Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from the group Selah singing a contemporary arrangement of the old hymn … Do How Deep the Father’s Love For Us … poignantly singing of the vast expansive and open arms of love of our Savior.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Psalm 139:23 [NLT] …
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; … test me and know my anxious thoughts.
… When anxiety strikes, ... so what David did!
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalm 139:17-24 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… David knew where to go when he felt lost, alone, and weak.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon knew that the only way we can find our way thru life is to surrender, completely, to the One to show us the way … His way!
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … 2nd Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] …
9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
… When our strength runs out, we need to fall into the arms of the One who will give us His strength.
Reference Passage #3 [NKJV] : … Philippians 4:6-7 [NLT] …
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
… When we’re anxious, afraid, or feeling lost, … there’s only one place to go!
Reference Passage #4 [NKJV] : … 1st Peter 5:7 [NLT] …
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
… Peter also knew where to go when he had burdens too heavy for himself to bare.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Shelly Beach, used a personal story to illustrate how we Christians must rely on God’s love to fuel us when we run out of human strength. The ODB author wrote: The day my husband, Dan, and I began our caregiving journey with our aging parents, we linked arms and felt as if we were plunging off a cliff. We didn’t know that in the process of caregiving the hardest task we would face would be to allow our hearts to be searched and molded and to allow God to use this special time to make us like Him in new ways.
On days when I felt I was plunging toward earth in an out-of-control free-fall, God showed me my agendas, my reservations, my fears, my pride, and my selfishness. He used my broken places to show me His love and forgiveness.
Do I sense any readers with me here, saying … “Yeah, been there … got that t-shirt!” … Well, maybe not with the caregiving of aging parents; but having been in situations where we felt lost, afraid, or helpless, … I’d bet there aren’t any of us who haven’t been there.
So, what does one do; … where does one go? Well today’s photo and song tell us. … We run into the arms of love of a Savior who knows exactly where we are and what we need. And as He promised David in Psalm 139 … or Paul 2nd Cor. 12:9, … our Lord’s love and enabling grace will always be there for us.
So, if any of us are feeling weak or anxious today, let’s do what Paul and Peter exhorted in Phil. 4:6-7 and 1Peter 5:7; … let’s take our cares to Jesus!
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … LORD, … I come running to You. … 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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