Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and song from tClay Crosse, BeBe Winans, and Bob Carlisle singing … I Will Follow Christ … poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, must do all we can to deny our way and follow God’s way … no matter what it takes or where it leads.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Acts 16:7 [NLT] … 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.
… Paul and Silas were doing their best to follow the Spirit’s lead on their Gospel mission.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Acts 17:6-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul and his travel companions are led on a divine detour in their mission to spread the gospel.
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Reference Passage : … Joshua 1:8 [NLT] … 8 Study this Book of Instruction [i.e., God’s word] continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
… God decrees that Joshua follow His word, no matter where he goes or what he does. God’s word should be our “GPS” in life … “God’s Positioning System” And that is our charge as well in life as we seek to follow Christ as Lord.
Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… No matter where we’re headed in life as disciples of Christ we need to take care to beware of following our feelings and perceptions and do all we can to trust in the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
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 …
… Our task, as Christ’s disciples, is to deny ourselves and do all we can to follow Him. My
Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Arthur Jackson, uses a personal testimony of following God’s lead in life. And the ODB author wrote: It can be difficult when we’re told “no” or “not now,” especially when we sense God has opened a door for us to serve others. Early in my ministry, two opportunities came my way where I thought my gifts and skills matched the churches’ needs, but both doors eventually closed. After these two disappointments, another position came along, and I was selected. With that ministry call came thirteen years of life-touching pastoral labors.
Our trek thru life as disciples of Christ can be challenging, if not confusing, at times, … especially as we do all we can to follow the lead and direction of God’s Spirit. Yes, as Jesus commanded all disciples (see Luke 9:23), He wants us to follow Him; and God tells us - as He did Joshua in Joshua 1:8 - that we should use His word as our divine “GPS.”
But even doing that faithfully, as Paul discovered in trying to seek the Lord’s way and His will in sharing the Gospel in Asia (see highlight passage), he encountered divine detours along the way [see photo]; and Paul and his companions had to reroute themselves several times on their journeys, doing all they could to follow Christ.
And as we do what is sung in the linked song, … doing all we can to follow Christ, … we, too, will encounter divine detours on the road of life. And we need to simply be committed to do all we can to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading … wherever that might lead us.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your Word as our “GPS” and Your Spirit as our guide.
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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 do all we can to seek out and follow the Spirit’s leading in our quest to be disciples of Christ. … 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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