Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Fernando Ortega singing the old hymn … I Need Thee Every Hour … poignantly singing of asking for God’s blessing in all things and at all times.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Colossians 3:17 [NKJV] … 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
… In ALL THINGS ... and at ALL TIMES ... we give thanks!
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Highlight Passage [context]: Colossians 3:12-17 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… Paul, teaching Christians that we must live as humbly thankful in all things.
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Reference Passage : … John 14:6 [NKJV] … 6 Jesus said to him [Thomas], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. …”
… Since our path to God, the Father, always is thru God, the Son, we need to be praying, in the Spirit, humbly and thankfully … way more often than we do!
Reference Passage : … Romans 8:28, 31 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Since ALL things are for our good as Christians, we should be thankful, offering up humble thanks in ALL circumstances and fearing none.
Reference Passage : … 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 [NKJV] … 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you
… Our life as Christians should be a life of joy, praying and giving thanks for EVERYTHING.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David C McCasland, relates a concept/practice he learned from a British Christian, which expands our attitude toward and practice of offering up prayers about God’s grace. The ODB author wrote: For many years, I’ve enjoyed the writings of British author G. K. Chesterton. His humor and insight often cause me to chuckle and then pause for more serious contemplation. For example, he wrote, “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the play and the opera, and grace before the concert and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing; and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”
It’s good for us to thank the Lord before every meal, but it shouldn’t stop there. The apostle Paul saw every activity, every endeavor as something for which we should thank God and that we should do for His glory. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).
Wow! … I don’t know about other readers here; but I’m deeply convicted by today’s ODB entry. Grace before meals … surely! [see photo] Check that one off; but offering up prayers, i.e., “grace”) before a game of cards with my wife, … or before going to the grocery weekly, or before putting gas in the car when the tank is low. … REALLY?!!
But yes, God’s word, thru Paul, clearly teaches that … since Rom 8:28 is true (and it is!), we must continually give thanks for ALL things at ALL times (see the 1st Thessalonians passage). And if we expect God’s grace, we need to be coming, far more often thank we usually do, to God, the Father, thru God, the Son, and praying in the Spirit, humbly and thankfully in prayer.
So, I’m stopping right now to offer up “grace” of thanks for God revealing more of Himself in this very devotional, … and thankfulness for any/all who might read here, letting God’s grace flow in/thru our thankfulness for all He does for us … including the challenges and trials of life. As Fernando Ortega sings, we truly need Him every hour of every day!!
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, in ALL things I’m thankful for Your grace, Lord.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit ... O Lord, … I pray all reading here find peace in the grace You offer us today and all days … for ALL THNGS.
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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