Jan 31, 2021 … Taking God’s Road

Berry Patch Devotions in 2020 - Day 31 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Matthew West singing … Forgiveness …  poignantly singing how we, as Christians, must strive to share God’s love/grace to forgive others when we feel wronged.  

God's road in resolving relational conflicts ... 

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Highlight Passage:   Romans 12:21 [ESV] ... 

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

… Disciples of Christ will never take revenge as our pursuit when wronged;… but rather we will seek to forgive and move forward with mercy and God’s justice as our pursuits.           

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Highlight Passage [Context]: …  Romans 12:9-21 [ESV] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… God, thru Paul, teaches on the marks of a born-again Christian.    

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Reference Passage: … Micah 6:8   [ESV] ... 

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  

…  Living out what God demands, thru Micah, of all believers. <b>But do we?</b> 

Reference Passage: … Matthew 5:8   [ESV] … 

8  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 

…  Jesus blesses those who are peacemakers in life.      

Reference Passage: … Matthew 18:21-34  [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK … 

…  Jesus helps Peter (and us) see that we must never hold back God’s mercy and grace in order to forgive those who have wronged us … as often as it takes. 

Reference Passage: … Ephesians 4:32   [ESV] ... 

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  

…  Paul exhorts fellow Christians (and that’s us too) to choose to forgive others just as Christ has forgiven us.  

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Monica La Rose, AT THIS LINK  quotes Rev. Desmond Tutu, the South African Anglican Bishop, as his country was coming out from under a government formerly steeped in apartheid rule, … stating in his book No Future Without Forgiveness, … “We could very well have had justice, retributive justice, and had a South Africa lying in ashes.” … In other words, revenge is never God’s way to find justice, … only the road of forgiveness [see photo] is God’s road to follow in resolving relational disputes. 

And oh how pertinent Tutu’s words are for us today, aren’t they?  With all the division and anger being spewed forth by the right and the left these days, … all of us need to use the Bible’s teaching <b>(see Scriptures above)</b> and follow Jesus’ mandate to forgive others and be peacemakers rather than taking revenge [see Matt. 18:21-34]. 

But do we? … Will we?  

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for calling us out to exercise mercy and forgiveness rather than fighting with one another. 

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray that all reading here will join me, … today … to do all we can to exercise a Christlike, forgiving, attitude when we’re wronged by others.  … 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.