Dec 18, 2020 … When Love Really Shines

Berry Patch Devotions in 2020 - Day 353 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from the group Hillsong singing … All For Love …  worshipfully singing of how our Lord showed the greatest love of all by dying on the cross and continues to show that love by being willing to indwell our hearts forever when we’re willing to show our love to Him by repenting of our sin to follow Him 24/7.  

God's greatest demonstration of His love ... 

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Highlight Passage:   Romans 5:8 [ESV] ... 

8 … but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

…  The Cross was God’s greatest demonstration of His love for mankind <b>[see photo]</b>.  

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Highlight Passage [Context]: …  Romans 5:1-10 [ESV] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul shows fellow Christians how, by dying on the cross, Jesus demonstrated God’s love clearer than any other act in His life on earth. 

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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.  

…  Jesus clearly states to His followers what it takes to be His disciple and that is to renounce selfish desires and surrender - in love - to follow the Lord.   

Reference Passage: … John 3:16 [ESV] …  

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

…  Jesus teaches on God’s greatest gift of love.  

Reference Passage: … John 14:21 [ESV] …  

21 Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 

…  Jesus’s Spirit can only be manifest in those who willingly choose to obediently and humbly surrender self to the Savior.  

Reference Passage: … Philippians 2:3-5 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …  

…   We demonstrate Christlike love when we humbly reach out - as He did on the cross - to be willing to serve and even die for others. 

Reference Passage: … 1John 3:16-18 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …  

…  John shows that our greatest demonstration of real Christlike love is when we’re willing to sacrifice ourselves and humbly help others. 

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Bill Crowder, AT THIS LINK quotes Pastor Tim Keller who said, “Nobody ever learns who they are by being told. They must be shown.”  And the author goes on to show that the greatest demonstration of God’s love was Jesus dying on the cross (see photo) to save mankind from our sin. 

And as Jesus and the Apostles John and Paul clearly taught [see reference passages above] the only way we can demonstrate Christlike love is to humbly sacrifice our selfish desires and to serve others.   

But will we today?  

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for showing us the only real way to show our love for You and that is to sacrifice ourselves to serve others.  

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray that all reading here will join me today, to make Christlike choices to serve others over self.   … 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.