Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube version with song and lyrics from Chris Tomlin singing … I Will Follow … singing of how we must trust in the Lord and follow Him only, avoiding comparisons with others on the roads of life.
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Highlight Verse[s]: John 21:21-22 [NLT] … 21 Peter asked Jesus, “What about him [John], Lord?” … 22 Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow Me.”
… It’s all too easy to focus our lives on the lives of others and take our focus off the one - the ONLY ONE - we need to follow and that is Christ!
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Highlight Passage [context]: John 21:17-25[NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus, post resurrection, helps Peter realize he needs to take his focus off of other Disciples and keep his focus on the Lord.
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Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6, 14:30 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s wisdom, thru Solomon, about how focusing on the lives of others, as well as on ourselves, can lead us to envy and strife.
Reference Passage : … Isaiah 26:3 [NLT] … 3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
… The only way to find peace is to keep our trusting eye on the Lord and follow Him
Reference Passage : … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower [i.e., disciple], you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. … “
… Jesus teaching on how to keep our lives on track, … by faithfully and obediently following Him.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, James Banks, refers to the dangers of modern social media, which can lead us to make personal comparisons with others and get off track in following the Lord in life. The ODB author writes … “One of these days I’m going to put it all on Facebook—not just the good stuff!”
My friend Sue’s comment—made casually over lunch with her husband—caused me to laugh out loud and also to think. Social media can be a good thing, helping us stay in touch with and pray for friends across the years and miles. But if we’re not careful, it can also create an unrealistic outlook on life. [see photo] When much of what we see posted is a “highlight reel” of “the good stuff,” we can be misled into thinking others’ lives are without trouble, and wonder where our own went wrong.
Satan is continually devising weapons or weapon systems which divert our attention from our trek in life as Christians to follow Christ, which Chris Tomlin sings about in today’s linked song. And often his weapons are two-faced, like social-media these days, which can be used for good; but can also be used for the devil’s evil purposes. Certainly social media can be used to bring people into loving connection; but also, it often leads us to make dangerous comparisons with others, producing jealousy, envy, and social strife.
The ODB author and all of the Scriptures above point us in the direction to avoid making selfish or social comparisons with others and keep our focus on the One - and ONLY ONE - with Whom we must compare ourselves; and that, of course, is our LORD, King Jesus. And Jesus, Himself, told us that in Luke 9:23, didn’t He? And Solomon and the Prophet, Isaiah, told us CLEARLY to keep our focus on the Lord, avoiding selfish comparisons in life (see Proverbs 3/14 and Isaiah 26 above), trusting only in our focus on the Lord.
So, … are there any ways in our lives these days that we’re being led - possibly by social media - to focus on self or others and taking our eyes off of Jesus? If so, we need to get back to comparing ourselves only with the Lord and avoid dangerous comparisons with others.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for leading me in Your word to follow You.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to keep our focus on the Lord, avoiding the enemy’s distractions and comparisons. … 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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