Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube with images and lyrics from a worship group sining … Gentle Shepherd … poignantly singing of how we can always seek and find God’s strength and grace from our gentle, good Shepherd.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Isaiah 40:10a, … 11a [NLT] … 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and He rules with a mighty arm.
… 11 He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms …
… Our Lord will come with power but be like a shepherd to HIs flock.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Isaiah 40:10-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Isaiah, describes the coming Messiah.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 11:29 [NLT] … 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
… These are the only two character qualities that Jesus ever used to describe Himself … humility and gentleness.
Reference Passage : … Luke 23:34 [NLT] … 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
… The ultimate expression of strength and gentleness from the cross.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 2:5, 4:5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… As Christ’s disciples we are to strive to be like Him; and GENTLENESS is one of His primary characteristics.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Dave Branon, uses a historical reference to teach about the Christlike quality of gentleness (i.e., meekness), which we should emulate in our desire to be like Jesus. The ODB author wrote … As the enemy occupation of the Netherlands increased, Anne Frank and her family bravely prepared and then moved to a secret hiding place to escape the danger. They hid there two years during World War II before being found and sent to concentration camps. Yet Anne, writing in what became her famous Diary of a Young Girl, said this: “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.” Gentleness can be a complicated issue as we deal with real life.
As disciples of Christ, we know that we should do all we can to emulate our savior. In fact, the Apostle Paul exhorted Christians to do all we can to have the mind of Christ (see Phil. 2:5). And in striving to do that I’ve always felt that the best place to start in becoming more like Christ was to seek and follow how Jesus described Himself. And in that, our Lord only used two character qualities to describe Himself (see Matt. 11:29); and they were HUMILITY AND GENTLENESS (also translated “meekness”). And there was was no place in Scripture which exemplified this more than Christ’s words from the cross forgiving those who had nailed Him there [see Luke 23:34].
So, when we reflect on our own discipleship, what can we strive towards and/or do today to be more like our Lord, … our gentle, Good Shepherd? And that will be my prayer for myself and all of us this morning. … What about you?
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for showing me (us) how to walk humbly and with gentleness, … ALWAY!!
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me and do all we can today to reflect the qualities of humility and gentleness in our lives, especially relating to others. … 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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