Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with images and lyrics from the Maranatha singers singing … Meekness and Majesty … poignantly singing of the character traits of Jesus which we should emulate in our lives as His disciples.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Genesis 13;11 [NLT] … 11 Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram.
… Abram was the meek one, choosing to allow Lot to choose which land he would take.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Genesis 13:1-18 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God gave Abram the choice of land in which he would settler; and meekly he let Lot choose first; and we know how God rewarded Abram for being meek in his choice.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 11:29 [NLT] … 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle [i.e, “meek”] at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
… Jesus describes Himself with two qualities we should emulate if we’re to be like Him.
Reference Passage : … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus tells His followers how a true disciple should/would follow Him … by denying himself.
Reference Passage : … John 13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus washed the feet of His Disciples to show them humility and meekness in Him as their Messiah.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David Roper, used a personal story to illustrate how the Christlike character trait of “meekness” is difficult at times to emulate. The ODB author wrote: My friend Archie came home from vacation to find his neighbor had erected a wooden fence five feet inside his property line [see photo]. Several weeks went by during which Archie tried to work with his neighbor to remove the fence. He offered to help and to split the cost of the work, but to no avail. Archie could have appealed to civil authorities, but he chose to forgo that right in this instance and allow the fence to stand—to show his neighbor something of the grace of God.
“Archie is a wimp!” you say. No, he was man of towering strength, but he chose grace over a patch of grass.
Meekness was the character trait which Archie exhibited in this story; but in our western culture, “meekness” (or power under control) is often seen as weakness; and it’s not valued as highly as taking charge or control. Therefore, in most scenarios as this one, we’d see Archie suing his neighbor or even trying to bully him into taking down the fence.
As Christians, would you readers say that we’re to be like Christ? Of course we are! So, where do we start in emulating our Savior? Well, a good place might be to look to see how Jesus described Himself; and only in one place in the NT do we find Jesus using adjectives to describe Himself and that is Matt. 11:29 [see above]. Our Lord also illustrated these qualities of humility and meekness when He washed the feet of His Disciples (see John 13).
So, from today’s ODB and my self study of the scriptures highlighted, I’m asking myself if I need to attend to my pursuit of Christlikeness more attentively, asking myself if I’m actually being humble and gentle in my relations with others and thereby actually being like Jesus as the Maranatha singers describe Him in the linked song.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for showing us the way by the way You lived.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Lord, … give me Your grace to become more like You by being humbles and gentle with others, especially those whom I love the most. … 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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