Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 137
Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from the group Worship Central singing … Purse Me … poignantly singing of how we pray that God will pursue us relentlessly inspire of our unworthiness.
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Highlight Passage: Jonah 2:9 [ESV] …
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to You; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
… Jonah, who had been running from God’s love and commands, in the belly of the big fish finally surrenders to serve his Lord.
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Highlight Passage [Context]: … Jonah 2:1-9 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jonah, in the belly of the fish, finally recognizes God’s relentless pursuit and surrenders in prayer to his God’s love.
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Reference Passage: … Matthew 28:20b [ESV] …
20 … And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
… Jesus’ promise to be with His chosen ones ALWAYS.
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. …” <
…That’s how relentlessly God loves us … that He would sacrifice is ONE & ONLY SON.
Reference Passage: … Romans 5:8 [ESV] …
8 - but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
… God, thru Paul, shows us just how relentlessly God’s love pursues His chosen ones.
Reference Passage: … Romans 8:38-39 [ESV] …
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
… Paul shows Christians that NOTHING can separate us from God’s relentless love.
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Lisa M Samra, AT THIS LINK … makes reference to the poem, “The Hound of Heaven” by English poet Francis Thompson, which reflects on one running from God but finally surrendering to God’s love and mercy and grace.
And that was certainly the story of Jonah, the reluctant Prophet, called by God to preach salvation to enemies of Israel in Nineveh. But Jonah ran from God, didn’t he? No matter, … God relentlessly pursued His prophet, even into the belly of a fish <b>(see photo and highlight passage)</b> where Jonah finally surrendered to follow God’s will.
And perhaps other readers, like yours truly, have experienced God’s relentless pursuit. I ran from God’s love/grace for over two decades into the squallers of disbelief and addictive sin. But my God - The Hound of Heaven - came after me, as I angrily called myself as an “atheist” at the time. But finally, … I found out that all of the NT Scriptures above are true, in that nothing can stand in the way of God’s ever relentless love and grace.
And here I am, … now surrendered just as did Jonah, to share God’s love, from His word, with you today. And I pray that anyone reading here, who is running from God’s calling, will just surrender; because, as the Scriptures above attest, if God has called you to serve Him, He will not let you go!!
My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for coming after me when I didn’t deserve Your love - which is really every day.
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to surrender - TODAY - to our Lord’s relentless love. … 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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