Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images from friends, Clay Crosse, Bebe Winans, and Bob Carlisle singing … I Will Follow Christ … gloriously singing of our choices, as Christians, to honor God by following Christ and seeking His road when we walk the road of life.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Genesis 13:8-9 [NLT] …
8 Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! 9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
… Abram could’ve had the first choice; but he yielded first to Lot, honoring God with his choice.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Genesis 13:1-18 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Abram defers to Lot the choice of which land to claim.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Luke 9:23 [NLT] …
23 … “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
… As His disciples, we are to always deny self and follow Him, and this generally means yielding to others before self.
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … Philippians 2:3-4 [NLT] …
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
… Others before self is usually God’s way.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David McCasland, made a biblical reference to Abram and Lot to illustrate how we need to make choices in our lives which affect others. The ODB author wrote: In some cultures a younger person is expected to permit his elder to enter a room first. In others, the most important or highest ranking individual enters first. No matter what our traditions, there are times when we find it difficult to allow someone to choose first on important matters, especially when that privilege rightfully belongs to us.
Abram (later called Abraham) and his nephew Lot had so many flocks, herds, and tents that the land could not support both of them as they traveled together. To avoid conflict, Abram suggested they part company and generously gave Lot first choice of the land. His nephew took the fertile Jordan Valley, leaving Abram with the less desirable land.
Choices! … As we walk the roads of life, we have to make them everyday, don’t we? And often they involve others as we choose to go one way or another in life. I call them “crossroads choices” (see photo). And I think they are God’s way of testing our obedience and our loyalty to Jesus’ command of discipleship in Luke 9:23.
Abram, when he came to faith in God, was given such a choice with regard to his family in deciding which way to go in life [see highlight passage]. And he chose to honor God with his choice and give first dibs to Lot. The Apostle Paul taught about this to fellow Christians in the Phil. 2 passage above. And when we choose to allow others go ahead of us, especially those who are part of the family of God, we’re often making the choice which honors God the most.
Up ahead, … which road will we take?
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … My LORD, …King Jesus, …Shine a light on my way so that I can help others to see Your way. … 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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