Devotional Song: Go to this link - It seems like, in my morning devotionals, I often return to this poignant song, sung by Queen Latifah, entitled Fix Me Jesus, a prayer in song for God to make us over, whatever it takes, into the perfection of His own image.
Highlight meditation passage – Zechariah 13: 9 : [God is crafting us to be a finely tuned instrument for His glory.] …
9 I will bring that group [i.e., God’s people] through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”
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Highlight reading study of Zechariah, Chapter 13: Go to this link …
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Reference Passage #1: Philippians 1: 6 [What will God, the Holy Spirit, put us through to remake us into the perfect image of God, the Son, for God, the Father’s glory? ] … [NLT] …
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Reference Passage #2: Romans 8: 28 [God sometimes stretches us or puts us through His fires of perfection to purify and transform us into His own image.] … [NKJV] …
28 All things work together for the good of those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.
The Steinway Grand Piano
My Journal for Today: Today my devotional author, Os Hillman, told the story, during his days in the advertising business, of observing what the Steinway Piano company, one of his clients, did with the wood to create the soundboards for their finely crafted grand pianos (see graphic attached). The rigorous process of stretching the wood to its limits was impressive and absolutely necessary to get the piano soundboards to the place where they would create the tone required by the best pianists in the world to play the finest music in the world.
I hope we all know that God is the business of crafting the soundboards of our life to be able to play the finest music in the world, … music which reflects the perfect harmonies and glory-filled notes produced by the Master music maker, … Jesus. And like what the Steinway craftsman must do to stretch the wood for their pianos, God, as He wrote about through the Prophet Zechariah in today’s highlight passage, is going to refine His people through the fires and stretching of life, creating in us the soundboards which will produce music created by The Messiah.
I love the song (linked above) sung by Queen Latifah in the movie Joyful Noise, where she sings a prayer for Jesus to fix her; and this is one of those simple prayers that often takes God putting us through a very complex, and often painful, process in life. When the Steinway craftsmen stretch the piano wood to its limits, almost to the breaking point, it is done to prepare the soundboard to play music with perfect tones; and that is often what God must do with us (see Romans 8: 28 above) to stretch us or refine us [see Phil. 1: 6] into an instrument which can produce the glorious music which Jesus desires to be produced from our lives.
Oh, … how I pray that I’m willing to go through the refining process, and also praying that God will fix me so that I can play His music for others to hear which glorifies my heavenly Father.
My Prayer for Today … Fix me, Jesus, … fix me! … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online blog entitled Today God Is First [TGIF], authored by Os Hillman. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read Hillman’s TGIF blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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