Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Steven Curtis Chapman singingBe Still and Know ... poignantly singing of how we Christians need to “be still,” knowing that God is always in control.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1Thessalonians 4:11-12 [NKJV] ... 11 … that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
… Paul exhorts fellow Christians to find quieter way of living …
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1Thessalonians 4:9-12 [NKJV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… God, thru Paul, exhorts Christians to find a quieter life to be able to see/hear God’s way more clearly in the midst of the noise of life.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 46:10 [NKJV] … 10 Be still, and know that I am God; …
… The Psalmist sings what we all need more of …
Reference Passage : … Matthew 11:28-30 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus instructs His followers how to yoke our lives to HIs to be able to find life easier.
Reference Passage : … John 15:4 [NKJV] … 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
… Jesus shows us that we need to abide more closely in Him to be fruitful in this life.
Reference Passage : … 1 Peter 5:7 [NKJV] … 7 … casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
… So often we take on all the noise of the world when we need to let God carry it.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, John Blase, uses a common question which we confront in life to illustrate that we need to consider living quieter lives these days, much as Paul exhorted fellow Christians in his day. … The ODB author wrote: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” We all heard that question as children and sometimes even as adults. The question is born in curiosity, and the answer is often heard as an indication of ambition. My answers morphed over the years, starting with a cowboy, then a truck driver, followed by a soldier, and I entered college set on becoming a doctor. However, I can’t recall one time that someone suggested or I consciously considered pursuing “a quiet life.”
Do you agree that we live in a very noisy, harried world, which so often produces mega-stress in our lives? …DUH!! … Of course we do! And that’s why the message of today’s ODB entry is so pertinent for anyone reading here with me today, … most certainly including yours truly.
The Apostle Paul, inspired by God’s Spirit, had it right when he wrote to Christians in today’s highlight passage to slow down and live quieter lives. And that’s why what Steven Curtis Chapman sings in the linked song today is something we all should seek more of … i.e., God saying … “be still and know that I am God.”
So, that’s my prayer for myself and for all reading with me here today? Let’s all slow down a bit and rest in Christ (Matt. 11 and John 15), unloading a lot of the noise of life on a God who truly cares for us (1Peter 5:7).
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, ... for Your promise of grace to live quieter lives and experience more of You.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me, to slow down and find more quiet in our relationship with You. … 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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