Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of John Waller singing … As For Me and My House … poignantly singing of how our lives must be given in service to our Lord.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Matthew 25:40 [NLT] … 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.’
… When we serve others sacrificially, we serve Jesus.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Matthew 25:31-40 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus reveals in a parable what He came to do … to serve others.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Joshua 24:14-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Joshua declares Whom he will serve! … So, Whom will we serve today.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … John 13:34-35 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ...
… Jesus shows His love for His disciples by washing their feet and demands the same from them [i.e., us] to each other … and then all others.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Ephesians 6:7-8 [NLT] … 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
… If we serve others wholeheartedly, we will be serving Jesus
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Amy Boucher, used a personal story to illustrate how in serving those in need we serve Jesus. The ODB author wrote: When a friend cared for her housebound mother-in-law, she asked her what she longed for the most. Her mother-in-law said, “For my feet to be washed.” My friend admitted, “How I hated that job! Each time she asked me to do it I was resentful, and would ask God to hide my feelings from her.”
But one day her grumbling attitude changed in a flash. As she got out the bowl and towel and knelt at her mother-in-law’s feet, she said, “I looked up, and for a moment I felt like I was washing the feet of Jesus Himself. She was Jesus in disguise!” After that, she felt honored to wash her mother-in-law’s feet.
Fellow Christian, wouldn’t you agree that it is our human nature to control things and desire that other serve us - rather than follow the example of Jesus to His Disciples in John 13 where our Lord washed their feet to show them what they (we) must do to follow Him (also meditate yourself on Luke 93 - and I hope you have that one memorized!)? Do I sense a strong “AMEN!” to that question? I hope so; because that’s certainly the case with my human nature, as I would expect all others.
Every day we have a choice whom we will serve, don’t we; and Joshua challenged God’s people, as he was leading them into the Promised Land, to serve their God before themselves. When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in the Upper Room, just before He would carry out the THE service and sacrifice to all mankind on the cross, He wanted His Disciples (and us) to see that serving others is really serving Him, … just as He taught in today’s highlight passage. And finally, the Apostle Paul exhorted God’s chosen (that’s you and me) to serve others just as we would (and SHOULD) serve the Lord (see Eph. 6:7-8).
So, I pray that I can go into foot-washing mode if I’m led to anyone today who needs me to figuratively wash their feet today (see photo). And perhaps after you’ve taken in today’s linked song, you will join me, as Joshua called God’s people, to choose to serve the Lord more openly and willingly today.
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Help me reach out and “wash the feet” of anyone who needs my service 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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