Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 160
Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Jeremy Camp singing … Walk By Faith … poignantly singing of how we, in Christ, must deny our own selfish ways and walk to follow the Lord in faith.
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Highlight Passage [Context]: … Mark 7:8 [NLT] …
8 For you [the religious leaders] ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
… Jesus calls out the Pharisees for bypassing God’s law by substituting their own interpretations and traditions for God’s Law given to Moses.
Highlight Passage [Context]: … Mark 7:6-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus rebukes this religious leaders of his day for rationalizing that their religious traditions were bypassing God’s law.
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Reference Passage: … Psalm 139:23-24 [NLT] …
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
… David prays that God help him follow God’s ways ALWAYS, rather than following his own way.
Reference Passage: … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] …
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take
… God, thru Solomon, teaches that we followers of God must trust God’s way completely and avoid following our own desires.
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 teaches His followers that any who follows Him as a disciple must deny selfish desires to follow Him.
Reference Passage: … John 17:17 [NLT] …
17 “Sanctify them in the truth, Your word is truth.
… Jesus prays - and is still praying - any and all of His disciples be sanctified by follow His word.
Reference Passage: … Romans 1:16 [NLT] …
18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
… Paul exhorts other fellow Christians to follow God’s truth because ignoring it follow our own desires will bring God’s wrath. .
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Poh Tim Gustafson … AT THIS LINK … relates a story of a woman stopped by police while driving and using her cell phone; and when told by the police that she was texting while driving, she denied it, saying that she was only emailing and not texting.
And that is a clear example of rationalizing and ignoring the law by following our own selfish desires, which Jesus accused the religious leaders of His day of doing<b>(see highlight text)</b>. And it’s what God, thru His word (see Scriptures above), warns us to avoid. In fact, just before Jesus was crucified, He prayed (see John 17:17) that all His disciples (that’s us too!) would be sanctified and follow His way, thru His word, rather than following our own selfish ways.
But so often, I admit, that we, who call ourselves “disciples” of Christ, seek to find ways to do life our own way rather than to simply trust God’s word of truth and simply follow His way. And so, I’m challenging any fellow Christians to follow the prayer of David in Psalm 139:23-24) to seek out God’s truth, thru His word, and follow Him … all the way to glory.
My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for showing me and ALL Your disciples, the way to go by following Your word.
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to seek out God’s way thru His word and to follow You everyday, Lord. … 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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