Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in YouTube images and lyrics from Zach Williams singing … Chain Breaker … powerfully singing of the transforming power of God’s Spirit to break our chains of past sins and give us the grace to testify of God’s love and grace to others.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 2 Chronicles 33:16 [NLT] … 16 Then he [King Manasseh] restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.
… As we are transformed by God’s grace so we will see those in our sphere of influenced transformed for God’s glory.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Chronicles 33:9-17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… King Manasseh was transformed from evil to good by God’s Spirit and witnessed God’s goodness to God’s people who were then transformed themselves.
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Reference Passage : … Acts 9:18-22 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… After Paul’s wondrous conversion from Christian persecutor to preacher, his transformation was used by God to bring thousands, and even Gentiles, to Christ.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 5:17 [NLT] … 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
… Anyone transformed and restored by God’s Spirit becomes a new person.
Reference Passage : … 1 John 1:9 [NLT] … 9 But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
… When we confess our sins, repenting and turning to God’s way, we are transformed by His Spirit.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Ruth O’Reilly-Smith, uses a of two lives transformed by God’s grace who became agents of God’s transformation to others. The ODB author writes … Tani and Modupe grew up in Nigeria and went to the UK to study in the 1970s. Having been pe rsonally transformed by God’s grace, the couple never imagined that they would be used to transform one of the most deprived and segregated communities in England—Anfield in Liverpool. As Drs. Tani and Modupe Omideyi faithfully sought God and served their community, God restored hope to many. They lead a vibrant church and continue to run numerous community projects that have led to the transformation of countless lives.
Isn’t it wonderful that God’s Spirit can transform the lives of those who were once evil in the sight of God, men like Manasseh in the Old Testament and Saul of Tarsus (who became Paul) in the NT; … and then use them as witnesses and agents of God to help transform the lives of others? It certainly is powerful testimony to what Zach Williams sings in the linked song and the reality of the witness of those who’ve been transformed by Gods grace (see the reference passages above).
And I can personally give witness to that truth as well … as my life was deeply shackled in the chains of obsessive sexual sin for two decades before I received God’s saving and sanctifying grace and was ultimately led by God to found and lead a ministry to help others break free from the shackles of addictive sexual sin and to witness their freedom to others (see ministry info at this link).
And when we’re willing to surrender to God’s transforming grace, He will give us the witness that can transform the lives of others. … So, I pray that we all use the opportunities God gives us to witness to God’s transforming grace in our lives.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your sanctifying and transforming grace which has changed my life to be a witness for You in this world.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to be witnesses for Your glory in our families, churches, communities, and yes, even in this world. … 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.
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