Saturday, December 17, 2016

December 17, 2016 ... I’m Covered!

Berry Patch Devotions in 2016 - Day 352

Devotional Song:  … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Morgan Cryar singing his song … What Sin? … poignantly singing of how God sees his children who’re covered by the blood of His Son, King Jesus, … the Lamb of God.


=============
Highlight Verse[s]: Romans 3:24-25 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK … 
24 … being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, … 
… Our righteous comes only from Christ shedding His blood as the lamb of God.
=============
Highlight Passage [context]: Romans 3:21-26 … USE THIS LINK
… Paul explains the essence of righteousness by which Christians are spared God’s wrath thru our faith in the atoning grace of God from the covering of blood shed by His Son, Jesus. 
=============

Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Psalm 32:1 … 
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, … whose sin is covered. 
… King David expresses he heart-felt gratitude for God covering and forgiving his sin with Bathsheba.

Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … 2nd Corinthians 5:16-21 … USE THIS LINK
… Paul explains that by our faith in the atoning grace of Christ’s blood sacrifice, we find our sins covered by Christ’s righteousness … FOREVER … !!!

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Anne Cetas, teaches on a difficult concept for many to grasp in the context of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. The ODB author writes: When talking about faith in Jesus, we sometimes use words without understanding or explaining them. One of those words is “righteous.” We say that God has righteousness and that He makes people righteous, but this can be a tough concept to grasp. The way the word righteousness is pictured in the Chinese language is helpful. It is a combination of two characters. [see attached photo] The top word is lamb. The bottom word is me. The lamb covers or is above the person. 

And that’s what the Apostle Paul was trying to clarify for Christians in his brilliant treatise on faith in today’s highlight and reference passages in Romans 3:21-26 and 2Cor. 5:20-21. And achieving righteousness to stand before God in my rags of sin, I can come, because I believe in my heart that my Lord shed his blood as the Lamb of God, and be covered in HIS robes of righteousness.

And so, … when I come to pray to my God each day in this place, my God doesn’t see a sinner clad with the rags of sin. No, … He sees only one of His children, who, thru my faith in what His Son did for me as His spotless lamb, … is covered by His Son’s robes of righteousness. And wearing those robes, covering my sin rags, I can come into His presence to plead my needs … by the blood shed by the Lamb of God.

Dear fellow Christian, take note of the wondrous Chinese symbol for “righteousness;” [again see photo and link below] and in this Advent Season, join me in deep thankfulness that we’re covered by the blood of the Lamb of God.

PS: USE THIS LINK  to take in more explanation about the Chinese symbol for the word “righteousness” in the attached photo.

My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lord, You’ve got me covered by Your blood; and today - and all days - I can, in faith, wear Your robes of righteousness to cover my rags of sin. … HALLELUJAH! ... 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, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

No comments: