Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Kim Hill singing the psalm … Psalm One … poignantly singing of God’s promise to bless the believer who meditates on God’s word to be fruitful.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Psalm 1:3 [NLT] …
2 But they (true believers) delight in the law of the Lord (i.e., God’s word), meditating in it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
… God’s prescription for fruitfulness … i.e., meditating in God’s word daily.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalm One [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
... David recognized and sung about the “secret” of spiritual fruitfulness.
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Reference Passage #1 : … Psalm 119:28, 98, 111, 144, 165 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Psalmist knew that being in God’s word was the key to a productive and prosperous life.
Reference Passage #2 : … John 15:4 [NLT] …
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
… Jesus taught His disciples that they had to abide (remain) in Him to be fruitful; and the best way to do that is to abide in His word.
Reference Passage #3 : … Galatians 5:22-23 [NLT] …
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
… When we’re fruitful in Christ, these are the fruit which mature in their abundance and sweetness.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Peter Chin, used two biblical references to teach on Christian fruitfulness. The ODB author wrote: Just as a bountiful harvest depends on a source of clean water, the quality of the “fruit” in my life—my words, actions, and attitude—depends on my spiritual nourishment. The psalmist describes this in Psalm 1: The person “whose delight is in the law of the Lord . . . is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season” (vv. 1–3). And Paul writes in Galatians 5 that those who walk in step with the Spirit are marked by “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (vv. 22–23).
If I were to ask my Christian readers if they (we) want to be more fruitful for Christ, I’m pretty sure I’d get a consensus “AMEN,” wouldn’t I? Of course, … when we read the list of the “fruit of the Spirit” in Gal. 5:22-23, we’d all like to mature in all of those character qualities, wouldn’t we? But then the question immediately rises; … and that is … “HOW?”
Well, this Sunday in my church we had a guest preacher, Robert J. Morgan, who had written a new book entitled “Recovering the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation;” and he preached on this vital topic. And if you’d like to take the time (40 min) to see/hear his message, you can USE THIS LINK .
And Pastor Morgan’s premise was simple, but powerful, … that God’s word tells us clearly that we must exercise the faith discipline of biblical meditation to be able to mature and grow in fruitfulness. That’s the message of Psalm 1 by King David (see Ps. 1:2-3) and almost all of Psalm 119 - select verses linked above).
And Jesus taught His disciples [see John 15:4] that to be fruitful they [we] must abide (i.e., remain steadfast) in Him; and we know that the best way to do that is to abide in His word as Psalm 1 sung about. And those who know me would likely recognize that the reason I’m here every day, doing all I can to get into Gods’ word deeply embedded in my mind/heart, is to become as fruitful in/for Christ as I can.
So, as I write this, I pray my commitment level to meditate in God’s word EVERY DAY leads me to mature greatly in the fruit God’s Spirit has planted in me.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lord, … I meditate on/in Your word daily. Help me to grow in Your fruitfulness. … 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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