Devotional Song: … Go to this link … Please take the time to take in a video of Big Daddy Weave, singing his revealing song … Redeemed, declaring a reality of who we are in Christ - REDEEMED, RECONCILED, and being RESTORED into the image of Christ.
Highlight Passage Ephesians 4: 32 [NKJV] …
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
… Can we forgive others the way Christ has forgiven us?
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Highlight Context - Ephesians 4: 20-32 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… In Christ we are REDEEMED, RECONCILED, & RESTORED
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Reference Passage #1 - Lamentations 3: 22-23[NKJV] ...
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.
… His mercies are new every morning for those who love and live in Christ.
Reference Passage #2 - 2nd Corinthians 5: 16-21 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK
… Yes, … we are reconciled unto God.
Reference Passage #3 - Colossians 3: 1-17 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Peace rules in the heart of the redeemed AND surrendered.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by David C McCasland, reminded me, as one of his ODB readers, today of the reality of my life since I received God’s saving grace; and it is a lesson in the three “Rs” of salvation.
Yes, dear one, as Big Daddy Weave sings the first of these “Rs” is … REDEEMED!! … And not only Redeemed, … I’m RECONCILED to my God, from Whom I was once at war; … and finally the final “R” … I’m being RESTORED into the image of God, the Son, … my King Jesus. What a lesson and reminder here in the school of God’s word and the realities of this life He’s given me to serve Him.
One principle of Bible or truth interpretation I learned years ago was the principle and power in redundancy. And this works itself out in the times when a theme or issue is raised and dealt with in depth repetitively in God’s word. And when one reads and meditates on the multiple passages above from the Pauline letters on the subject of these three “Rs,” one has to be impressed in the fact that those who are in Christ have been Redeemed and Reconciled and are being Restsored in our relationship with Christ. And we must show the results of these three Rs in the way we live, move, and have our being on a daily basis. Paul drilled home the truth of these three “Rs” in the passages from 2nd Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians (see above).
After today’s ODB and my meditation, I’ve had to ask myself: … Can I forgive others the way I’ve been forgiven by my Lord? … Can I be a living sacrifice for others the way King Jesus was a living sacrifice for me? … Or can I surrender my all for my God today the way He surrendered His all for me on that cross?
Tough questions demand tough answers, … for which I must recognize God’s three “Rs” in my life and live to realize them every day.
My Prayer Today: Father God, in Your Son, You have redeemed me, reconciled me to Yourself, and are restoring me in Christ’s image. So, … may I live to realize these truths by becoming a living sacrifice for Your glory. 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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