June 1, 2023 … Maturing In Christlikeness

Berry Patch Devotions in 2023 - Day 152 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Lydia Walker singing … I Have Decided To Follow Jesus … poignantly and powerfully singing of how we Christians must decide to surrender to follow Jesus and grow in Christlikeness.  

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Highlight Passage: … 1Thessalonians 5:23-24 [NLT] … 

23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for He who calls you is faithful.  

… Paul prays that His fellow Christians would surrender to God’s Spirit, helping them (and us) to grow to become more like our Lord.             

                         

Highlight Passage (Context): … 1Thessalonians 5:12-28 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK …  

… The Apostle Paul assures fellow Christians to surrender to follow Christ, growing in Christlikeness.                                             .                     

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Reference Passage: … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … 

5 Trust in the LORD with ALL your heart; and 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, charges God’s people to trust and follow God’s will and His ways to know which paths to take i life.    

Reference Passage: … 1Corinthians 3:1-2 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul exhorts immature Christians in Corinth (and us) to grow more into more mature followers of Christ.  

Reference Passage: … Colossians 1:9-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul exhorts fellow Christians of his prayer for them (and us) that they (we) grow in our relationship to follow Christ.  

Reference Passage: … Philippians 1:6 [NLT] … 

6 And I am certain that God Who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns . 

… Paul assures fellow Christians that God will complete His work of maturing born-again Christians into the image of Christ.     

Reference Passage: … 1Peter 2:2 [NLT] … 

2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.   

… Peter shows persecuted and troubled Christians we must take in God’s Spirit-led nourishment thru His word so  that we can grow in Christlikeness.         

                                                                                                                          

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Kirsten Holmberg … AT THIS LINK …  writes about the ODB author’s desire to do all she could as the mother of an 18 year old daughter, who so needed to grow in maturity, as the daughter was about to go off into a world that would be so very hostile.          

And that’s the type of parental concern that the Apostles Paul and Peter felt for fellow Christians, many of whom had been led to rebirth in Christ by the Apostles.  The Apostles so desired that these new “babes” in Christ would grow in their faith to be able to become more and more like their Lord and Savior.

So I pray today that all who read with me here are doing all we can to take in the nourishment of God’s truth (i.e., thru God’s word) to grow, as Paul exhorted in many of his letters (see Pauline scriptures above) to let God’s Spirit lead us to become more like King Jesus, growing in Christlikeness.  

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, …for giving me Your truth, Lord, helping me grow to be more like You.     

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to surrender more today to take in the nourishment of Your word, Lord, so that we can become more like You.    … 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.