Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 108
Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from the Maranatha Singers singing … Shine Jesus Shine … poignantly singing.about shining the light of Christ in our very dark world.
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Highlight Passage [Context]: … 1Peter 2:19-20 [NLT] …
19 For God is pleased when, conscious of His will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.
… Peter helps Christians who are being persecuted with encouragement to help them deal with oppressive conditions as Christians.
Highlight Passage [Context]: … 1Peter 2:11-21 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
…Peter instructing oppressed/persecuted Christians how to witness and live to witness for Christ under the pressures of everyday life.
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Reference Passage: … Matthew 5:14-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus exhorts those who follow Him to shine His light for all to see His works and glorify His Father.
Reference Passage: … Acts 1:8 [NLT] …
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”.
… Jesus commands all His disciples and followers to be lights of witness for Him … EVERYWHERE we live and work.
Reference Passage: … Romans 13:12-14 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul instructs and exhorts Christians, living under darkness and oppression, to put on the witness of Christlikeness to honor God by shining His light in the darkness of this world
Reference Passage: … Philippians 2:14-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul instructs and exhorts Christians, in this dark world, to shine Christlike lives as a witness to God’s glory.
Reference Passage: … 1Thessalonians 4:11-12 [NLT] …
11 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. 12 Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.
… Again Paul helping fellow Christians with instruction how to live when being observed by and working for, unbelievers.
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Winn Collier … AT THIS LINK … wrote about Evelyn, who was frustrated at work and disagreed with the working conditions imposed by her supervisor, … yet Evelyn was determined to do the best she could under the circumstances.
And that’s what Peter and Paul, were instructing followers of Christ to do under dark - and even the oppressive - conditions imposed by unbelievers in their lives. Being a Christian in those dark, first century, days had to have been very frustrating; just as it can be frustrating for us who follow Christ now. But God’s word on being witnesses for our Lord is strong and clear, isn’t it (see exhortations from Paul and Peter above); and especially from Jesus Himself (see Matt 5 and Acts 1), charging all Christians to be - or become - Christlike lights as we work in this world of darkness.
Oh, that is my prayer for all of us as i share these words of truth today.
My THANKFULNESS:... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for being our model of light in these dark times.
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to do all we can today to shine Your light for all to see You thru the way we live in these dark times. 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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