July 11, 2014 … Reverse Paranoia

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 192

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … PLEASE go to this video link to hear Krristyn Getty singing a song co-written by her husband, Keith, By Faith, declaring the truth at the heart of the power in our relationship with Christ … OUR FAITH and GOD’S LOVE.

Highlight Passage - NKJV - 1st John 4: 18 …
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 
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Highlight Passage [Context] - 1st John 4: 1-6; 17-19 … Go to this link

Reference Passsage #1 … Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV] …
5  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Reference Passage #2 … 1st Corinthians 13 [NKJV] … Go to this ink …

Reference Passsage #4 … Hebrews 11: 1 [NKJV] …
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

My Journal for Today: The author of today’s Our Daily Bread Devotional, Phillip Yancey, has an interesting take on the definition of the concept of FAITH. He reports that it came to him when he was viewing the unfolding of the fall of communism on the TV News in the early 90s. Yancey reports watching many of the Soviet Union citizens staring down tanks and throwing back the overwhelmingly more powerful communist governments and admiring the faith of these revolutionaries. He further wrote in the ODB devotional for this date …
“ Watching the newsreels from Red Square on … television [in 1991], I came up with a new definition of faith: ‘paranoia in reverse.’ A truly paranoid person organizes his or her life around a common perspective of fear. Anything that happens feeds that fear. Faith works in reverse. A faithful person organizes his or her life around a common perspective of trust, not fear.”

Therefore, as Yancey proposes, anytime we can put a halt on fear and focus on some very trustworthy goal, person, or outcome, our trust (i.e., our FAITH) will drive us to respond in ways we never could or would when our fears were dictating our decision-making.

 So, as you take in the attached photo, the linked song by The Gettys, and the absolute truth from the Bible passages above, I think we need to ask ourselves … “Is my life moving with the power of anti-paranoia [i.e., faith] or am I being driven (or maybe halted) by my fears?” 

And when we answer that question in a very personal way, we’ll see how we need to apply paranoia in reverse, leaning and trusting our God, to move us onward for God’s glory and His kingdom.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me look to hills from which You come, to worship and praise You in all I think, say, and do. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 10, 2014 … Our Help - ALWAYS!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 191

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please, please, PLEASE … go to this video link to hear the Maranatha Singers leading praise and singing O God Our Help In Ages Past, reminding us that we, as Christians, can ALWAYS look to our God for help.

Highlight Passage - NKJV - Psalm 121: 1-2 …
 1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? 2  My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
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Highlight Passage [Context] - Psalm 121 … Go to this link

Reference Passsage #1 … Deuteronomy 31: 6 [NKJV] …
6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Reference Passage #2 … Psalm 90: 1-2 [NKJV] … Go to this ink …

Reference Passsage #3 … Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV] …
 5  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Reference Passsage #4 … Romans 12: 1-2 [NKJV] …    
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry points their readers (and that’s me) to the vision of the mammoth statue which all the World Cup fans this year have seen, rising 30 meters high atop Corcovado Mountain and overlooking Rio De Janeiro, Brazil [see the attached photo]. And the ODB entry today also makes reference to the highlight passage for the day from Psalm 121: 1-2, reminding any reader that, as Psalm 121 and other Psalms, like Psalm 90, attest, our God is like the statue in Rio, … a God Whom we can look up to and worship 24/7, knowing that He’s ALWAYS there for us as is also proclaimed from Scripture repeatedly in God’s word (e.g., see Deut. 31: 6).

 The Maranatha Singers, in the linked song above, sing a robust version of the chorus from the old Hymn, O God Our Help In Ages Past, written by Isaac Watts in the 18th century. Please take the time to see/hear the video. It will lift you up just as the text in Psalm 121: 1-2 lifted the people of Israel as they sang that song on their trek to Jerusalem for the festivals of worship which were held three times a year.

And I pray that my life can, as indicated in Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12: 1-2 be a daily, 24/7, worship of my Lord, doing all I can to avoid the ways of the world and being a living sacrifice for our Lord’s glory.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me look to hills from which You come, to worship and praise You in all I think, say, and do. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 9, 2014 … “???”

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 190

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … go to this video link to hear Steve Green singing Find Us Faithful, reminding us that many times it is our faithful walk on God’s path that solves the ??? in life.

Highlight Passage - NKJV - Job 38: 4 … God speaks to Job …
4  “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
 Tell Me, if you have understanding. …” 
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Highlight Passage [Context] - Job 38: 1-11 … Go to this link 

Reference Passage #1 … Job, Chapters 38-41 [NKJV] … Go to this ink …

Reference Passsage #2 … Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV] …
 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 

Reference Passsage #3 … Isaiah 55: 8-9 [NKJV] …
  8  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, … so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Reference Passsage #3 … Romans 8: 28 [NKJV] …
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional begins with the following pronouncement: "When tragedy strikes, questions follow. Our loss of a loved one may lead us to ask God any number of pointed questions: “Why did You let this happen?” “Whose fault was this?” “Don’t You care about my pain?" 

Though I'm not a gambling man, I would almost bet that any reading here with me are thinking, “Been there, felt that, … go that T-shirt!” … Yeah, we’ve all been there, haven’t we … in distress, under stress, and wondering why God would allow that WHATEVER to happen. And where in the Bible would one go to study THE model of someone who was about as deep in such a predicament of quandary as one could imagine? And I can almost sense you Bible students saying … “THE BOOK OF JOB!!” 

And you’re right of course. Sure, there are other examples in scripture of men of faith who found themselves asking all the “WHY” questions of God, … men like Moses, Elijah, Jonah, or my personal fave - Habakkuk. All of them became deeply depressed or stressed-out by their life circumstances, even to the point where a few of them, like Elijah, prayed to die. But none of them were any more deeply down in the dumpers than Job.

And in today’s highlight passage of Job 38: 1-11 we read of how God responded to Job’s dilemma and his deeply felt “WHY” questions. And how did God show Job the truth? He asked him questions; and if any of us are now in a place where we’re thinking “WHY GOD?,” perhaps we should take in Chapters 38-41 of the book of Job [linked above] to heart. Or at least we should take God’s pronouncement of truth in Isaiah 55: 8-9 as well as internalizing the reality of Proverbs 3: 5-6 [see above].

Common my friends … GOD IS GOD and we are not!! So, let’s not let our desire to control our lives and to be pain free drive us to a place where we cannot believe the truths in Prov. 3: 5-6 or Romans 8: 28. Let’s all do all we can to follow the strong word in Steve Green’s version of Find Us Faithful, linked above.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me to have the faith when my WHY questions abound in my heart. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 8, 2014 … Peace Which Guards the Heart

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 189

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please go this video link to hear a praise chorus singing Wonderful Peace, reminding us that our peace is always a choice found in a deep and thankful and abiding relationship with Christ; and peace is a choice, not a feeling.

Highlight Passage - NKJV - Philippians 4: 7 …
  7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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Highlight Passage [Context] - Philippians 4: 6-9 … Go to this link

Reference Passsage #1 … Isaiah 26: 3 [NKJV] …
3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Reference Passage #2 … Matthew 6: 25-34 [NKJV] … Go to this ink …

Reference Passsage #3 ... 1st Peter 5:7 [NKJV] ...
7 Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you. 

My Journal for Today: How many reading here with me today would like to have a little more (maybe a lot more) peace in your lives? ... Do I sense a whopper of an "AMEN" out there?

Of course, ... we'd all relish having a more peaceful existence, ... wouldn't we? In this day of informational overload as well as the infamous & pressing "tyranny of the urgent," we'd all like to be soothed by a reduction in stress. But how to to find more peace for our lives is the operant question, isn't it?

 I have one suggestion. I know that I feel so de-stressed & so much more peaceful after I've been blessed by having a one hour therapeutic massage in a quiet room by a licensed and experienced massage professional, especially when I'm surrounded by the relaxing recorded sounds of waves gently washing up on the beach. But that's just one anti-stress strategy; and not everyone can or will be able to use it.

But we Christians need to realize that we don't have to have a deep tissue massage to find more peace for our lives. Actually, the greatest de-stressor we have in this life as Christians is a deep and abiding
relationship with our Lord and Savior.

As you take in the image of the attached photo, the linked praise song, and the highlight scriptures all point to the promises from God to provide, through God's enabling grace a peace, which as it says in today's highlight passage, "... a peace which surpasses all understanding" ... and one ... "which will guard our hearts & minds in Christ Jesus."

Now that's an Anti-stressor; wouldn't you agree??!! ... But ... Do we believe it? ... And are we living it?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I know that more peace from You can only come in my faithful and thankful surrender to Your Spirit. ... Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 7, 2014 … “Redeemed from the Pits”

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 188

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please go this video link to hear Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing He’ll Do Whatever It Takes, reminding us that God is willing to rescue all from whatever pit of sin we may have found ourselves. … And then USE THIS LINK  to view a video of Big Daddy Weave singing Redeemed proclaiming the redemption from our pits of sin which we can realize in our relationship with Christ.

Highlight Passage - NKJV - Luke 9: 6 …
 6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. 
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Highlight Passage [Context] - Luke 9: 1-6 … Go to this link

Reference Passsage #1 … Genesis, Chapter 37 [NKJV] … Go to this ink …

Reference Passsage #2 … Genesis, Chapter 50 [NKJV] … Go to this ink …

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional was entitled “From the Jaws of Death” and begins with a story of how a young lady rescued her father from a horrible accident, where she had to pull him out from under a collapsed vehicle and perform CPR, saving his life. Then the ODB went on to relate the greatest rescue story of all, … how Jesus has redeemed mankind with His wondrous and confounding death on the cross and His resurrection thereafter.

Yes, as Big Daddy Weave sings in the linked song above, we have been redeemed by Christ; and as Philips, Craig, and Dean sing, God will “Do Whatever It Takes” to save and redeem anyone who is willing to come to Him in faith, … sometimes, as he did with yours truly, pulling that one from the very pits of hell to do His miraculous works of redemption.

I love the story in the last 13 chapters of Genesis of how God saved Joseph from the pits of death to later use Joseph to save his own family [see the Chapters 37 & 50 of Genesis referenced above]. And I, very personally, have experienced such redemption, having been saved from the pits of habitual sexual sin and then later used by God to help extract many other men from those same pits of sin [see this story on the website for Battle Plan Ministry [go to this link].

 Praise God for His mission to save those, like you and me, who’re willing to be pulled from the pits of sin and death by faith in our Savior. And then, we, like the disciples referenced in the highlight passages of Luke 9: 1-6, must now go forward to be used of God to help pull others from their own pits of sin.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, having pulled us from the pits, help us to be agents of redemption for others. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 6, 2014 … “Rear View Dangers”

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 187

Devotional Song:   Go to this link …   Please go this video link to hear Queen Latifah singing Fix Me Jesus, Using the same song from yesterday’s devotional because it expresses the need of every Christian for Jesus to show us the way to a reformation of spirit.

Highlight Passage - NKJV - Jeremiah 6: 16 …
  16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
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Highlight Passage [Context] - Jeremiah 6: 13-20 … Go to this link

Reference Passsage #1 … Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV]
5  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. 
6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Reference Passsage #2 … Luke 9: 23 [NKJV]
  23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ... "

Reference Passsage #3 … Romans 1: 28-32 [NKJV] … Go to this ink …

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry begins with the following paragraph … “You may have heard the saying, "The past is supposed to be a guidepost, not a hitching post.” It’s easy to become tied to memories of “the good old days” instead of using our experiences to find direction for the road ahead. We are all susceptible to the paralyzing effects of nostalgia—a longing for what used to be."

Getting transfixed on the past can be like trying to drive a car by viewing the road only by looking in the rear view mirror. The view, as in the attached photo, may be lovely; but one cannot safely drive onward into the future by looking only in the rear view mirror. On the other hand, one cannot safely drive forward without using the rear view mirror to see what’s behind. We will certainly come afoul in life if we ignore where we’ve been. That’s what the Prophet Jeremiah was trying to get across to Judah in today’s highlight passage because of how they had ignored all of God’s signposts, having gone off of God’s way onto a very dangerous road. But the people of Judah ignored Jeremiah’s warnings; and The Lord let His own people drive themselves into captivity.

 Going on down the road of history, the Apostle Paul was doing his best to tell the New Testament church to get back on track [i.e., God’s way] in his letter to the Romans (see Romans 1: 18-32 linked above). And Paul’s admonition in that passage fits perfectly as a warning for today’s church as well. 

If we don’t pay attention to the road by using both the rearview mirror of history and the clear signs in the windshield ahead, God is going to do exactly what He said He would in the Romans 1 passage. He will turn our culture and our world over to ourselves; and we will drive ourselves off the cliff of disaster we are most certainly approaching ahead. And that’s why I pray as I do below >>> ...

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help us see where we’ve been and where we’re going. Help us to get back on track; … make Your way our highway. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 5, 2014 … Marks On the Door

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 186

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please go this video link to hear Queen Latifah singing Fix Me Jesus, reminding us that we Christians desperately need to go into God’s growth chart … His way and in His timing.

Highlight Passage - NKJV - 2nd Peter 3: 17-18 …
  17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
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Highlight Passage [Context] - 2nd Peter 3: 10-18 … Go to this link

Reference Passsage #1 … Proverbs 22: 6 [NKJV]
 6  Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Reference Passsage #2 … Philippians 1: 6 [NKJV]
6 … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; …

Reference Passsage #3 … 2nd Peter 1: 2-11 [NKJV] … Go to this ink …

My Journal for Today: If you have children or grandkids, it is so joyful - though maybe sometimes painful to watch them grow. And when our girls were growing up, we had them stand next to a door post, marking their height (see attached photo) with a date to measure their physical growth.

But over the years it was not as clear and “markable” to measure the spiritual growth of our daughters, though we could see it in their learning and behavior. We did our best as parents to live up to the Prov. 22: 6 admonition to Christian parents; and though there were times of challenged growth along the way, today we see our girls as fully grown, mature Christians, raising their own kids and marking their growth on their own doorpost.

And now we see kids and grandkids, and us as well, growing up and seeking the realization of what God has promised in Paul’s writing of Phil. 1: 6 and Peter’s further exhortation in 2nd Peter 1: 2-11. And I pray that all of us realize that we can grow more in Christlikeness day by day by day. And as it is today and most days, it is my prayer that I do just that and we help our kids and grandkids to do so as well.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me to grow to be more like you tomorrow than I am today; and more today than I was yesterday. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 4, 2014 … “Dependence Day” Is Everyday

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 185

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please go this video link to hear one amazing voice singing an acapella arrangement of the classic hymn I Need Thee Every Hour, reminding us that we, as Christians, are totally dependent up the One who sacrificed His all for us … and THEN TO THIS LINK to hear the Maranatha Choir singing another classic, “Abide With Me declaring the truth that we need to abide in/with our Savior every hour of every day.
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 Highlight Passage – NKJV: John 15: 4-5 [NKJV] …  
4 “… Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. … 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. …”
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: John 15: 1-13 [NKJV] … Go to this link …
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Reference Passages #1 Psalm 25 [NKJV] … Go to this link … Total dependence on God was David’s power …

Reference Passages #2 Proverbs 1: 7 [NKJV] …  
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Reference Passages #3 Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] … [Oh, how I pray you have memorized and internalized this one!]  
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me….”

 Reference Passages #4 John 8: 31-32 [NKJV] … [Do you realize that “The Truth” is not just a value? … It is also a Person; and His Name is Jesus! … Remember what He said, (in John 14:6, … “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”]  
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Reference Passages #5 Acts 17: 28a [NKJV] … [Total dependence on Christ is total freedom from self!]  
28 … for in Him we live and move and have our being, …

My Journal for Today: I don’t mean to offend any of my international friends who are reading here with me; but today is a big day here in the USofA. It’s “Independence Day,” … a day when we, formerly British colonist Americans, celebrate our independence from the Brits, which was codified in our American “Declaration of Independence.”

HOWEVER, for any Christian reading here – no matter what nationality; and that’s probably all of you, perhaps we should realize and recognize that EVERYDAY is “Dependence Day” when it comes to our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And nowhere in Scripture is this dependency described more clearly than in a portion of Jesus’ upper room discourse – i.e., in the highlight passage linked above in John 15: 1-13 - where our Lord describe how Christian disciples must become “the branches” of “the vine,” Who is Christ. In other words, we must become totally dependent upon Our LORD for all of whom we are and are to become.

In this post-modern, increasingly non-Christian culture, total personal freedom – i.e., INDEPENDENCE – has become a hallmark social value of the 21st century American. Therefore, today, on this July 4th – though the holiday has historical roots – American’s are also likely celebrating their own – very selfish – attempt to be and live totally independently in this world.

But I hope all who read here as Christians might celebrate today as “DEPENDENCE DAY” … celebrating our total dependence on the One Who gave His all so that we could be set free from our selves. But to realize that freedom, we must become slaves to the One Who broke the bondage of death so that we, in our surrender of faith, could be freed from that bondage of selfishness and sin and become totally free in Christ.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I celebrate my freedom in my slavery to You. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 3, 2014 … “TLC”

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 184

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please go this video link to hear Mark Harris singing Find Your Wings, reminding us that our Father God wants us to spread our wings and fly as His children.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: 1st Thessalonians 2: 7: 11-12 [NKJV] …  
7 But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. … 
11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: 1st Thessalonians 2: 1-7; 11-12 [NKJV] … Go to this link …  Spreading God's "TLC" as a loving parent ...
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Reference Passages #1 Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 [NKJV] …  
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Reference Passages #2 2nd Timothy 2: 24-25 [NKJV] …  
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, …

Reference Passages #3 Hebrews 10: 24 [NKJV] …  
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, …

Reference Passages #4 1st Peter 2: 2 [NKJV] …  
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, …

My Journal for Today: From today’s Our Daily Bread life lesson, the focus was on the imagery the Apostle Paul used when he was trying to teach new Christians in Thessalonica how to treat others. And in his life-lessons, Paul used the word picture of loving parents (see the highlight passage above), who showered their children with “TLC,” much as you can imagine from the attached photo.

Perhaps, as a reader here, you are a parent; maybe not; but you were once a child and I pray that you had loving parents, who were there for you, taught you, affirmed you; and raised you, as Mark Harris sings about in the linked song, … to spread your wings and fly, living out the truth of God in your life. God gave His children the instructions (see Deut. 6: 6-7 above) to teach His word to their children so that they could do what Mark Harris sings about … to live as under the loving care of a loving Father.

Perhaps you were not raised by loving/caring/protecting parents; and if not so, you know how the wounds of parental abuse live in your heart and become so difficult to overcome in later life. No, … God’s word is clear (read the passages above). God wants us to treat others as He has treated us with the love of an eternal parent who protects His young, suckles us with His word, and helps us grow to fly free and spread His love to others.

I pray that we go out, TODAY, … as God’s word charges in the passages above; and share God’s “TLC” with others.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, use me today to spread Your love to others. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 2, 2014 … Fruitless worry

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 183

Devotional Song: Go to this link   … Please go this video link to hear the Steven Curtis Chapman singing His Strength Is Perfect, reminding us that worrying about our weaknesses is fruitless because our Lord’s strength is forever perfect to cover our weakness.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Psalm 3: 1 [NKJV] …  
1 LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Psalms, Chapter 3 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 Isaiah 26: 3 [NKJV] …  
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

Reference Passages #2 Philippians 4: 6-7 [NKJV] … Go to this link … Worry about nothing; … pray about everything!! …

Reference Passages #3 2nd Corinthians 12: 9 [NKJV] … 
 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me..

Reference Passages #4 1st Peter 5: 7 [NKJV] …  
7 Casting all your cares in Him because He cares for You.

My Journal for Today: If you use daily devotional books, like the Our Daily Bread guide I’m using this year, you’ll note that WORRY is a topic which is often covered, … even repetitively. And today’s ODB is an example. The topic of “worry” or “anxiety” has been covered at least once this year in the ODB Bible meditation series; and the topic probably recurs because it is one of the most common pitfalls which Christians confront in life.

Yes, life is full of challenges which push us to confront our innate human weaknesses; and our NATURAL default mechanism is our almost knee-jerk tendency to worry; and when we do worry, it produces more fear in our psyche; and that produces more worry; and so the cycle spirals downward – almost like a toilet being flushed (good word picture, huh?!!).

But as God’s word clearly teaches and His truth encourages, worry is a fruitless exercise in futility; because God set us up to rely on His strength to cover our weakness; and that’s what all of the truth passages above (linked and copied) teach. The question is … DO WE BELIEVE THEM? … And even more important … DO WE LIVE THEM?

So, please take the time to get past the goofy picture I’ve used to illustrate today’s blog; and meditate deeply on the poignant song linked above as well as the Scriptural truths to which I’ve referred. And then pray with me that we’ll all worry less and pray more!

My Prayer for Today … Thank You, Lord, that Your strength is ALWAYS there to cover my weakness. Help me to revel in that truth today. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

July 1, 2014 … Who Is This Jesus?

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 182

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please go this video link to hear the Oasis Chorale singing Fairest Lord Jesus, declaring the truth of Whom we serve, … Our LORD and Savior, Jesus, … The Christ … Our Messiah!
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Matthew 27: 37 [NKJV] … [See also Mark 15: 26]  
37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Matthew 27: 32-44 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 Matthew 3: 13-17 [NKJV] … Go to this link … John, the Baptist recognized his Messiah …

Reference Passages #2 Matthew 16: 16 [NKJV] …  
15 He [Jesus] said to them [His 12 Disciples], “But who do you say that I am?” … 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

Reference Passages #3 Philippians 2: 5-11 [NKJV] … Go to this link … Is this Man, Jesus, Your Messiah, Your Lord, Your King? …

Reference Passages #4 1st Peter 2: 21-24 [NKJV] … Go to this link … Are you in accord with the Apostle Peter when he wrote to the church about His Lord and Savior? …

My Journal for Today: Without a doubt, I believe that the most important question anyone will answer in their lives is … ”Who is the man, Jesus of Nazareth, Who died on a cross over 2000 years ago?” It’s the most important question for all of us because, when one answers that question accurately, with heart-felt belief, it seals our eternity.

At the time of this Jesus’ death, which we know to be a historical fact, the people around Him were terribly confused. Some believed Jesus of Nazareth to be The Messiah. John, The Baptist, had recognized Him as such [see the Matthew 3 link above]. The impetuous Disciple, Peter, had a moment of insight and declared that his Rabbi, Yeshua, was “The Son of God.” [See Matthew 16: 16 above]. But others like the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day couldn’t buy into believing that this man, Jesus, was THE Messiah; and the Roman authorities just wanted to get rid of this “trouble-maker.” And when he was finally – and so unjustly - tried and sentenced to die by crucifixion, they nailed this God-man to a cross; and put a sign above Him, mocking His role as The Eternal King [see the Matthew 27 highlight passage above].

But the very personal question any of you who read here with me must answer is, … “WHOM do you say this man Jesus was, is, and will always be?” Because how any of us answers that question, in our hearts and minds, will determine our eternal future. If, in our heart-of-hearts, we believe this Jesus to be THE LORD and our Savior, … the One who shed His blood to save us from our sins, … well, … believing Him to be our Lord, will, as the Apostles Paul and Peter declared in Scripture, usher us into glory to spend eternity with Jesus [see the reference scriptures above, plus the truth of Romans 10: 9-13].

However, if we are like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who couldn’t buy into Jesus’ Authority as Messiah. Or we’re like Pontius Pilate, who needed to wash his hands of Jesus because he was simply a bother to his life. Or we are mockers of anyone who believes that Jesus was, is, and will always be The Messiah and our King; … well, to reject whom Jesus truly is in any of these ways, will seal one’s fate to dwell in separation from God – in HELL – for eternity.

We must choose!! Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? Or was He just some crazy person or con-man Who lived a good life? You choose for yourself; but I choose Jesus to be my LORD;… my Savior, … my Messiah? And I know that choice will bring me to worship Jesus with my life now and to be with Him in glory.

My Prayer for Today … Jesus, You are my LORD and Savior. Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 30, 2014 … Our God of Comebacks

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 181

Devotional Song: Go to this link  … Please go this video link to hear the group Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing He’ll Do Whatever It Takes, reminding Christians that we serve a God of 2nd chances, or 3rd, or 4th … or as many as it takes to fulfill His promise to reform us into the image of our Savior.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: 1st John 1: 9 [NKJV] …  
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: 1st John, Chapter 1 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 Romans 8: 1 [NKJV] …  
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 Reference Passages #2 Philippians 1: 6 …  
6 … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; …

My Journal for Today: If you know you are a Christian, reading here with me, today’s Our Daily Bread [ODB] devotional entry challenges our faith in God’s forgiveness. The ODB for today tells of an American pro-football player who had career-threatening injuries twice; and both time Chad Pennington came back to win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award because of his courage to do what it takes to be rehabbed back to play NFL football again.

However, do you realize that any Christian can be God’s comeback player of life by simply coming to Him and humbly confessing of our sins. and genuinely repenting, to receive that saving grace that our Lord has waiting for anyone who comes to Him seeking His forgiveness? My friend, that’s the promise of today’s highlight passage - 1st John 1: 9. But the ODB question today is … Do we really believe that our Lord was the comeback player of all time, dying on that cross and being raised again, defeating death, and showing us all that ANYONE can come to Him in faith and repentance and be cleansed and remade and to live with Him forever in Heaven?

Do we get it? … Do we believe it? … Do we live it?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I’m forever remade in Your image. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 29, 2014 … Checking the Basics of Christlikeness

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 180

Devotional Song: Go to this link …  Please go to this You Tube video link to hear the group 4Him singing their call to righteousness Back To The Basics, where Christians are called to return to basics of Christlikeness in the process of sanctification.
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Click on photo to read more clearly

Highlight Passage – NKJV: 2nd Peter 1: 8 [lKJV] …  
8 If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: 2nd Peter 1: 2-11 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 Matthew 6: 33 [NKJV] …
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

Reference Passages #2 Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] …
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. …”

 Reference Passages #3 Galatians 5: 22-23 … 
 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 

 Reference Passages #4 Philippians 1: 6 …  
6 … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; …

Reference Passages #5 2nd Peter 1: 5-7 [NKJV] … From today’s ODB: “ Christlike living and effective service result from a process [of growth] in eight areas of spiritual development: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.”

 My Journal for Today: “Sanctification” is one of those theological terms which often misdirects us as Christians. It is THE BASICS of Christian living as the group 4Him sings in the linked song above. However, living in this complicated and demanding world can often cause us to focus more on the problems of living rather than the process of living. That’s what my Our Daily Bread devotional centered on today – helping us to do what 4Him sang about … to get “Back to the Basics” of the Christian’s life.

Actually both of the Apostles Peter and Paul were trying to get Christians of their day to do exactly that when they wrote to the churches in Asia Minor, exhorting them to understand what the basics of the Christian life were all about. Each of them posed a list of the fruit of God’s Spirit upon which Christians should do all they (we) could (can) to develop in Christlikeness. Paul’s check list for sanctification is found in Galatians 5: 22-23 and Peter’s in 2nd Peter 1: 5-7; and it would be a powerful exercise in Christian discipleship to set these lists before us and see where we stand in the process of doing what God promised for all Christians in Philippians 1: 6 - to complete us, by our surrender as Jesus commanded in both Matthew 6: 33 and Luke 9: 23.

 If I asked any who read here, “Do you really desire to live and become as much like Christ as possible in this life,” I assume 100% of us would respond affirmatively. Well, if that’s the case, perhaps we all need to use Peter’s and Paul’s lists to help us see how we’re doing in our pursuit of Christlikeness.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me to be more fruitful in my desire to become more like You. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 28, 2014 … My Story Has Power

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 179

Devotional Song: Go to this link …  Please go to this You Tube video link to hear a group leading in worship and singing Fanny Crosby’s 19th Century hymn Blessed Assurance, where Christians are encouraged to share the story of their salvation and a changed life with others. … And then GO TO THIS LINK  to hear the group, Avalon, singing Testify To Love, the rousing charge for all Christians to go out and testify of God’s love to others.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Colossians 4:5 [lKJV] …  
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Colossians 4: 2-6[NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 Matthew 5: 16 [NKJV] …
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Reference Passages #2 Luke 9: 23 [NKJV] … 
 23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. …”

Reference Passages #3 John 3: 16 [NKJV] … You know it! So now go live it and share it with others telling them how God’s love changed you.

Reference Passages #4 Ephesians 5: 15-16 …  
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread [ODB] devotional reminded me of the Apostle Paul’s timeless exhortation to Christians of our responsibility as transformed believers to share our story with others, making God’s redeeming love so appealing that they can’t help but desire to respond to God’s powerful and life-changing love in these testing times. [See also the link to the meditation songs above!]

And to share this truth, the ODB devotional used a telling story of how an apple salesman can only sell his apples if those who are potential customers recognize their need to consume an apple. That’s why the advertising industry uses alluring images to make the target product so appealing that the public will FEEL that they desperately have NEED of that product or service for their own consumption.

And when it comes to sharing the love of God [i.e., the Gospel] with others in these times, when others need to see God’s light shining in the darkness of the world, there’s nothing more powerful to make Jesus’ love more appealing for others then for them to hear how God’s love changed you (or me). That’s why Jesus admonished His disciples to go out and shine His light in the world (see Matt. 5: 16) by His commission when He was taken back into Heaven after His resurrection (see Acts 1: 8 and Matt. 28: 19-20).

So, the question and challenge from today’s devotional is … Are we redeeming our time well by sharing our story of transformation with others, making God’s love so appealing that the lost, who live in darkness, will be drawn to the light of the Gospel as moths are drawn to a light in the night?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I pray for opportunities to share my story with others who need Your love. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 27, 2014 … Love Sweet Love

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 178

Devotional Song: Go to this link …   Please go to this You Tube video link to hear Jackie DeShannon singing Burt Bacharach’s 60’s hit What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love, a so-called secular song which expressed God’s desire for His world at any time in history.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Romans 13: 10 [NKJV] …  
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Romans 13: 8-10 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 Luke 10: 25-37 [NKJV] … Go to this link …

Reference Passages #2 John 3: 16 [NKJV] … You know it! So now go live it!!

Reference Passages #3 John 13: 34-35 …  
34 … “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Reference Passages #4 1st Corinthians, Chapter 13 … Go to this link …

Reference Passages #5 Philippians 2: 3-4 …  
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

My Journal for Today: I was a young man growing up in the 60’s, which were turbulent times of war and the cultural reaction to war; and in those times many protest songs were written calling for more love in the world. And one of those song, which was written by Burt Bacharach and popularized by Jackie DeShannon, was the song linked above … What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love. And that message is one which any age could claim as a desperate need for humanity.

And, in fact, the need for love is at the heart of the word picture painted by today’s Our Daily Bread which made reference to the Oath penned by Hippocrates, the so-called “Father of Medicine,” who wrote that physicians should “Do No Harm!” But that oath, or ethic, applies to all of us in all situations of life, doesn’t it?

And that sentiment was at the heart of God’s plan for sinful humanity. Knowing that sinful man could not save himself, God sent His Son to do it for us – the ultimate act of love of all time … His death on the cross to same me (and you) from our my (our) sins. As Jesus, Himself, spoke about in several of the passages above; and then the Apostle Paul wrote about it in Romans, Chapter 13, … WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE SWEET LOVE !!

My Prayer for Today … Help me, Lord, to be Your love to someone today. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 26, 2014 … Roadside Assistance

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 177

Devotional Song: Go to this link …  Please go to this God Tube video link to hear the Maranatha Singers singing Martin Luther’s magnanimous hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, sung at the 1997 Promise Keepers Epic event when close to 3 million men filled the mall in Washington, DC (yours truly among them) to proclaim that God was/is our mighty fortress … then, now, and forevermore.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Psalms 46: 1 [NKJV] …  
6 God is our refuge and strength, … a very present help in trouble.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Psalm 46 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 ... Isaiah 26: 3 [NKJV] …  
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. 

Reference Passages #2 ... Isaiah 41: 10 [NKJV] …  
10 “ … Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, … yes, I will help you, … I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Reference Passages #3 ... Romans 8: 31 …  
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Reference Passages #4 ... 2 Corinthians 12: 9 …  
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Reference Passages #5 Philippians 4: 13 …  
13 I can do all things through Christ, Who gives me the strength.

My Journal for Today: Fellow Christian, … if you’re here reading along with me today, perhaps you’d be willing to take the time to use the link below in the Blogger Note to go online and read this morning’s Our Daily Bread devotional where the author, Joe Stowell, tells a delightful true story about an injured hunter in England, who waited along the road for his hunting friends to come back and get him for physical assistance. However, as he waited there on the road, a woman drove by and offered to help to take him to his hotel; and when he got in her vehicle, he realized that it was the Queen of England.

As Stowell points out, … "As shocking as receiving help from the queen of England may be, we have an offer of help that is even more astounding. The Creator-God of the universe descends into our world, sees our trouble, and offers to marshal His resources to help us." And that is the subject matter of the highlight passage today, taken from Psalm 46, which is the Scripture which inspired Martin Luther to pen the poem which became the famous hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, which is linked by song and scripture above for you to take in and meditate upon today.

And as I read the ODB for today, several other words of encouragement and strength from God’s word bubbled up in my consciousness, all of which I typed out above for your meditation. These are all passages from God’s word that I had memorized years ago; and they have been used by God’s Spirit many times over the years in my life when I felt down or discouraged. I would heartily exhort you to memorize and internalize these passages; and when you are in one of those shadow-of-death valleys in life, you can meditate on these Scriptures; and I guarantee they will do what the Prophet Isaiah wrote about in Isaiah 26: 3 and 41: 10, i.e., to lift you up with God’s righteous right hand and give you peace.

God is our mighty fortress; and He truly is our help in times of trouble. Perhaps you need Him to lift you up today.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, thank You for always being there to pick me up when I need roadside assistance. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 25, 2014 … Wisdom! … God’s or the World’s??

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 176

Devotional Song: Go to this link …   Please go to this You Tube video link to hear Kathy Trocolli singing I Will Choose Christ, reminding all Christians that in the face of all the world’s pressures, we must choose to serve our Lord.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: 1st Samuel 24: 6 [NKJV] …
6 And he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.”
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: 1st Samuel 24: 1-10 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 Proverbs 1: 7 [NKJV] …  
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Reference Passages #2 Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV] …  
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Reference Passages #3 2nd Corinthians 5: 17 …  
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, …

 Reference Passages #4 James 3: 17 …  
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

My Journal for Today: Ever been in a place where your friends or worldly logic was pushing you one way but you just knew – down deep in your heart – their advice was just not THE way you should go? >>> Of course, we all have been there; and some of us caved to the pressures of the world and others stood their ground and went the way of our conscience or where we thought God was leading us.

That was David’s dilemma as he was trying to escape the wrath of King Saul, described in today’s highlight passage as he confronted the King in a cave (see the passage in 1st Samuel 24). And in this scenario, all human logic – reinforced by David’s followers – would have been to kill the king and get him off David’s back. But as we read from the passage, David didn’t relent to the world’s ways; because he knew to do so would be an affront to God’s anointed King. David follow God’s wisdom rather than the world’s.

It’s tough to do business God’s way in today’s world, isn’t it? So many ways of the world seem logical or we get pressure from our peers, friends, and even loved ones to go a certain way; but then there’s always God’s way to consider, isn’t there? And so many times, going down the roads of life God’s way takes us away from the paths of the world.

But we must choose the way we’re going; and as Kathy Trocolli sings in the song I’ve linked any reader here today, I pray that we all choose Christ’s way.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, lead me Your way today. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 24, 2014 … Repaired By Veins of Blood

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 175

Devotional Song: Go to this link …   Please go to this You Tube video link to hear Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing He’ll Do Whatever It Takes, reminding all Christians just how far God will go farther than we can imagine or rationalize to repair us into the image of our Lord … and then ON TO THIS LINK  to hear the same group singing the song, Your Grace Still Amazes Me, powerfully proclaiming the amazing grace offered freely by our Savior to repair, renew, and restore us from our brokenness into His image.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Romans 6: 5 [NKJV] …  
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, …
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Romans 6: 1-18 [NKJV] … Go to this link …
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Reference Passages #1 John 3: 16 [NKJV] … Certainly I don’t need to insult you by copying this verse here …

Reference Passages #2 2nd Corinthians 5: 17 …  
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Reference Passages #3 Philippians 1: 6 … 
 6 … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; …

My Journal for Today: If you were here with me yesterday, reading my journal entry [see this link], you read of the remarkable repair job God works in the lives of believers who receive God’s saving grace and become new creatures in Christ. Well, today, my Our Daily Bread [ODB] devotional used a clever word picture to reinforce that truth.

The ODB for today taught me about the Japanese art form, KINTSUGI, pictured in the attached photo, which takes a broken piece of pottery and uses pure gold to repair the plate into a very practical work of art. And if you were served a meal on a “kintsugi repaired” plate, it would be a considered an honor because the Kintsugi plate would be seen as more beautiful, and certainly more valuable, than the originally fashioned piece of pottery.

As a Christian I would expect that you’re way ahead of me here, … seeing immediately the parallel picture of what the blood of Christ does, like the gold in “Kintsugi,” to repair, renew, and restore our hearts from the brokenness of our sinful selves. We’re all broken at birth, aren’t we (see Romans 3: 23)? And it takes the AMAZING, SAVING GRACE of Christ’s blood, spilled on the cross, to take our brokenness and reshape us into the resurrected life of our Savior. Again, as I posited yesterday, it is this process of salvation and sanctification [see2nd Cor. 5: 17 or Phil. 1: 6] which makes us over again into a new and way more valuable me. And anyone who is willing to repent – in brokenness and humility – believing in the power of Christ’s atoning blood, he/she will be repaired, somewhat like a “Kintsugi plate,” into a wholeness which is far more beautiful and way more valuable than the original version fashioned by our sin-born lives.

Please take the time to use the links above to hear two of my favorite worship songs; and revel and meditate in the reality of the repair-job which Christ has done with His blood – and your faith – to renew and restore you into His image forever. Can I sense you joining me in my prayer of HALLELUJAH below?

My Prayer for Today … Oh, Lord, I most certainly share a loud HALLELUJAH here this morning!! … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 23, 2014 … Redeemed and Restored

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 174

Devotional Song: Go to this link …   Please go to this God Tube video link to hear Big Daddy Weave singing Redeemed, proclaiming the reality that becoming a new person in Christ is a process of complete restoration.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Colossians 3: 8-10 [NKJV] …  
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, …
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Colossians 3: 8-17 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 Psalm 107: 1-2 [NKJV] … Let the redeemed of the Lord say so … Go to this link  …

Reference Passages #3 2nd Corinthians 5: 17 …   
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

My Journal for Today: Yesterday from my Our Daily Bread [ODB] devotional (see this link ), I wrote of how my dad was changed so radically when he finally accepted Christ as his Lord at age 72. The Apostle Paul experienced that kind of restoration process when he was redeemed by Christ on that road to Damascus, being transformed from a radical persecutor of Christians into one who changed the world with his Christian teachings and evangelism.

You can certainly read of this radical transformation when he wrote of the change which comes when someone is redeemed by Christ in the highlight passages from Colossians 3 and 2nd Corinthians 5 quoted/linked above. In fact, I can testify personally of this process of redemptive restoration in the change which took place in my life as I became a “poster-boy” for that 2nd Cor. 5: 17 passage, becoming a new creature when I was saved in 1983. I was transformed from one who doggedly and compulsively pursued pornography to one now who is here everyday [and has been for many years] doggedly and compulsively pursuing to know God through His word. Yes, I was transformed from an avowed atheist to one who is now Ordained as a Minister of the Gospel. Only the blood of Jesus can do something like that with the Apostle Paul or the one who writes these words today.

My guess is that no matter how or when you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have a story of the effect this redemption has had on your life. Some of you may have stories of the slow process of sanctification which took place over the years, you having been saved at a very young age, perhaps even in childhood. Others, like the Apostle Paul (and yours truly) may have a story of radical transformation which took place when, in faith, you (we) surrendered your (our) life – in faith – believing in and declaring of the saving and transforming grace of Jesus’ blood-bought sacrifice [see Romans 10: 9-13].

But a transformation or metamorphosis will always take place when someone is, as Big Daddy Weave sings in today’s linked song, REDEEMED. And if it took place as it did for me or my earthly father (or the Apostle Paul), others will see the change; and it will be like Paul wrote about to the Colossians or to the Corinthians (see passages above). And if you’re one of those, as am I, we need to go out and share our story of redemption and restoration with all who’ll listen.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, let me tell of Your redemption of my life. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

June 22, 2014 … My Dad Meets Jesus

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 173

Devotional Song: Go to this link …   Please go to this God Tube video link to hear Cliff Barrows leading a Gaither tent revival concert singing Blessed Assurance, proclaiming our story of salvation, which can only come through Christ.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: 1st Timothy 1: 15-16 [NKJV] …  
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. 
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: 1st Timothy 1: 15-17 [NKJV] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passages #1 John 3: 16 [NKJV] … … You know it!!

Reference Passages #2 Romans 7: 13-25 … Go to this link … Paul recognizes who he is with and without Christ …

Reference Passages #3 Romans 10: 9-13 … Go to this link … Paul recognizes who he is with and without Christ …

My Journal for Today: This morning’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry [see the link below] reminded me of one of the most joyous days in my life. I hope you don’t mind me retelling and reliving that day in my journal entry today.

Some years after I came to know Christ as my Lord and Savior in 1983 I discovered that my dad, who was an Elder in my hometown Presbyterian Church, was – as they would say down here in the American south – as lost as a ball in high weeds. He and my mother both had that common algebraic view of salvation. You know, if you do more good things than bad, God would take you to heaven. So, recognizing their mistaken theological views, I began to witness my faith and my story with them. And my story was one like that sung in today’s linked song (use the link above to hear Blessed Assurance).

Subsequently, I became somewhat depressed as my folks just didn’t seem to get it; but I kept writing letters, mostly to my dad, trying to get him to see what the Apostle Paul finally came to grasp [see the linked Romans passages above] … that He needed to surrender to the saving Grace of His Lord and Savior, Jesus. Well, I couldn’t knock my dad (or mom) off or their high horses of pride like God did for Paul; but I knew that God desired them to be saved; and so I just kept witnessing to them – and above all, praying for them.

Well, in 1988 when my Dad was about my age right now (70+), I got a letter from him, proclaiming that on the previous Sunday, having gone to church, my dad pulled out one of my letters in which I had written out a simple sinner’s prayer. And my father declared that he read that prayer aloud that Sunday morning at home; and he said, in the letter to me, that he knew “something” had changed in him.

Well, over the subsequent weeks and months I saw the change. There was no more fowl language, especially taking God’s Name in vain, which had been so prevalent in my Dad’s vocabulary. There were no more racial jokes. And the anger that my dad had displayed in having to take care of my mom, who was debilitated with heart disease, had disappeared. Now, my dad expressed that he saw that God had given him more time with my mother to minister to her needs. Subsequent to that, literally on her death bed, God also was gracious enough to show me that my mother was saved as well; but that’s too long of a story for here.

I just want anyone who has a lost loved one to realize what the Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy in the highlight passages above. It is God who saves; and we can only witness His saving love and grace to the ones in our lives who need to see Jesus in our lives and to hear how He has transformed us. So, if you have a lost loved one, you keep witnessing to, and above all praying for, their salvation.

My Prayer for Today … God I know You love my sister; but again I beg You break through in her heart and save her. … Amen

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 [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.