Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of lyrics and song from the cast of the movie Sister Act singing … I Will Follow Him … poignantly singing of how we follow Christ wherever He may lead us.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Titus 2:6-7 [NLT] … 6 In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. 7 And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.
… Paul’s exhortation to showing the lesser mature in the faith how to follow Christ.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Titus 2:1-8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul mentoring Titus to see the value of leading others in the church thru Christlike leadership.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 5:16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… When we shine the light of Christ in our lives, others can see the light and follow it out of the darkness.
Reference Passage : … 1Corinthians 11:1-3 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul exhorted other, fellow, Christians to follow Him because he knew he was following Christ’s lead
Reference Passage : … Ephesians 4:1 [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.
… When we live lives worthy of Christ, we can lead others to do the same thing,
Reference Passage : … 1 Peter 5:2-5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Peter teaching church leaders to lead and the lesser mature to follow their Elders.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Amy Peterson, uses a personal story about her kids learning to play a new game to show how it’s better for followers to follow leaders in the Church. The ODB author wrote: My six-year-old son, Owen, was thrilled to receive a new board game. But after a half hour reading the rules, he was frustrated. He couldn’t quite figure out how it worked. It wasn’t until later, when a friend came over who already knew how to play, that Owen finally got to enjoy his present.
Watching them play, I was reminded of how much easier it is to learn something new if you have an experienced teacher. When we’re learning, reading the instructions helps, but having a friend who can demonstrate makes a huge difference. [see photo]
Oh how the Apostle Paul wanted others Christian, those whom he had led to Christ, like Titus in Crete (see highlight passages) or his fellow Christians in Corinth, to follow Christ closely and to do so diligently as he had done. In fact, in 1Cor. 11:1 Paul told the Corinthians that they could imitate him (i.e., Paul) because he was doing all he could to imitate Christ.
And as the ODB story above reveals, we all do better, as lesser mature Christians, when/if we can follow more mature Christians who’re doing all they can to do as the linked song sings … to follow Christ … out from the darkness of this world into the light of Christlikeness (see Matt. 5:14-16).
And I pray that all reading here are either following a mature/Godly Christian closely or following Christ closely enough to lead a lesser mature Christian into a life of Christlikeness.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for shining Your light for us to follow You and lead others to 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 example of Godly Christians to show us how to lead others in Christlikeness. … 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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