November 5, 2021 … Joy Only In Christ …

Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 309 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in a song and lyrics from Kristyn and Keith Getty singing … In Christ Alone … poignantly singing of how we will only find our joy in Christ. 

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Highlight Passage: … Ecclesiastes 2:11  [NLT] …   

11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.  

…Solomon shares the folly and futility of trying to find joy by selfish pleasures.       

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Highlight Passage [Context]: …  Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… God, thru Solomon, shows the futility of trying to find joy in self gratification or worldly pleasures.        

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Reference Passage: … John 15:5-8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… Jesus shows His disciples that only in their relationship with Him can they find real satisfaction, fruitfulness, and joy. 

Reference Passage: … John 16:24 [NLT] …  

24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.   

… Jesus instructs His disciples that they (and we) can only find real joy thru Him.  

Reference Passage: … John 17:13-17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… Jesus prays that His born-again disciples would find our joy in and through His word and not in worldly or selfish pleasures.        

Reference Passage: … James 1:2-4 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …   

… James shows fellow believers that we can only find real joy thru our relationship with Christ.  

Reference Passage: … 1Peter 1:8 [NLT] …   

8 You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.  

… Peter helping fellow persecuted Christians to find true joy … only thru Christ. 

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Marvin Williams, AT THIS LINK … compares the writings of a 21st century blogger with those of Solomon, who - in the highlight passage - wrote of his personal experiment to find joy in the mundane … in a search of self satisfaction and worldly pleasures, … only to discover that our joy can only be found in a deep and abiding relationship with our Lord.   

My fellow Christian, … we need to ask ourselves where we are seeking to find real joy?  Are we trying to find it in fleshly pleasures or worldly pursuits?  Because if we have taken in the linked song and meditated on the truth of God’s word above - AND IT IS TRUTH!;  we will only find real joy in a deep and abiding relationship with Christ.  

And that is my prayer for all of us today.            

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for showing me the way to find real joy … in my relationship with You. 

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, …  to seek to find our joy in Christ … and Christ alone!!  … 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.