-world, a message can, thru social-media on the internet, reach thousands of people - even millions - in a matter of hours. In the 19th century, newspapers were the media which shared a story of interest to the masses. And in biblical times, a message might go “viral” in a matter of weeks or months because the only media available was “word-of-mouth” communication.
Hence, when we read of the Apostle Paul congratulating the Thessalonians for taking The Gospel “viral” in their day [see highlight scriptures], we see that God could even use the messaging system in the 1st Century to spread His Good News to much of the world in that day.
The Thessalonians simply shared how their lives had been changed by Christ as often and to as many as they could; and God’s Spirit allowed the “Good News” to go forth as viral as possible in those days. What this ODB message did for me was challenge me to ask myself if I was doing all I can to help God’s Good News, of how Christ changed ME, … praying that the message “go viral” with whom I communicate today.
We have amazing tools today to share God’s love and His message of salvation and sanctification. Are we using them as we could for God’s glory? Certainly that is greatly the motivation which brings me here everyday to share God’s truth with others thru my blogging online.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lord, I pray You use my meager messaging daily for Your glory. Take Your Good News viral to the world! … 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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