Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of song and lyrics by Brian Littrell singing … I Surrender All … poignantly singing of how we must overcome our selfishness and our desire to control, giving all our cares to Jesus.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Luke 22:41-42 [NKJV] … 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
… When we’re born again, we become geared to work beyond our natural sinful selfishness and to share the love of God with others.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Luke 22:39-46 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus prayed his human desire; but yielded COMPLETELY to His Abba Father’s desire. =============
Reference Passage : … Job 1:20-22 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… Job, having lost almost everything and in deep, deep pain accepted his fate in faith.
Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NKJV] … 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, … and lean not on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
… Overcoming our selfish desires for control and totally trusting God to lead us will always be one of our biggest challenges as Christians.
Reference Passage : … 1Peter 5:6-7 [NKJV] … 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
… It takes supernatural trust to give ALL our cares to God and simply trust Him.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, James Banks, used a story of personal surrender to illustrate how we must surrender our will to God’s. The ODB author writes … Kamil and Joelle were devastated when their eight-year-old daughter Rima was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. The disease led to meningitis and a stroke, and Rima lapsed into a coma. The hospital medical team counseled her parents to make arrangements for Rima’s funeral, giving her less than a one percent chance of survival. Kamil and Joelle fasted and prayed for a miracle.
“As we pray,” Kamil said, “we need to trust God no matter what. And pray like Jesus—not my way, Father, but Yours.” “But I want so much for God to heal her!” Joelle answered honestly. “Yes! And we should ask!” Kamil responded. “But it honors God when we give ourselves to Him even when it’s hard, because that’s what Jesus did.” …
Surrendering our desires to God isn’t easy, and His wisdom can be difficult to understand in challenging moments. Kamil and Joelle’s prayers were answered in a remarkable way—Rima is a healthy fifteen year old today.
One of the strongest drives in our sin-driven human spirit is to control the circumstances in our lives, … especially those which are painful, … often doing all we can to avoid or reduce the pain. And that was what Job faced when God allowed Satan to take away all that he had. But as we read in Job 1:20-22, Job refused to blame God and surrendered to the Lord’s will.
Even more pertinent was Jesus’ surrender to His Father’s will in the Garden the night He was to surrender and go to the cross [see highlight passage]. And these biblical models are put before us to show us that we must surrender our will to God’s when we’re faced by painful circumstances.
But the question always is before us … Will we?!!
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for being there for me when my will is weak and my desire to take control is strong.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that I will be in surrender to Your will when my desire is to take control in the trials of my life. … 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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