Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Francesca Battistelli singing … Holy Spirit … Poignantly singing of how God’s Spirit lives and blows us toward our Savior and away from our selves.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1st Thessalonians 5:19, … 24 [NLT] … 19 Do not quench the Spirit. … 24 The One who calls you [i.e., the Holy Spirit] is faithful, and He will do it.
… God’s Spirit, dwelling in us as Christians, bends us and blows us to be faithful to our Lord in the way we live.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1st Thessalonians 5:16-24 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul exhorting fellow Christians that they don’t need to be like others … that we can avoid quenching the Holy Spirit.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Luke 9:23 [NLT] …
23 Then He said to them all [Jesus’ followers]: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. …”
… If Jesus commands us to deny ourselves, WE CAN!
Reference Passage [NLT] : … 2 Corinthians 5:17 [NLT] … 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!
… In Christ we don’t need to give in to self. We can yield to God’s Spirit and become like Christ.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Philippians 2:5 [NLT] … 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: …
… We can choose to think like our Lord.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Jennifer Benson Schuldt, used a painting to illustrate how we, as Chrsitians, need to yield to the Holy Spirit in the decisions we make and the way we live. The ODB author wrote: On a visit to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, I saw a masterpiece called The Wind. The painting showed a storm moving through a wooded area. Tall, thin trees leaned to the left. Bushes thrashed in the same direction. … [See photo]
In an even more powerful sense, the Holy Spirit is able to sway believers in the direction of God’s goodness and truth. If we go along with the Spirit, we can expect to become more courageous and more loving.
However, as Francesca Battistelli sings in the linked song for my journal today, we must yield to the Holy Spirit, dwelling in our hearts to allow Him to blow us toward the decisions and choices which God will’s for our lives. It’s the great paradox of Christian living, … that God has actually given us the CHOICE to say “NO” and resist His Spirit; … yes, even when He dwells in the eternal hearts of born-again believers.
That is how we can “quench” God’s Spirit, blowing us toward our Lord’s command to deny our selves and follow Him (see Luke 9:23). But as the Apostle Paul wrote in today’s highlight passage to his beloved Thessalonians, we can yield to winds of God’s Spirit; and like the trees in the painting, we will lean toward our God’s way and His will.
Our choice! … Personally, … when I feel Him blowing me today, I will just follow the direction of the wind.
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … I yield to Your winds 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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