Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and lyrics from Tim McGraw singing … Humble and Kind … poignantly singing of how we as Christians must live our lives as did Christ, being humble and kind.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1st Thessalonians 5:14 [NLT] … 14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
… Extending God’s love, mercy, and grace to others requires Godly wisdom.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1st Thessalonians 5:12-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul’s advice and exhortation to Christians concerning how to extend God’s love and grace to others.
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Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… We must lean on God’s wisdom and follow His will when we reach out to help others.
Reference Passage : … Matthew 10:16 [NLT] … 16 “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.
… Jesus, sending out His disciples, gives them advice on how to proceed in life.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Mike Wittmer, uses a relatively common scenario to illustrate how difficult it is to share God’s mercy/grace wisely in this world. The ODB author wrote: As I stopped my car at a red light, I saw the same man standing beside the road again. [See photo] He held a cardboard sign: “HUNGRY - Need Help!” I looked away and sighed. Was I the kind of person who ignored the needy?
Some people pretend to have needs but are actually con artists. Others have legitimate needs but face difficulties overcoming destructive habits. Social workers tell us it’s better to give money to the aid ministries in our city. I swallowed hard and drove past. I felt bad, but I may have acted wisely.
I’d guess that most - if not all - readers have faced this ODB scenario; and like me, even if you knew you were passing by with a righteous heart, we feel guilty, don’t we? But the social worker advice in the ODB entry above is likely the wisest way to live out Biblical instruction concerning sharing WISELY with the needy (see highlight passage).
Jesus, when he was sending out His disciples on a mission experience, charged them to beware of being sheep among wolves and to “be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.” [See Matt. 10:16] And that can be difficult when we’re confronted with situations like the beggar at the stoplight scenario.
But I pray that we all are doing all we can to share God’s providence, especially His mercy and grace, in some way to be His agents of love in the world; and, … as Tim McGraw sings, … doing our best to be like our Lord, … always humble and kind.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for sharing Your love and mercy and grace with us so that we can share with others who need Your help.
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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 reach out with God’s providence to humbly share with others. … 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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