December 2, 2017 … Surrendered for His Strength 

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 336 

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song/lyrics from Cece Winans singing… His Strength Is Perfect … poignantly singing of how we, as disciples of Christ, can fly free and above the winds of this world, … lifted and carried by His strength to empower us in our weakness

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 Highlight Verse[s]: Mark 9:35 [NLT] … 35 He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to Him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
… By the world’s standards this makes little sense. By Jesus’ standards it is TRUTH! 
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Highlight Passage [context]: Mark 9:33-37, 10:41-45 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus teaches strongly about His “upside-down” kingdom where the first will be last, … where the slave will be king.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Proverbs 3:5a [NLT] … 5 Trust in the Lord with ALL Your Heart … 
… Not half-heartedly … but in TOTAL surrender.

Reference Passage [NLT] : … Isaiah 41:10 [NLT] … 10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. 
… God’s promise is to be there to lift us up when we are weak … but do we believe it?

Reference Passage [NLT] : … 2nd Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] … 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 
… Paul learns that he can only glean God’s strength to cover His weakness when he is in surrender to receive God’s empowering grace.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Kirsten Holmberg, uses the punchline from an old fable to illustrate how our commitment has to be in total surrender to receive God’s grace. The ODB author wrote: In the fable of the chicken and the pig, the two animals discuss opening a restaurant together. As they plan their menu, the chicken suggests they serve ham and eggs. The pig swiftly objects saying, “No thanks. I’d be committed, but you would only be involved.” Although the pig didn’t care to put himself on the platter [see photo], his understanding of commitment is instructive to me as I learn to better follow God with my whole heart. 

In the fable of the pig and the chicken, we see the commitment necessary to be able to glean God’s empowering grace to overcome our weaknesses. The chicken was only involved partially in the menu; but the pig had to be TOTALLY committed to produce what you see in the photo.

And that’s what was illustrated by God’s word in the highlight story of how God’s people tried to overcome their weakness by bargaining with human leverage, … rather than being surrendered to God to use His strength against their enemies. It’s also illustrated in what Paul leaned when he was in dire pain [see 2Cor. 12:9], recognizing that he needed the painful thorn which God had allowed into his life in order to keep him humble enough to receive God’s grace to overcome his weakness.

That’s what Cece Winans sings about in the linked song, … that God’s grace is ALWAYS sufficient for our needs if we’re humble enough to receive it and use if in our weakness and for His glory.

My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Oh, Lord, I come in surrender … TOTALLY; … because I need Your grace to overcome my ever-present weaknesses. … 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.