Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and images from Jeremy Camp singing … The Answer … poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, find satisfaction on in “THE ANSWER,” which is a deep and abiding relationship with King Jesus.
Reepicheep expresses his greatest desire ... to follow Aslan
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Highlight Verse[s]: Mark 10:51 [NKJV] ... 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. … “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
… And Jesus hears the blind beggar declare his greatest desire in life.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Mark 10:46-52 [NLT] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… The blind beggar, Bartimaeus, receives his greatest desire from His Messiah, Jesus.
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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 commanded His followers to live as He would live and to treat others the way He would treat us.
Reference Passage : … John 15:1-8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus explains what it takes to be fruitful as Christians; but … are we willing to do what it takes to follow Him?
Reference Passage : … Romans 12:1-2 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul’s exhortation to Christians, tells us what it takes to pursue an abiding relationship with our Lord.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Winn Collier, uses a character from one of C.S. Lewis’ stories to illustrate how fighting thru our weaknesses for the strength to follow Christ should be our greatest desire in life. … The ODB author wrote: A mouse with a shrill voice, Reepicheep is perhaps The Chronicles of Narnia’s most valiant character. He charged into battle swinging his tiny sword. He rejected fear as he prodded on the Dawn Treader toward the Island of Darkness. The secret to Reepicheep’s courage? He was deeply connected to his longing to get to Aslan’s country. “That is my heart’s desire,” he said. Reepicheep knew what he truly wanted, and this led him toward his king.
The mousey character, Reepicheep (see photo) in the Chronicles of Narnia reminded the ODB author of blind Bartimaeus (in the highlight passage), … where Jesus encounters a blind beggar and asks him what Bartimaeus desires from Jesus. Well, … “DUH!” Of course Jesus knew what the blind man wanted; but He wanted to hear it from Bartimaeus.
And likewise, in C.S. Lewis’ tale, Reepicheep, the brave little mouse, would do anything to follow Aslan, the Lion King. And these two characters call to us, asking us … what is our greatest desire in life? Is it to satisfy ourselves with the delights of this world; … or is it to simply do whatever we need to do to follow King Jesus [see Jesus’ command in Luke 9:23 and Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:1-2?
Because, … if it’s the latter, we need to tell our Lord today that we need His empowering and healing grace to do whatever it takes to pursue and receive the essence of life from our King and Lord [see John 15:1-8].
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, ... for being willing to provide us with Your empowering grace so that we can go deeper and follow You more closely.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me today, to seek the grace and power necessary to overcome our selfish desires and follow our King, Jesus. … 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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