Nov 18, 2020 … Everything!! … Really??

Berry Patch Devotions in 2020 - Day 323 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...    Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from the group Avalon singing … Everything To Me … poignantly singing of how knowing our Lord intimately becomes EVERYTHING to us as His disciples.

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Highlight Passage:  Philippians 3:8  [ESV] ... 

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 

…   Paul could’ve claimed pride in keeping God’s law; but he realized that was all trash compared with surrendering to the Lordship of Christ. 

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Highlight Passage [Context]: …  Philippians 3:2-8 [ESV] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul realized that only knowing Jesus intimately was worth anything in his life.  All the rest was rubbish!! 

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Reference Passage: …  Proverbs 3:5-6 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK … 

…  Note how God, thru Solomon, demands that we trust the Lord with ALL of our heart.

Reference Passage: …  Luke 9:23 …  [ESV] … 

23 And He said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  

…  What Jesus demands of His disciples … EVERYTHING!!

Reference Passage: …  Romans 8:5-8 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK … 

…  Paul realized that living in and for the flesh could never satisfy Christ’s demands to know and follow Him.     

Reference Passage: …  Romans 12:1-2 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK … 

…  We, as Christ’s disciples, are to become living sacrifices, avoiding the world’s values, and living to know our Lord and glorify Him with our lives. 

Reference Passage: …  Galatians 5:22-23 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK … 

…  The fruit of the Spirit is the outcome of being surrendered disciples of Christ. 

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Glenn Packiam AT THIS LINK writes of following a doctor’s demands to lose weight.   And after being successful (as in the photo) the author became judgmental of others who were overweight.     

That happened to me too when I became serious to get my blood sugar under control as a type 2 diabetic.  I lost almost 60 pounds; and then became prideful when I saw others who were obese.  

And that was the case for the Apostle Paul [see highlight passage], who, after becoming a disciple of Christ, came to the realization that only knowing and serving Christ was important; … Paul sharing in his teachings above that anything and everything we might accomplish as Christ’s disciples in the flesh was RUBBISH. 

And I pray that all reading with me here listen to the linked song and mediate on the truths on the Scriptures above … where Jesus demands that ALL who claim to be His disciples deny our flesh and simply do all we can to follow Him (see Luke 9:23), … and demanding that we become living sacrifices, exhibiting the fruit of Spirit-filled living (see Romans 12:1-2 and Gal. 5:22-23).

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for letting us exhibit the fruit of the Spirit so others can see You in the way we live.  

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray that all reading here will join me to surrender all of our hearts to following and honoring You with the way we live in/for You.    … Amen

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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.