Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and lyrics from Clay Crosse, BeBe Winans, and Bob Carlisle singing … I Will Follow Christ … poignantly singing of what a disciple of Christ must do … to give all and follow Him no matter where He leads.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Jeremiah 2:1-2 [NLT] … 1 The Lord gave me another message. He said, 2 “Go and shout this message to Jerusalem. This is what the Lord says: “I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago, how you loved me and followed me even through the barren wilderness.
… God remembering their vows to follow Him even in the wilderness.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Jeremiah 2:1-8; 3:14-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God thru Jeremiah to His people, prophesying their fall and restoration.
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Reference Passage : … Luke 9:23 [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 says we must follow Him … no matter where He leads.
Reference Passage : … Revelation 2:4-5, 3:20 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ letters to His Bride … to Ephesus that they had lost their first love … to Laodicea that they need to respond to His invitation to let Him back into their lives.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Kirsten Holmberg, used a personal story about how we can sing praises to the Lord with a joyful heart even if we are not talented singers. … The ODB author wrote: As I flipped through a box of my old wedding photographs, my fingers stopped at a picture of my husband and me, newly christened “Mr. and Mrs.” My dedication to him was obvious in my expression. I would go anywhere with him.
Nearly four decades later, our marriage is tightly threaded with love and a commitment that has carried us through both hard and good times. Year after year, I’ve recommitted my dedication to go anywhere with him.
The mutual commitment made in marriage vows is a good word picture for our lives as Christians, isn’t it? When we receive His saving grace, we’re entering into a marriage covenant, … becoming part of His Bride, the Church, and vowing to follow Him anywhere that He might lead.
Unfortunately, like His originally chosen ones, the Israelites, whom the Lord charged to follow Him, there can be a breach in those vows and His followers, being sin-bound as they were (and as we are), can, and do, break those vows and stray into infidelity.
That’s what happened with Israel in the highlight passage. It’s what happened with His church as we were led to follow our Bridegroom (see Luke 9:23); but so often we fall away from our FIRST LOVE and fail to follow Him as is sung in the linked song [see alsoRev. 2:4-5].
But our Bridegroom, King Jesus, Whom we follow as His bride, is ALWAYS willing to come to His Bride, … yes, even when we’ve been unfaithful. But we have to be willing to repent and re-open the door on His love (see Rev. 3:20]. So, today if we’ve fallen away from our First Love, King Jesus, know that He’s knocking at the door; and all we have to do is let Him back in.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for ALWAYS being there for Your Bride.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … I hear You knocking, Lord; … come in and let me dine with You today and always. … 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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