Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Steve Green singing … God and God Alone … poignantly singing how we must see and worship our God.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Zephaniah 3:17 [NKJV] … 17 The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
… God’s promise to the remnant of repentant and surrendered servants.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Zephaniah 1:1-6, 2:1-3 [NKJV] …USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru His Prophet, calls Judah (and really all people) to repent and come in surrender to Him and He will restore His people.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 139:23-24 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Let us stop where we are and pray this prayer today!!
Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… But we must trust Him with ALL our hearts!!
Reference Passage : … John 4:23-24 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… We must worship God in spirit in and truth, surrendering our all to Him and rejecting the false idols of this world.
Reference Passage : … Romans 12:1-2 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… We must be living sacrifices to His Name and for His glory in order to receive His restoring grace.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Tim Gustafson, uses ta personal illustration from a wedding ceremony to teach on Christians being willing to surrender all in repentance to our Lord. The ODB author wrote: Years ago, I attended a wedding where two people from different countries got married. Such a blending of cultures can be beautiful, but this ceremony included Christian traditions mixed with rituals from a faith that worshiped many gods.
The ODB author gave us the big/theological term for what happened at that wedding. It is “syncretism,” which is the mixing of the doctrines and tenants of more than one faith into one’s life. And I’m afraid we see all too much of that creeping into the lives of those who call them selves “Christian” these days.
That’s what the Prophet Zephaniah was called to rebuke in the people of Judah in his day (see highlight passages); but we see it in our world today, … those that mix/match religions, letting the idols and customs of our day take over our worship from the one, true God [the God we’re called to worship in Spirit and in Truth in John 4:23-24].
And it’s not really different today, is it? We let the lust-driven idols of our day creep into how we live our lives, letting things like money, power, social-media, self-satisfaction, or other “idols” become our “gods,” … letting these forces become our living worship, taking away our living sacrifice to God and surrendering our all to Him. … I’ll let you do a self inventory and see if we need to live up to the prayer of the Psalmist (see my exhortation from Psalm 139:23-24 above).
PLEASE STOP what you’re doing, … clear your heart, … and pray that Psalm 139 passage right now!!
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, … Abba Father … thank You for always being there to provide your true remnant the grace to give You what You desire and deserve.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … On Lord, You are so worthy and we are so needy. Help us to overcome our selves. … 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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