Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of images with Ray Stevens singing his song … Everything is Beautiful … poignantly singing of how we ALL are beautiful in God’s eyes and unified in our diversity, we can glorify Him so much more powerfully if we can come together.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Genesis 12:3 [NKJV] … 3 I [the LORD} will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
… God’s plan was to bless all people who bless Him thru HIs people.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Genesis 12:1-4 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… God calls Abram to GO and that He, the Lord, would bless Abram’s family and ALL PEOPLES of the world who bless Abram’s people.
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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.
… God’s plan is to bless all those who follow Him and His ways.
Reference Passage : … John 3:16-17 [NKJV] … 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
… Jesus makes it clear that it is God’s plan to save ANYONE/EVERYONE.
Reference Passage : … John 15:1-7 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Abiding in Christ is the ONLY WAY we can be fruitful, allowing all our differences to become a unified worship of the ONE AND ONLY true God.
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. …”
… Following Jesus - TOGETHER - is the way that anyone/everyone can bless God.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Mart DeHaan, uses someone’s observation of the diversity in a city to illustrate God’s plan to save everyone thru His Son, Jesus. The ODB author writes … “See our city the way we do.” A Detroit, Michigan, urban development group used that slogan to launch its vision for the city’s future. But the project came to a sudden stop when members of the community noticed something missing in the campaign. African Americans make up a large majority of the city’s population and workforce. Yet people of color were absent from the crowd of white faces that showed up on signs, banners, and billboards urging all to see the city as they did.
We need to see everyone in our city … in our church … in the family of God ... as the LORD sees us, don’t we? Looking at the photo, and hearing Ray Stevens sing his old hit song, I think most of us - at least yours truly - have to be convicted that we seek to associate and work with those like ourselves, don’t we?
But from the beginning of God’s plan to save His people (the Jews), it was the Lord’s plan to bring unity out of the diversity of all peoples thru the blood of His Son, Jesus, and save any/all who would surrender to the Lord and follow Him.
I would pray that all reading here believe in the truths espoused by God’s word in the reference passages above; and that we all are striving to bring unity out of the diversity of this world so that we - TOGETHER - can bless God by using our diversity for God’s glory.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for mercy/grace to come and save all who would follow You into glory.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all of us, no matter our differences, can come together to bless Your Name today. … 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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