Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from the group Casting Crowns singing … If We Are The Body … powerfully singing of how, as disciples of Christ, must be His arms, hands, legs, feet, eyes, ears … i.e., to do His work as He has called us to do.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Hebrews 13:21a [NLT] … 21 … may He equip you with all you need for doing his will.
… Which should be our prayer for all of God’s people, … especially in these times of selfishness and human entitlement.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Hebrews 13:20-21 [NLT] …USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru the author of Hebrews, prays that God will equip us to do HIS good work.
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Reference Passage : … Ephesians 4:1 [NLT] … 1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
… Paul expresses God’s desire for all of His BODY.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 2:12b -13 [NLT] … 12 … Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him..
… Our work needs to reflect the work God is doing in us.
Reference Passage : … 1 John 3:2-3 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God so wants us to keep His temple, the body, pure so that the body can work in this world as He is working in and thru us.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Amy Boucher Pye, reflected on a challenging question we all need answer for our selves. … The ODB author wrote: “How have you seen God at work lately?” I asked some friends.
One replied, “I see Him at work as I read the Scriptures each morning; I see Him at work as He helps me face each new day; I see Him at work when I know that He has been with me every step of the way—I realize how He has helped me to face challenges while giving me joy.” I love his answer because it reflects how through God’s Word and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, God stays near to, and works in, those who love Him.
God working in His followers is a wonderful mystery that the writer to the Hebrews refers to as he draws his letter to a close in what’s known as a benediction: “. . . and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 13:21).
If the ODB author today were to ask us that probing question, how would we answer? … Let me ask it again, “How have you seen God at work lately?”
Personally, I think I’d respond, relating how I observe the lives of men, who surrender to God’s enabling grace and then painstakingly walk free from past patterns of sexual sin in the groups I lead where God has called me to work thru the ministry the Lord led my wife and me to found almost two decades ago (use this link). But you likely have a very personal, but very different, response.
So, why don’t you take enough time and do a little WORK (i.e., digging) into the scriptures above and hear the song, linked above. And then answer that question for yourself and see if it doesn’t motivate you to do even more today to work for God’s glory than you did yesterday; … and maybe even more tomorrow than today.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for working in and thru me with Your sanctifying grace.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Lord, thru what I do today, let me be a flashing sign for all to see … “God’s Man At Work!!” .… 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 youGO 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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