Sunday, March 31, 2019

Sunday, March 31st: Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20, Luke 9:7-27, Psalm 72:1-20, Proverbs 12:8-9 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20, Luke 9:7-27, Psalm 72:1-20, Proverbs 12:8-9 

Luke 9:23 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. 

This is one of those verses that we kinda wish wasn't in the Bible if we're being perfectly honest.  We don't want to be ridiculed, alienated, mistreated, or rejected, and we certainly don't want that for our children. 

But, as my devotional book says (emphasis mine).....
deep down we know that it is not comfort that forms character. It is not applause and approval that develop humility. It is not ease that tests integrity. These grow by God's grace in the fertile ground of difficulty and adversity......

So rather than protect [our children] from hardship, we pray for them in hardship, asking God to use each painful experience to make their satisfaction less dependent on the things of this world and to convince them that they way of Jesus - the way of dying to oneself and pursuing his Kingdom - is the only way to live a truly fulfilling life. 

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:  Deuteronomy 18:1- 20:20, Luke 9:28-50, Psalm 73:1-28, Proverbs 12:10

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