Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of the group Westlife singing the great song written by The Judds … Love Can Build A Bridge … poignantly singing of what is desperately needed in our world to overcome all the separation and anger we see expressed in angst and division of this world.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Genesis 33:10-11 [NLT] … 10 “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. 11 Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
… Reconciliation is possible when two brothers surrender to mutual love they have from God.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Genesis 33:1-11[NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… The rivalry between two brothers, Jacob and Esau, is reconciled. But unfortunately their progeny have not been able to realize the same as brotherly love.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … John 13:34-35 [NLT] … 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
… Jesus shows His love for His disciples and demands the same from them to each other and others.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … John 15:12 [NLT] … 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you; …
... Jesus teaching - and commanding - His disciples to love one another; … but are we really His disciples?
Reference Passage [NLT] : … 2nd Corinthians 5:17 [NLT] … 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!
… We are new in Christ; so, let’s go out and show it off to others.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Philippians 2:3-4 [NLT] … 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
… Paul trying to get his fellow Christians to think of others before self.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Tim Gustafson, used a personal story to illustrate how sibling or personal rivalries are natural and can only be overcome by the supernatural love of God, binding brother to brother in Christ’s grace. The ODB author wrote: My brother and I, less than a year apart in age, were quite “competitive” growing up (translation: we fought!). Dad understood. He had brothers. Mom? Not so much. Our story could have fit in the book of Genesis, which might well be subtitled A Brief History of Sibling Rivalry. Cain and Abel (Gen. 4); Isaac and Ishmael (Gen. 21:8–10); Joseph and everyone not named Benjamin (Gen. 37). But for brother-to-brother animosity, it’s hard to beat Jacob and Esau.
Esau’s twin brother had cheated him twice, so he wanted to kill Jacob (Gen. 27:41). Decades later Jacob and Esau would reconcile (Gen. 33). But the rivalry continued on in their descendants, …
Continuing on from my blog yesterday [LINKED HERE] with God’s desire that we show the same love He has for us by sharing that love with others. I’ve never had a biological brother to spawn such a sibling rivalry as that between Jacob and Esau in the highlight passage.
But I’ve certainly experienced a lot of disdain and covetousness for others in my life, like those biblical rivalries described in Genesis referenced in the ODB entry. But now, having been in Christ for several decades, I’ve discovered the supernatural brotherhood of believers and can honestly say that God’s grace emanating from my relationship with Christ has given me the fruitfulness to break thru my own selfish and competitive nature to be able to express love to other men (or women) I would never have done so before I knew Christ as my Lord and Savior.
I actually have experienced what Jesus commanded of His disciples in the key reference passage of John 13:34-35. And we all need to surrender to the truth in His command and BECOME what is expressed in the linked song above … that “love can build a bridge” between us all [see photo]. Because we’ve all got that natural competitive and covetous nature to combat; but in Christ we don’t have to relent to our nature. We can live out the newness we are becoming in Christ (see 2 Cor 5:17).
Yes, for sure, we are new in Christ; so, lets go forth today and show His supernatural love to others that He brings into our lives today.
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Help me reach out with Your love to someone else 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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