Devotional Song: Go to this link … PLEASE … before you go to my devotional journal entry for today, take the time to watch/listen to a poignant song sung by Queen Latifah, “Fix Me, Jesus”, reminding us all that we’re broken and need Jesus to fix us.
Highlight Study passage found in Proverb 14: 4 [NASB] …
4 Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.
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Reference Passage #1: Psalm 51: 8-10 [Brokenness is messy business.] … [NLT] …
8 Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me — now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
Reference Passage #2: Philippians 1: 6 [Jesus will take care of the mess it takes to remodel us.] … [NLT] …
6 And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.
My Journal for Today: I hope you took the time to go to the You Tube link above and watch the video of Queen Latifah, singing that poignant song, “Fix Me, Jesus!” with some very powerful images in the video supporting the message of the song. And you’ve no doubt noted the picture of Jesus holding the broken man above. Yeah, I know, how could you miss it?!
Well, I identify so very personally with both of these illustrations; because at one time in my life, I was a mess !! … But then Jesus took me through a very messy renovation process to bring me to a much better place in my life right now. However, … He’s not done with that renewal project yet. No, Jesus is still doing all that He needs to do to make me over until one day, in glory, I’m going to look a whole lot better – in His image – than I do today. That’s the message of Phil. 1: 6, quoted, isn’t it?
Today’s highlight verse from Proverbs 14: 4 expresses a truth, for sure. When you have oxen in the barn, they create a mess; but the farmer is willing to clean up the mess because he would not be able to bring in the harvest without the oxen. … Some years ago, my wife and I needed to remodel our kitchen; and we hired a contractor to do the project. He and his men ripped out almost everything from the kitchen; and for 5 weeks, we had kitchen appliances and boxes full of utensils in our living room and dining room. It was a BIG mess; but now we look at our renovated kitchen and we would say, “It was worth all the mess to have the kitchen we now have.”
It’s often the case that one has to go through a mess in our life as Jesus does His remodeling project, … until He’s done “fixing us,” as Queen Latifah sings. What about you? As a Christian, is Jesus going about a “fix-up” project in your life? He did with King David after the king had sinned mightily with Bathsheba and that cover-up mess which followed. That was certainly a messy process, wasn’t it? But as we read in Psalm 51, God was willing to clean up David’s mess and do a remodeling project in his life. And He will with us, too, … if we’re willing to embrace the mess as Jesus does His fix-up project in our lives.
So, this morning I’m praying we all sing along with Queen Latifah, “Fix me, Jesus, … fix me.”
My Prayer for Today … O Lord, I thank you for the renewal and fixing You’ve already done in my life; but PLEASE do whatever it takes to finish Your project to make me over into Your image. … Amen
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