Monday, July 19, 2021

July 19, 2021 … No Matter What?! …

Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 200 


Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Clay Crosse, Bob Carlisle, and Bebe Winans singing  I Will Follow Christ … strongly singing of the commitment and surrender to follow the Lord … NO MATTER WHAT! 


Daniel followed God's ways ... 

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Highlight Passage:   Daniel 6:13  [NLT] …  

13 Then they [the king’s officials] told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”  </i> 

Daniel’s refusal to follow an unGodly law was revealed to the Persian king, which led to Daniel be sentenced to die in the lion’s den.       

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Highlight Passage [Context]: …  Daniel 6:10-23 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK … 

  Daniel would not submit to a law which called him to dishonor God; and the result was the lion’s den (see photo).         

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Reference Passage: … Proverbs 3:3  [NLT] …  

3  NEVER let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder.  Write them deep within your heart.   

… God, thru Solomon, charges His chosen to be steadfast in living to honor God.         


Reference Passage: … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 

23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. …”   

… Jesus commands that we Christians deny our own way and follow His way … NO MATTER WHAT!! 


Reference Passage: … Romans 12:1-2 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK  

… We Christians are charged by God, thru Paul, to become living sacrifices and to avoid following the world’s ways as we follow the Lord’s ways.


Reference Passage: … Ephesians 4:1-3 [NLT] …USE THIS LINK  

… Paul again exhorts Christians to be surrendered - as a prisoner of the Lord - fo following the Lord, which can be a VERY COSTLY choice.    


My Devotional JournalToday's Our Daily Bread author, Winn Collier, AT THIS LINK … relates a story of a young German in WW2 who learned of the murdering/unGodly ways of the 3rd Reich and refused to submit to being drafted into the German army because of his faith in Christ.  And predictably the young man was martyred, showing that our faith can sometimes lead to the ultimate cost for following the Lord, … Who gave His all for us.   


And then the ODB author uses the story [in the highlight passage] of Daniel following God’s ways and refusing to follow the unGodly Persian laws, which had been drafted to trap Daniel.  And we know the cost of Daniel following God rather than the Persian king, … leading Daniel into the lion’s den (see photo). 


Our challenge from this ODB entry today is simple.  Are we willing, as we hear in today’s linked song, to follow God’s ways no matter what it might cost us to do so?   I know, .. in the future,    we’re going to face increasing worldly (and Satanic) calls to follow the unGodly ways of the world, … tempting us to turn away from following Christ’s call to follow Him (see Luke 9;23). 


How, under these unGodly pressures, will we respond?   


My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for calling ME and giving me Your empowering grace to be loyal to Your calling on my life.  


My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to hold onto and follow Your call, Lord, … to follow You … no matter what!   … 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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