Apr 21 2025 … Cleaning The Inside …

Apr 21 2025 …  Cleaning The Inside …   

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in this song with music and lyrics with Charity Gayle singing  … Cleansed,  about how all born-again Christians are completely cleansed of the heart by the blood of Christ.   

\Highlight Passage: … Matthew 23:25 … [NLT] … 

25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy — full of greed and self-indulgence!             

…  Jesus calls out the Pharisees of His day who show them selves clean on the outside but hiding the filth on the inside.         

           

Highlight Passage (in context)  … Matthew 23:23-26 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their hypocrisy.                                                                        

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Reference Passage: … Psalms 51:10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… King David seeks and sings to have his heart cleansed of his past sins.   

Reference Passage: … Isaiah 1:16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

… God, thru Isaiah, calls on all believers to cleanse ourselves of all sinfulness in the sight of God. 

Reference Passage: … John 15:3  [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus promises to cleanse and purify His disciples and followers.

Reference Passage: …  2Corinthians 7:1 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle Paul exhorts  ALL Christians to be cleansed of all sins that defile our hearts and our spirit. 

Reference Passage: …  James 4:8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

…James calls on fellow Christians to come close to God by purifying their (our) hearts.

Reference Passage: …  1John 1:9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Apostle John shows below Christians that confessing our sins is the way for God to cleanse them (us) of their (our) sins.

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread Author - Patricia Raybon … AT THIS LINK     …  told of how her church was collecting items to put in backpacks to distribute to children in the current cold weather, … hoping to see practical items like socks, warm hats, or blankets, the ODB author was surprised, but glad, to see that one person thought to donate wash cloths, knowing that many of the people receiving the backpacks would want to feel clean.      

I don’t know about any of you who’re reading with me here today; but when I surrendered my heart to follow Christ a little over 40 years ago, It was so wonderful to learn that confessing and repenting of my sins would mean a complete - i.e., 100% - cleansing of my past sins.  And in my life now, … and in the future, … God’s word promises me (and YOU) complete cleansing of all sins which are confessed (see 1John 1:9).   I’m certainly in for a showering of God’s love and grace today; … how about you?  

         

My Thanksgiving: … Oh, King Jesus, thank You, … for cleansing my heart again today. 

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray, … again today, … that all reading here will join with me, …  to  receive Your cleansing shower of grace, Lord, again today.       … AMEN

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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.