Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 100
Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Miriam Webster and the group Hillsong singing … Exceeding Joy … joyfully singing praise to God for the joy we find in Him, especially during the trials of life.
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Highlight Passage: Habakkuk 3:18 [ESV] ...
1 … (in spite of the world’s injustices) … yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
… Habakkuk chooses to praise God in spite of the injustices he sees in the world.
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Highlight Passage [Context]: … Habakkuk 3:6, 16-19 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Habakkuk goes from frustration to faith and chooses joy instead of anger.
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Reference Passage: … Psalm 138:7 [ESV] …
24 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve my life; You stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand delivers me.
… Another song of David, expressing joy and praise for God’s protection and deliverance when we close to follow His ways.
Reference Passage: … Isaiah 41:8-10 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s promise to Israel, His chosen ones - and to us as His family - of His protection and strength in the midst of the challenges of life.
Reference Passage: … 2Corinthians 12:9 [ESV] …
9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
… Jesus promises Paul (and all Christians) that His empowering grace is always sufficient to protect or lift us up when we are weakened or threatened. And we get to CHOOSE to receive His enabling grace and find joy in our relationship with our Lord.
Reference Passage: … James 1:2 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru James, shows that we can choose joy, … even when we face trials in life.
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Patricia Raybon, AT THIS LINK … quotes C.S. Lewis, who after coming to faith in Christ from his former frustrated state of unbelief, wrote of the difficulty Christians often find in praising God: “It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence” to His people. Then we, “in perfect love with God,” find joy in Him no more separable “than the brightness a mirror receives” from the “brightness it sheds.”
It’s tough at times, especially in these viral, socially-distanced, times to praise God, isn’t it? That’s what the Prophet Habakkuk found in his day (see Habakkuk’s journal - Chapter One). But God helped the Prophet (and us) to realized that he could - AND SHOULD - choose joy and praise God no matter what happens in life (see Habakkuk 3:17-18). But the challenge, for us Christians, lies in the reality that JOY is a choice, … not a feeling; and we find our joy in our relationship with the Lord, not in our search for feelings of self satisfaction.
All too often we, like Habakkuk, mistakenly pursue the feeling of “happiness,” which is dependent on positive life circumstances, … when, in reality, we can ALWAYS choose to praise God - with JOY - because of our relationship with Him. And I pray that we stop and do that RIGHT NOW as we share this truth.
And so, … I choose to praise my Lord with joy in my heart. <b>Will you join me?!!</b>
My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, King Jesus, … for being the source of my joy and praise.
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to stop and praise God, … choosing joy because of Your love for us, Lord. … 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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