Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 197
Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Stacie Orrico singing … Without Love poignantly singing from 1Corinthians 13 about life being nothing without the expression and reception of “agape” … God’s love.
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Highlight Passage [Context]: … 1Corinthians 13:3 [NLT] …
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
… Paul shows that even when we do good deeds, performed without love, we gain nothing.
Highlight Passage [Context]: … 1Corinthians 13:1-7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul helps fellow Christians understand the essence of God’s love and the importance of sharing it with one another. ===============
Reference Passage: … Mark 12:28-31 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus tells the religious leaders spying on His ministry what the most important commands of God are. … And number one is that we love one another.
Reference Passage: … John 13:34-35 [NLT] …
34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
… Jesus commands His disciples (and us) to love one another just as He loved them (and us) and to share His love with others to show that we follow Jesus.
Reference Passage: … Galatians 5:22-23 [NLT] …
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
… Paull shows Christians that the fruit of the Spirit comes from living like Christ … and note that the first, … and most important, … of these is LOVE.
Reference Passage: ... 1John 4:7, … 10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… John shows fellow Christians that sharing God’s love for one another shows that we know and love God.
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Lisa M Samra… AT THIS LINK … relates a story of her purchasing a self-assembly table; and taking the pieces out of the box she noted that one of the four legs was missing, which, of course, made assembly useless without a critically necessary part of the table.
And that illustration is an apt one to describe what the Apostle Paul was trying to describe about “agape” (i.e., Christlike love) to fellow Christians, … sharing God’s truth about our being willing - and able - to share God’s love with others see nightlight passage from 1Cor 13:1-7). And it’s the essence of what Jesus, Himself, showed His disciples and other followers when He was sharing about Godly love in His ministry among His followers (see John 13:34-35).
So, if my readers have taken in the linked song and meditated on the Scriptures above, I’m sure you’re as convicted as I am to do all we can, as disciples of King Jesus, to reach out with Christlike love as we encounter sharing with others today.
My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for loving me to show me how to share that kind of “agape” love with someone today.
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to reach out and share Your love, Lord, with someone 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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