Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with lyrics from Matt Maher singing … Abide With Me … triumphantly singing a prayer for our Lord to abide with any who love and follow our Lord.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Jeremiah 17:7-8 [NLT] … 7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
… God’s promise of eternal fruitfulness for those who trust and follow Him.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Jeremiah 17:5-8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s prophesy for His People, thru Jeremiah, of the eternal fruit which will come for all who truly believe and follow the Lord.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.
… God does provide; but He expects those who will to follow Him.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … John 15:1-5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus is the vine of life; and we can only be fruitful by abiding in Him.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Amy Boucher Pye, also used a word picture from nature to illustrate how we must abide in Christ to be fruitful for His glory. The ODB author wrote: When friends moved into a new home, they planted wisteria near their fence and looked forward to the lavender blossom that would appear after five years of growth. Over two decades they enjoyed this plant [see photo], carefully pruning and tending it.
But suddenly the wisteria died, for their neighbors had poured some weed killer by the other side of the fence. The poison seeped into the wisteria’s roots and the vine perished—or so my friends thought. To their surprise, the following year some shoots came through the ground.
In the highlight OBD Scripture today, we read of God’s prophesy of the eternal fruitfulness which will come to/for those who remain faithful and obedient to God, … abiding in the One Who would (and now has) come to give His remnant eternal life. And, of course, Jeremiah was prophesying of The Messiah, Who would come to give all who believe and trust Him that eternal fruitfulness.
And that’s what Jesus proclaimed in His coming as Messiah … to give eternal life to any/all who would come to, follow, and abide in Him (see John 15:1-5). And which of us, who truly love Jesus, would not want to be fruitful for His glory? Of course we would! So, what does it take? Well, again the John 15 passage lays it out for those of us who desire to be Christ’s disciples (along with Jesus’ commands in Luke 9:23 and John 14:21 - LOOK THEM UP!). We must abide in Him, denying our self, and trusting that He will lead us to thrive and be fruitful in His Name.
So, that’s why I’m right here, right now, and every morning … surrendering to His Spirit and doing all I can in mind and heart to trust and follow my Lord.
How about you today … and then tomorrow?
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Keep me grounded in Your essence, Lord, that I may abide in You and be fruitful for Your glory. … 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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