Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from the group Casting Crowns singing their song … Broken Together … poignantly singing of how God intends for His family to lift one another up in our mutual brokenness.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Exodus 17:12-13 [NLT] …
12 Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. 13 As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.
… God often uses others to help us when we’re down.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Exodus 17:8-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Aaron and Hur helped Moses lift his arms so that God could lift Joshua and the Israelites to defeat the Amalekites.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Matthew 11:23 [NLT] … 28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
… Jesus wants to lift us up when we’re down and out.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … 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.
… Pride can often be the heaviest burden of all when we’re down and out.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Hebrews 12:1 [NLT] … 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
… We can run the race of life so much easier when we don’t have to carry so much self-induced weight.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Amy Peterson, used a personal story to illustrate how so often, running the race of life, we need help from others. The ODB author wrote: My husband Jack was on mile 25 out of 26 when his strength failed him. This was his first marathon, and he was running alone. After stopping for a drink of water at an aid station, he felt exhausted and laid down on the grass beside the course [see photo].
Minutes passed, and he couldn’t get up. He had resigned himself to quitting the race when two middle-aged schoolteachers from Kentucky came by. Although they were strangers, they noticed Jack and asked if he wanted to run with them. Suddenly, he found his strength restored. Jack stood and accompanied by the two women he finished the race.
That’s a good illustration by the ODB author of how there are times in life when we need the help of others to move on down the road. And in the highlight biblical example from today’s ODB, Moses needed to keep his hands raised so that Joshua could advance to defeat the Amalekite army; but Moses was exhausted and needed the help of Aaron and Hur to lift his hands to encourage Joshua onward in battle. And after the victory Moses had this episode written down so that Joshua [and God’s family] would know how the victory came about … i.e, because of God using Aaron and Hur to lift Moses’ arms.
Marriage is a battle that both husband and wife must fight TOGETHER to lift one another up, especially when one of the couple is down. That’s why I love the song, by Casting Crowns, linked above, because it helps us to know that we can still be broken in life at times, especially when we’re “broken together.”
Perhaps we might see someone running the race of life today and broken down along the road. Shouldn’t we be the ones to lift them up today and help them onward in the road of life?
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … when I need a lift, help me to set pride aside and ask for some help from fellow Christians. And may I be willing to lift another today if they need my help. … 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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