Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song/lyrics with the group Unspoken singing Call It Grace ... poignantly singing of how God’s grace is there for us ALWAYS just as we should offer it to others … always … even our enemies.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Luke 9:27 [NLT] ... 27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. … “
... Jesus teaches a new level of love to His followers.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Luke 6:27-36 [NLT] ... USE THIS LINK ...
... Jesus preaches on living and loving others … yes, even our enemies.
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Reference Passage : ... Matthew 5:44 [NLT] ... 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! … “
.. From Jesus’ sermon on the mount; … He gives new meaning to love and grace.
Reference Passage : ... John 13:34-35 [NLT] ... USE THIS LINK ...
... Jesus commands His disciples to love one another to be able to show others that we are His disciples.
Reference Passage : ... 2Corinthians 5:17 [NLT] ... 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
... In our old self, we could not love our enemies; but in our new self, we can!
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Sheridan Voysey used a reference to a novel to illustrate Jesus’ command to love even our enemies ... The ODB author wrote: In Leif Enger’s novel Peace Like a River, Jeremiah Land is a single father of three working as a janitor at a local school. He’s also a man of deep, sometimes miraculous, faith. Throughout the book, his faith is often tested.
Jeremiah’s school is run by Chester Holden, a mean-spirited superintendent with a skin condition. Despite Jeremiah’s excellent work ethic—mopping up a sewage spill without complaint, picking up broken bottles the superintendent smashed—Holden wants him gone. One day, in front of all the students, he accuses Jeremiah of drunkenness and fires him. It’s a humiliating scene.
How does Jeremiah respond? He could threaten legal action for unfair dismissal or make accusations of his own. He could slink away, accepting the injustice. Think for a moment what you might do.
I know many - if not most of us - would like to punch that jerk out, wouldn’t we? But Jesus [see highlight passage and Matt. 5:44] called His disciples to a new level of grace when He preached from that Galilean hillside; and it’s a standard of love/grace which is admittedly almost impossible in our human nature. But as God’s Spirit has made us new (see 2Cor. 5:17), we can choose and exercise God’s grace and love to all; … yes even our enemies.
So, … after we all listen to the group Unspoken sing about God’s grace in the linked song, … I prayer we can - and will - show off God’s love/grace to others today!!
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, ... for showing just how You loved me when I was your enemy by loving even those who persecute me today.
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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 show our love to EVERYONE, … yes, even our enemies, … today and tomorrow. … 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.</ span>
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