Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Alan Jackson singing the old hymn … Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus … poignantly singing of our need to continually see the face of our Lord, Jesus.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1st Chronicles 16:11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
13 Search for the Lord and His strength; … continually seek Him.
… David’s song honors God’s Name by calling on His people to seek His face ALWAYS! This exhortation is also sung in Psalm 105:4.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1 Chronicles 16:8-27 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
... Upon the return of the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple in Jerusalem, King David writes a song to honor the Name of God.
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Reference Passage #1 : … John 14:8-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus made it clear (to Philip and to us) that to see His face, i.e., the face of God’s Son, was to see the face of God, the Father.
Reference Passage #2 : … Philippians 2:5-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul, strongly exhorted Christians to seek God’s face by taking on the attitude and character of Jesus.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Amy Peterson, used a personal story to illustrate our need to focus on seeking the face of God. The ODB author wrote: My four-year-old son is full of questions, and chatters constantly. I love talking with him, but he’s developed an unfortunate habit of talking to me even when his back is turned. I often find myself saying, “I can’t hear you—please look at me when you’re talking.”
Sometimes I think God wants to say the same thing to us—not because He can’t hear us, but because we can tend to talk to Him without really “looking” at Him. We pray, but we remain caught up in our own questions and focused on ourselves, forgetting the character of the One we’re praying to. Like my son, we ask questions without paying attention to the person we’re talking to.
My fellow Christians, … if you read with me here EVERY DAY, I hope you know that I’m here in this quiet place each morning, seeking the “FACE” of my Lord. As the attached photo depicts, I come here and delve into God’s word, with the help of the ODB devotionals, seeking to know my God’s character and to become more like Him. And that, my friends, is what “seeking God’s face” is all about.
The “face of God” in Scripture refers to God’s character; and Jesus was very clear to His disciples (tho they didn’t quite get it!) that, as He said to Philip in the upper room, … to see His face (i.e., His character) was to see the face of His Father (see John 14:8-11). And Paul exhorted his fellow Christians (i.e., you and me) to seek to become just like the character of The Christ (see Phil. 2:5-11), Who was willing to set aside His glory/majesty, humbling Himself to become a man and to die on a cross that we might live with Him in eternity.
So, is it too much to ask, as King David did in His song (see highlight passage), to continually seek God’s face? … I think not!! … Personally, I’m touched to the core of conviction with Alan Jackson’s version of the old hymn [linked above]; … and so driven to come here, as I am today, deeply delving into God’s word to seek His face and become more like my Savior … day-by-day-by day.
What could each/all of us do today to seek His face?
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lord, … King Jesus, help me to seek Your face and become more like You today than yesterday; … and even more tomorrow than today. … 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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