Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and song from Joy Williams singing … Do They Jesus In Me … poignantly singing of how, in our pursuit of Christlikeness, we do all we can to have others see Christ in the way we live.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 2 Corinthians 10:7, 11 [NLT] … 7 Look at the obvious facts. Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ as much as they do.. …
11 Those people should realize that our actions when we arrive in person will be as forceful as what we say in our letters from far away.
… We will only shine the light of God’s truth when we are the same in public as we are in private.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Corinthians 10:1-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul defends his ministry as led by God’s Spirit and following Christ’s Lordship.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 5:16 [NLT] … 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
… We shine the light of Christ into the darkened world only when our Godly deeds display Christlikeness.
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.
… We can only display Christlikeness when we deny ourselves and follow Him.
Reference Passage : … 1Corinthians 11:1 [NLT] … 1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
… Paul was confident of others following His example because He knew that He was following Christ.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Elisa Morgan, with vulnerability, shares some insights from her own counselor to help us all follow Christ and live like Him with Christlike integrity. And the ODB author wrote: A friend of mine—okay, it was my counselor—drew a stick figure on a sheet of paper. [see photo] She labeled this the “private” self. Then she drew an outline around the figure, about a half-inch larger, and named it the “public” self. The difference between the two figures, between the private and public selves, represents the degree to which we have integrity.
I paused at her lesson and wondered, Am I the same person in public that I am in private? Do I have integrity?
When the Apostle Paul witnessed in Corinth and preached the Gospel, the people saw his public persona; and then later he wrote them - as we can read in his letters to the Corinthians. And some in Corinth apparently felt that what they had seen of Paul in public did not jibe with what they read in his letters . And henceforth, Paul defended his ministry as reflecting God’s Spirit and His being true to the gospel of Christ (see highlight passage). He declared openly that others could follow him [see 1Cor. 11:1] because he merely followed what Christ had commanded in Luke 9:23, … i.e., to deny himself and to follow His Lord’s will and His ways.
My fellow Christians, … we will only be able to be Christ’s light (as He commanded in Matt. 5:16) when we, like Paul, surrender to His Spirit and follow our Lord completely. And if we desire to have others see Christ in the way we live, as Joy Williams sings in the linked song, we must also follow Him with complete integrity. I pray that all reading with me seek to walk that walk … today and all days.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for showing us the way to go in following 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 walk the walk of faith in following You today … and then even more tomorrow. … 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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