Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with images from Joy William singing … Do They See Jesus In Me … poignantly singing of the question all disciples of Christ should answer in the way we live our lives.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Philippians 2:13 [NLT] … 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.
… God’s Spirit will work thru you to do whatever it takes to become more like Jesus.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Philippians 2:1-7, 13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul, helping other Christians to become more humble, like Jesus.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 11:29 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
… Becoming more like Jesus is to first become the way He described Himself … “humble and gentle.”
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’ simple (but very difficult) command to be His disciple by diligently following Him. .
Reference Passage : … Ephesians 4:1-2 [NLT] … 1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
… Paul so wanted his fellow Christian to lives lives worthy of the calling of being a disciple of Christ and becoming more like the Lord … humble and gentle … day-by-day.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Pho Fang Chia, used a discipleship situation to teach about growing in Christlikeness. The ODB author wrote … One Saturday afternoon, some youth group members from my church gathered to ask one another some hard questions based on Philippians 2:3–4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Some of the difficult queries included: How often do you take an interest in others? Would someone describe you as humble or proud? Why?
As I listened, I was encouraged by their honest answers. The teenagers agreed that it’s easy to acknowledge our shortcomings, but it’s hard to change, or—for that matter—desire to change. As one teen lamented, “Selfishness is in my blood.”
As a more mature Christian, if any of those younger disciples asked you, “How do I become more like Christ,” … how would you answer them? That’s what the Apostle Paul was trying to do for lesser mature disciples in many of his letters, wasn’t he? Reading what he wrote to Philippi (see highlight passage) and to Ephesus (see Eph. 4:1-2), Paul was simply trying to show fellow disciples the essence of Christlikeness, which is what Jesus taught and commanded in Matt. 11:29 and Luke 9:13; and that is to follow Him and become more like Him.
And really, the first characteristics we should pursue to be more like our Lord are the ones He used to describe Himself (see Matt. 11:29) … humility and gentleness. So, if we are trying to have others see Jesus in us, as Joy Williams sings in the linked song, being more humble and meek of spirit, is the place to start. And that’s where I’m doing my self inventory of Christlikeness today, … so that, if any of those young people ask me how to be more like Jesus, I can be practicing what I teach them.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for leading us to become more like 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 help others see Christlikeness by the way we live our own lives. … 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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