Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 131
Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Steve Green singing … People Need the Lord … powerfully singing of how we Christians are called to share the good-news of salvation with the world.
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Highlight Passage [Context]: … 2Corinthians 2:14 [NLT] …
14 But thank God! He has made us His captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.
… As slaves to Christ’s calling, we Christians should be sharing God’s good news of salvation to all who need His sweet smelling grace.
Highlight Passage [Context]: … 2Corinthians 2:14-17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul models what should be the Christian’s calling to share God’s good news which is a sweet aroma to God but a stench to those who are perishing in their sin. =============== .
Reference Passage: … Psalm 96:3 [NLT] …
3 Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.
… God’s charge in the poetry of song to spread God’s glorious deeds throughout the world.
Reference Passage: … Matthew 28:19-20 [NLT] … <
19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
… Jesus commands all who are His disciples to go and share His gospel with the whole world.
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.”
… Just prior to His ascension to heaven after His resurrection, Jesus charges all of His born-again believers to use the empowering grace of God’s Spirit to share the good news of salvation with the warld. .
Reference Passage: …Romans 1:16 [NLT] …
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
… Paul uses his own commitment to share the gospel to encourage other Christians to do the same thing.
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Xochitl Dixon … AT THIS LINK … tells of sharing the gospel with her mother after coming to know Christ herself, but being rejected forcefully by her mom. But with love and persistence, the ODB author’s mother finally received the good-news of salvation and surrendered her heart to Christ.
Yes, … anyone who calls himself or herself a “Christian,” is called by God (see the red-letter words of Christ above) … ti go out and share the sweet-smelling aroma of God’s saving grace with the world. The Apostle Paul even likened this process (see the highlight passage) to being captives to Christ and taking the aroma of the Gospel to any/all who need to know of the saving grace offered to anyone who needs its aroma. Hear Steve Green sing of that calling in the linked song.
After I had become a Christian at age 39, i recognized that my dad - in his seventies … and an elder in our family church - so obviously needed God’s sweet-smelling aroma of grace; and for several years, like the author in today’s ODB entry, I shared how the Gospel had saved and changed me with my dad. And the fragrance of the Gospel finally connected with my father; and he surrendered to take in Christ’s sweet-smelling grace. If the Gospel has saved you, my fellow Christian, with whom might you share that aroma of grace today?
My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for calling me to savor and share the aroma of grace with others today and tomorrow.
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to do all we can, Lord, to share Your sweet-smelling aroma of love and grace with others today. 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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