Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Fernando Ortega singing the old hymn … I Need They Every Hour … poignantly singing of the reality of our need to come to the Lord in our need of comfort or His grace.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Isaiah 66:13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
13 I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.
… Yes, … even Moses in the OT was following Jesus.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Isaiah 66:12-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ...
… God’s word, thru Isaiah, to His people warning of the coming judgment … but His comfort to the remnant obedient believers.
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Reference Passage #1 : … Isaiah 23:6 [NLT] …
6 You (Lord) will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, … all whose thoughts are fixed on You.
… God’s promise of peace to those who focus on His love/mercy/grace.
Reference Passage #2 : … Philippians 4:11-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ...
… Paul learned that, no matter the circumstances, he found his strength from Christ.
Reference Passage #3 : … 1st Peter 5:7 [NLT] …
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
… Peter had learned to find his comfort in Christ.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Kirsten Holmberg, used a personal story to illustrate our need to run into the arms of our Lord when we’re in need of His comfort/grace. The ODB author wrote: My friend entrusted me with the privilege of holding her precious, four-day-old daughter. Not long after I took the baby into my arms, she started to fuss. I hugged her closer, my cheek pressed against her head, and began to sway and hum in a gentle rhythm to soothe her. Despite these earnest attempts, and my decade and a half of parenting experience, I couldn’t pacify her. She became increasingly upset until I placed her back into the crook of her mother’s eager arm. Peace washed over her almost instantaneously; her cries subsided and her newborn frame relaxed into the safety she already trusted. My friend knew precisely how to hold and pat her daughter to alleviate her distress.
Ever felt like you needed what God promised to His people, thru Isaiah [see highlight passages], in their time of trial? I sure have recently. Diagnosed with clinical depression, I have found myself coming here - to my quiet place - each morning and essentially cuddling my heart in the spiritual arms of my Lord, and receiving His closeness, His love, and His grace. And like the closeness of a mother to her child (see photo), I’ve felt all the protective love which God promised to His children, thru Isaiah in the time of their captivity [see highlight verse], as well as the strength God promised to us, thru Paul in Phil. 4:11-13.
Do you need that kind of comfort or strength today? If so, follow Peter’s lead and bring your cares to our God, … for He truly cares for us (see 1st Peter 5:7).
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … As Fernando Ortega sings today, “I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord.” … 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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