Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of images and lyrics from the group 4Him singing … The Basics of Life … powerfully singing of how we, as disciples of Christ, need to avoid the pitfalls of self and the world and get back to simply following Christ.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Ephesians 3:16 … 19 [NKJV] … 16 … that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, … 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
… Paul so desired that other Christians find what God had given him as Paul was freed from living for the perfectionism of the law.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Ephesians 3:8-19 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… In Christ we are freed from the law to live in the fullness of Christ.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 119:105 [NKJV] ... 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
… God gives us His light to follow His path and avoid the selfish rabbit-trails of life.
Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… We must pursue life by following God’s way rather than trying to do life our way.
Reference Passage : … Galatians 1:11-16 [NKJV] ... USE THIS LINK …
… Paul wanted others to find the same freedom in Christ he had found in living in God’s grace rather than pursuing God’s perfect Law.
Reference Passage : … Luke 9:23 [NKJV] ... 23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. …”
… Jesus commanded that we free our selves from self to live for the Savior.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Monica Brands, remembered what a college prof said to influence how we live our lives. The ODB author wrote: A college professor of mine [see photo], picking up on my perfectionism-induced procrastination, gave me some wise advice. “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good,” he said, explaining that striving for perfect performance can prevent the risks necessary for growth. Accepting that my work would always be imperfect would give me the freedom to keep growing.
The apostle Paul explained an even more profound reason to let go of our own efforts to perfect ourselves: it can blind us to our need for Christ. Paul had learned this the hard way. After years striving to perfectly obey God’s law, encountering Jesus changed everything (Galatians 1:11–16).
Somewhere along my way in life I heard someone, maybe a professor, … maybe a preacher, say … “Don’t let the good stuff in life get in the way of pursuing great stuff!” … Good advice, don’tcha think?
Oh, how often we [well, at least I] let our pursuit of the perfect and doing a lot of GOODNESS get in the way of our pursuit of Christlike “GREATNESS.” And we Christians so often get so wrapped up in the performance mentality of doing so many GOOD things that we lose sight of God’s Spirit calling us to do GREAT things for Christ.
So, perhaps it’s time to get “back to the basics” of our faith, taking a course called “Christianity 101,” … doing an inventory of our lives as sung in the linked song by the group 4Him … or perhaps looking at what/how we’re pursuing Christ’s command of His disciples to deny ourselves and follow His light thru the dark paths of life (see Ps. 119:105 and Luke 9:23).
Therefore, let’s move forward, … striving away from selfish perfectionism, … and surrendering to yield to God’s Spirit’s call to humble Christian practicality … back to HIS basics of life!!l
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for showing me Your way and Your will thru Your word.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Keep shining Your light brightly on my path so that following You will be straight forward. … 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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