Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and images from Laura Story singing her song … Blessings … poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, often miss God’s blessings which come disguised as the challenges and trials of life.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Genesis 50:19-20 [ESV] ... 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
… What we often see as BAD circumstances can well be God’s blessings in disguise (see linked song)
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Highlight Passage [context]: Genesis 50:15-21 [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… Joseph shows his fearful brothers that what they had once intended for evil God had turned into good for the Lord’s glory.
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Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… No matter what is happening, trust that God is in it for our good and His glory.
Reference Passage : … Proverbs 16:4 [ESV] … 4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.
… God reigns with His purposes over EVERYTHING.
Reference Passage : … Ecclesiastes 7:14 [ESV] … 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
… [See the photo for the truth in life!]
Reference Passage : … Isaiah 45:7 [ESV] … 7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.
… God, thru Isaiah, declares to His people that He, the LORD, is control of all things.
Reference Passage : … Romans 8:28 [ESV] … 28 And we know that for those who love God ALL THINGS work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
… What we see as bad is still for our good and God’s glory.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, James Banks, uses the story of a young pastor who was delivered by God from evil influences (i.e., addiction) to help others walk free from the same evil forces. … The ODB author wrote: Geoff is a youth pastor today in the same city where he once abused heroin. God transformed both his heart and his circumstances in a breathtaking way. “I want to keep kids from making the same mistakes and suffering the pain I went through,” Geoff said. “And Jesus will help them.” Over time, God set him free from the slavery of addiction and has given him a vital ministry in spite of his past.
Yes, and I can closely identify with this ODB reference story because, for over 20 years of my youth I was addicted to pornography; and my surrender to Christ and God’s Spirit led me to work now - for over 20 years - in helping Christian men walk free from the compulsive evil of internet P0RN. I’ve learned and internalized what the Scriptures above show … that ALL THINGS in life are under God’s control. And as Laura Story sings in the linked song, many things which seem ill begotten in our lives are very likely God’s blessings in disguise.
Therefore, why don’t we all take in the truths in the attached photo; and then stop and thank God for whatever is going on in our lives today, … because it’s actually going on for our good and God’s glory.
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for leading us thru today for our good and Your glory!
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me today, to pray the prayer of David in Ps. 139:23-24. 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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