Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 82
Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Kari Jobe singing… Be Still My Soul … poignantly singing of how God invites His chosen to be still and rest in His love/grace.
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Highlight Passage: Ecclesiastes 2:20-21 [ESV] ...
20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
… Solomon proclaims - from his experience - the vanity of laboring diligently with no rest.
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Highlight Passage [Context]: … Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… From life experience Solomon teaches on the value of rest when compulsive and vane work has overtaken one’s life.
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Reference Passage: … Psalm 46:10, 127:2 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… The psalmists sing of the vanity of all work and the value of taking time to rest in the Lord.
Reference Passage: … Matthew 11:28-30 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus invites any/all Christians to yoke ourselves to Him to use His strength to bolster our weakness in the tolls of life.
Reference Passage: … Mark 6:31 [ESV] …
30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told Him all that they had done and taught. 31 And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”
… Jesus invites His disciples to come away from their labors and rest awhile.
Reference Passage: … Philippians 4:6-7 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul exclaims how one can rest in God’s peace when he/she is willing to take our anxieties to Him thankfully in prayer.
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Kirsten Holmberg, AT THIS LINK … summarized a study done in Finland which compared men who labored with and without vacation breaks. The findings were reviewed by the ODB author: The scientists discovered something they hadn’t been looking for in their original findings: the death rate was lower among those who had taken time off for vacations.
Well, those research findings would not have been a surprise to Solomon, who, in the highlight passage above taught fellow believers the truth behind the old saying, “All work and no play make ________ a dull [boy/girl].” And what about you? Are you one who might fill your name in the blank above, … never resting and putting your health and mental well-being in danger by refusing to take time to rest.
Personally, … I find Jesus’ invitation to rest [in the photo] a most welcome truth … as well as Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2, who reported that “all work and no play” is VANITY. So, I pray we all get some rest in the midst of our working for God’s kingdom. Perhaps, … as in the photo, … we can find a little beach time or a secluded/quiet place to take God up on His offer to give use some rest and peace to quiet our hearts and keep us healthy as we follow our Lord thru the tasks of life.
My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for taking me here … to a quiet place each morning to rest in You.
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to find time to rest in the Lord as we take up His charge to work for His kingdom. … 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.
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