Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of 3 friends, Clay Crosse, Bob Carlisle, and Bebe Winans singing … I Will Follow Christ … poignantly and powerfully singing of how they are SON followers, … totally surrendering to follow Christ.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Luke 8:15 [NLT] … 15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.
… Jesus teaching that only the seeds of God’s truth planted in the good soil of born-again believers can yield a harvest of fruitfulness.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Luke 8:11-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus explains the parable of the seeds and the good soil.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 119:33-35 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… One who seeks after following God’s truth will grow and become fruitful … a SON follower.
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 declares clearly and openly that His disciples are to be Son followers.
Reference Passage : … John 15:5 [NLT] … 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
… We will only be fruitful for God’s kingdom by remaining connected to the essence of our Lord.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Patricia Raybon, uses a clever botanical picture of sunflowers following the rays of the sun to illustrate how we, as Christians, must be “SON” followers. The ODB author wrote: Sunflowers sprout in a carefree manner all over the world. Pollinated by bees, the plants spring up on the sides of highways, under bird feeders, and across fields, meadows, and prairies. To produce a harvest, however, sunflowers need good soil. Well-drained, slightly acidic, nutrient-rich soil “with organic matter or composted,” says the Farmer’s Almanac, finally produces tasty sunflower seeds, pure oil, and also a livelihood for hard-working sunflower growers. [see photo]
And yes, this botanical picture of a fruitful sunflower harvest describes how we, as SON followers (i.e., disciples of Christ), must be good soil for the seeds of God’s truth (i.e., His word) to be planted in our minds and hearts and followed daily [see Luke 9:23] so that we can become a harvest of fruitfulness for God’s Kingdom [see John 15:5 and Ps. 119:33-35].
That’s why you find me here, each morning as the sun rises, doing all I can to be good soil for the rays of the Son (i.e., His word) to shine on my heart and help me to follow the Son during the day … to grow and become a harvest of fruitfulness for His glory. And I pray all reading here are “Son followers” as well.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for giving me the life-giving warmth of the Son to grow and be fruitful for 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 follow the Son each and every day in His word to become His fruitful harvest. … 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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