Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of the group Avalon singing … Everything To Me … poignantly singing of how we, as disciples of Christ, need to be wiling to surrender and make our Lord EVERYTHING in our lives.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Luke 19:8 [NLT] … 8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
… A clear declaration of Zacchaeus’ surrender to Christ’s love.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Luke 19:1-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Zacchaeus yields to the realization that His relationship with Christ’s love is more important that his temporal wealth.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 6:19-21 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus teaching and warning of depending too much on world things and to store up only things of the heart, imparted by God’s love/grace.
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 charges His disciples to deny themselves and to surrender themselves to follow Him.
Reference Passage : … Luke 12:13-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus warns the people to beware of their dependence on temporal wealth.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Bill Crowder, reasons with his ODB readers as to what is more important in life - love or money? … The ODB author wrote: Irish poet Oscar Wilde said, “When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.” His comment was made tongue-in-cheek; he lived only to age forty-six, so he never truly was “old.” Wilde fully understood that life is not about money.
Money is temporary; it comes and it goes. So life must be about more than money and what it can buy. Jesus challenged the people of His generation—rich and poor alike—to a recalibrated value system.
I think most, if not all, reading here with me would reason that our relationship with Christ is more important than pursing anything temporal or worldly. At least I hope we have enough savvy of God’s truth (see scriptures above) to reason what is really important in the photo question attached.
Jesus was certainly clear on this matter; wasn’t He? And our Lord taught on several occasions, warning the people who followed Him, to beware of letting the love of money or things get in the way of sharing God’s love/grace in their own lives and the lives of others [see Matthew 6 passage].
So, we need to ask ourselves if there are any worldly things which have become idols in our lives and get in the way of surrendering our hearts to our Lord. Because, as did Zacchaeus [see highlight passages], we need to be willing to give those things up and follow Christ (see Luke 9:23).
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … leading us away from worldly pursuits to be in constant pursuit of a more abiding relationship with 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 set aside any worldly idols which get in the way of our love relationship with our Lord. … 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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