Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of positive quotations and and the faith-building song by Sara Groves … It’s Going To Be Alright … poignantly singing of the reality that we can rely on God in the dire circumstances of life.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Matthew 6:32-33 [NLT] … 32 These things [i.e., fleshly needs] dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.
… Jesus shows His followers that they must rely FIRST on God for their needs rather than focusing on worldly or selfish solutions.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Kings 4:1-7 [NLT] …USE THIS LINK …
… A widow trusts God for her needs and God uses Elisha to provide for her family.
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Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] …USE THIS LINK …
… God will show us the way in our time of need.
Reference Passage : … Matthew 14:15-21 [NLT] …USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus show the people that HE is the one to rely on for their needs.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 4:19 [NLT] … 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
… In need? Well, Jesus will supply our needs.
Reference Passage : … 1st Peter 5:7 [NLT] … 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
… God is always the One we go to FIRST when we have cares.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Poh Fang Chia, used a story from his country of a widow who gleaned her livelihood from harvesting the sap of rubber trees, which reminded the author of a similar Bible story involving a widow and Elisha [see highlight passage]. … The ODB author wrote: It is pitch dark when Ah-pi starts her day. Others in the village will wake up soon to make their way to the rubber plantation. Harvesting latex is one of the main sources of income for people living in Hongzhuang Village, China. To collect as much latex as possible, the trees must be tapped very early in the morning, before daybreak [see photo]. Ah-pi will be among the rubber tappers, but first she will spend time communing with God.
Ah-pi’s father, husband, and only son have passed away, and she—with her daughter-in-law—is providing for an elderly mother and two young grandsons. Her story reminds me of another widow in the Bible who trusted God.
I think we’ve all been in dire circumstances where we just couldn’t see a way to meet our needs. And that’s what the widow experienced in the highlight passage. But the needy widow knew Whom she should rely on - first and foremost; and that was God. And God, thru Elisha showed her THE way to meet her family needs. And the miracles wrought by Elisha and earlier his mentor, Elijah, in the Bible were meant to foreshadow the miracles which Jesus would perform, like the feeding of thousands with just a few loaves and fishes (see Matt. 14:15-21).
Jesus also preached strongly about relying on God FIRST when we’re in need (see Matt. 6:32-33). So the question for me [us] today is clearly … do I [we] rely - first and foremost - on my [our] God for my [our] needs. Or in my case, am I too strongly relying on my own strengths or the ways of the world. And I don’t know about any reader with me here, but I’m under a bit of conviction that I need to relent control and go to my God when I’m in need (see reference passages above).
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for being the Provider of ALL of our needs.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Help me to see that I must go to YOU first for my needs. … 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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