Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with song and lyrics from the group Mercy Me singing their song … Dear Younger Me … poignantly looking back on life and realizing that the more important look is ahead … especially when we’ve been set apart from our selves … freed and redeemed for God’s glory.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Proverbs 16:18-19 [NLT] … 18 Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. 19 Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud.
… But will we heed the truth when we look into the rear-view mirror … or better yet, ahead on the road of life. Which road will we choose … the road of humility or pride?
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Highlight Passage [context]: Proverbs 16:16-22 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Solomon, helps us to see ourselves for who we are and who we will become.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 11:28-30 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… We can choose to let our humility allow Jesus to help us carry the burdens of life, rather than pridefully taking all the burdens of life on our own shoulders where pride will aways cause us to fall.
Reference Passage : … Matthew 11:28-30 [NLT] … 23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. …”
… Jesus clearly showed us were we should go as His disciples.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 2:5-7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus modeled how we should see ourselves and the road we should take in life … and that is His road of humility.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David C McCasland, uses a well-known proverb to have us look in the mirror of truth and see who we are and who we will become. The ODB author wrote: People who achieve an extraordinary level of fame or reputation while they are still alive are often called “a legend in their own time.”
A friend who played professional baseball says he met many people in the world of sports who were only “a legend in their own mind.” Pride has a way of distorting how we see ourselves while humility offers a realistic perspective.
The writer of Proverbs said, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (16:18). Viewing ourselves in the mirror of self-importance reflects a distorted image. Self-elevation positions us for a fall.
The ODB entry caused me to remember a poignant song (linked above) with Mercy Me singing about looking back on life. Please listen to the song carefully!
I’m sure many, like me, will reflect on ill-begotten choices and misdirections we took earlier in life. But, as I’ve often said about our road in life as Christian disciples, … we cannot effectively drive ahead in life and follow Christ’s way by exclusively using the rear-view mirror. No, as Christians, we have to look ahead and use our biblically-cleared perspective; and then choose the road God is leading us toward [see the reference verses above].
And it’s clear, from God’s true and clear biblical windshield, we will see that we need to take the Savior’s road, not the prideful ways of self, which will ALWAYS lead to destruction. As the photo declares … “Pride destroys - Humility builds!” …
So, which road will we choose; and will we look ahead and follow Jesus, or crash and burn trying to drive onward using only the prideful rear-view mirror? … Our choice, isn’t it?
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You giving us Your perfect GPS in Your word.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Shine Your light of truth brightly on my path that I can’t help but see Your way to travel. … 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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