Devotional Song: Go to this link … PLEASE … go to this video link to hear the group Point of Grace singing of Heal the Wounds, reminding us that God’s completed act on Calvary has freed us from the need to hide or cover up for our past because He has freed us from our shame and has allowed us to show others the changes He has wrought in our lives.
Highlight Passage - NKJV - Hebrews 10: 24 …
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, …
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Highlight Passage [Context] - Hebrews 10: 19-25 … Go to this link
Reference Passage #1 … 2nd Corinthians 3: 18 [NKJV] …
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Reference Passage #2 … 2nd Corinthians 5: 14-17 [NKJV] … Go to this link …
My Journal for Today: As today’s Our Daily Bread author, Cindy Kasper, reminded me (and you, if you link to the online entry for 7/17/14 – see below disclaimer), we have a tendency to avoid looking into mirrors because we want to LOOK GOOD; and we’ll do almost anything to hide the scars from our past.
Take a look at the attached photo. They are the work of a make-over artist who took a homeless Vet and made him over into the “AFTER” image you see in the photo. Cindy Kasper related a story of how her daughter challenged her on why she was wearing a certain pair of sunglasses. The daughter knew that Cindy had bought the sunglasses, not to protect her eyes from UV rays; but as the daughter called Cindy out, she had bought the glass to “look good.” How many of us hide who we really are with all sorts of masks or devices to hide the scars from our past, … primarily because we imagine – in shame – that if others saw the real me they would reject me.
That’s “lone-ranger” Christianity; and it’s what both the author of Hebrews was trying to get Christians to reject when he (or she) wrote, in Heb. 10: 24, that we must come TOGETHER, in the body of Christ, to accept and encourage one another – no matter what our past scars might be. It’s what today’s linked song, Heal the Wounds, is all about, isn’t it? We need to let others know that Christ, as the Apostle Paul wrote, is healing and transforming our scarred past into a glorious new future (see 2nd Cor. 3: 18 and 5: 17).
And so today, if God gives us the opportunity, let’s show off our true selves and tell others how Christ is transforming our ignominious scars into glorious stars.
My Prayer for Today … Oh, Lord Jesus, thank you for doing Your make-over in 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.
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