Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with images and lyrics from the group Third Day singing the old hymn … Blessed Assurance … poignantly singing of how God gives, thru His Story (i.e., God’s word) the assurance of His love and grace to ALWAYS be there for those who truly follow Him as Lord.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Genesis 16:13 [NLT] … 13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, Who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” [Hebrew - “El Roi”] She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”
… The Lord appears to Hagar and assures her that He has seen her plight and will be with her always.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Genesis 16:1-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s prophesy, thru Ezekiel, of God’s heart restoration plan for the hard-hearted people of God.
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Reference Passage : … Lamentations 3:22-23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s all-seeing mercy/grace never end. He sees our plight and His mercy is ALWAYS there for us.
Reference Passage : … Matthew 9:36 [NLT] … 36 When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
… Jesus, is our Good Shepherd; and He is ALWAYS there with compassion to lead us and protect us [see also the Photo].
Reference Passage : … 2Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] … 9 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
… God’s grace is always there for us, … even in times that seem overwhelming, … Jesus’ assurance, which was there for Paul, … is there for us!!
Reference Passage : … Hebrews 4:15-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s eternally empathetic promise to ALWAYS be there with His enabling/empowering grace.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Jeff Olson, uses current online resources and the biblical story of Hagar to illustrate how we serve a God Who ALWAYS sees and has His grace and strength when we feel overwhelmed by life. The ODB author wrote … The Experience Project, one of the largest online communities of the twenty-first century, was once a site where tens of millions shared deeply painful firsthand experiences. As I read through the heartbreaking stories, I reflected on how desperately our hearts long for someone to see—to understand—our pain.
And then the ODB author takes his readers to the story of Hagar [see highlight passage], wondering in a wilderness of pain/anguish, encountering “El-Roi,” as she dubs the Lord, … believing and realizing the the Lord is “The God who sees,” giving her (and us) the assurance the group Third Day sings about in the linked song.
Perhaps some, reading here with me today, are going thru some overwhelming set of circumstances. But, … if so, we need to realize - and believe - what the ODB author wrote about today, … moving onward, … knowing that God ALWAYS sees our challenges and ALWAYS will be there, compassionately providing His enabling/empowering grace.
The question is … “Do we believe that truth?!”
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for being there to provide us with Your grace when we need it.
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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 thank the Lord for His ever sustaining grace. … 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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