Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in YouTube images and lyrics from Nichole Nordeman singing her song … Finally Free … poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, can only find freedom when we walk in the paths of freedom directed by God’s word.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Psalm 119:35 [NLT] … 35 Make me walk along the path of Your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.
… Real joy and happiness can only be found in the freedom that comes in obedience to God’s commands.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalm 119:33-48 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Psalmist recognized that the only way to freedom was in obedience to follow God’s word.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 119:105 [NLT] … 105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
… God’s word is the light which guides our path to freedom from ourselves.
Reference Passage : …Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. ..."
… Jesus commanded any disciples (including us) to deny ourselves and follow Him.
Reference Passage : …John 8:31-32 [NLT] … 31 Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
… Since Jesus is the living truth (thru His word), the only way to real freedom is in following His word.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Jennifer Benson Schuldt, uses a family picture of parents helping their kids to see the way to happiness in following the directions of the parents. The ODB author writes … On a winter day, my children begged to go sledding. The temperature hovered near zero degrees Fahrenheit. Snowflakes raced by our windows. I thought it over and said yes, but asked them to bundle up, stay together, and come inside after fifteen minutes.
Out of love, I created those rules so my children could play freely without suffering frostbite. … While my kids were sledding, I watched them blast down the hill. I smiled at the sound of their laughter and the sight of their pink cheeks. [see photo] They were free within the boundaries I’d given them.
The psalmist of Psalm 119 [see above] came to realize the same thing those kids were learning when they went out to play in the cold snow; … that we are only free and can find happiness when we walk in obedience to the commandments given to us in God’s word.
And really the only question which comes from my journal entry today is … “Are we walking in genuine happiness following the “GPS” given to us thru God’s word?” Because, if we are, we’ve discovered that we’re really and finally free … just as Nichole Nordeman sings in the linked song.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for the freedom and happiness You give us by following Your word.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me today use the “GPS” (God’s Positional System) of God’s word to light our path to find real freedom and happiness in 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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