Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Andrae Crouch singing his song, Through It All … poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, have to learn to trust in God no matter what comes our way.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 2Timothy 4:17 [ESV] ... 7 But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And He rescued me from certain death.
… Even thru the coldness of prison and the threat of death, Paul maintained His faith in His Lord.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2Timothy 4:9-18 [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… Paul from a dark/cold Roman prison, sentenced to die, show his need of human warmth but above all his faith in His Lord.
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Reference Passage : … Job 13:15 [ESV] … 15 Though He slay me, I will hope in Him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.
… Thru all that God allowed Satan to put him through, even to the point of death, Job maintained His trust in God.
Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Solomon, challenges believers to trust in Him with ALL of our hearts, not relying on our own feelings and perceptions.
Reference Passage : … Romans 8:28, 38 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul learned that everything he (we) encountered was for our good and NOTHING in this life could separate us from the love of God.
Reference Passage : … 2Corinthians 12:9-10 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul had to learn thru pain and trial that Jesus would - as He will for us - provide the empowering grace and strength to live on thru the pain and suffering.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Patricia Raybon, uses a story of young people blessed by donated coats, giving them the warmth to withstand the cold of winter. … The ODB author wrote: At a coat drive for children, excited kids searched gratefully for their favorite colors and proper sizes. They also gained self-esteem, an organizer said, with new coats boosting their acceptance by peers and school attendance on winter days.
It’s a cold, cruel, word at times, isn’t it? And we all can use the warmth of encouragement and affirmation from others to give us some human warmth in these cold times, don’t we? Of course we do!!
That’s what Paul was writing about from a cold, damp prison cell just before he was to die at the hands of the Romans. And in the highlight passage we read of his desire for the warmth of fellow Christians, … Luke being the only one who was there to provide him with companionship. But “THROUGH IT ALL,” Paul wrote that he felt the strength and warmth and trust that came from His relationship with Christ [also earlier to other Christians in Romans 8:28/38 and 2Cor. 12:9-10].
And right now we’re all going through some really tough times, aren’t we? So, today’s ODB entry, and the great song by Andrae Crouch, asks us if we have the faith of a Paul, or maybe of a Job (see Job 13:15)? And tomorrow, as we learn that more have died from the corona virus, will we be able to sing that our faith in God will sustain us … “Through It ALL!!”
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for being there with me … through it all.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me to rest in the truth that our Lord allows us to go through it all for our good and His glory. 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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