Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics as Queen Latifah sings in the movie Joyful Noise … Fix Me Jesus … poignantly singing of that safe place in Christ where we can come in our brokenness and find healing and renewal by our Savior.
Highlight Verse[s]: 1st Corinthians 6:11 [NKJV] …
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
… Once we were living in sin; but in Christ we are justified and saved from our sin.
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Highlight Context: 1st Corinthians 6:9-11; 13:4-7 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul exhorting Christians to live as they were freed from self to live for the Savior.
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Reference Passage #1 … 2nd Corinthians 5:17 [NKJV] …
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
… We are freed from self and transformed to live in/thru/for Christ.
Reference Passage #2 … 1st John 1:9 [NKJV] …
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
… Jesus is always our safe place to come to him and be set free from our brokenness.
My Journal for Today: … Our Daily Bread author, Poh Fang Chia, in teaching about the newness we can find in Christ, tells of a place where those in Tokyo can come for emotional healing. He writes: The longer he [i.e., a broken soul] remained apart from society, the more he felt like a social misfit. Eventually he broke off all communication with his friends and family. [However] He was helped on his journey to recovery, though, by visiting a youth club in Tokyo known as an ibasho—a safe place where broken people could start reintroducing themselves to society.
What if we thought of the church as an ibasho—and far more?
Good question by our ODB author today; isn’t it?! … But is that what God’s Church is for broken Christians today? In today’s poignant song, Queen Latifah pleads with God to fix her; … but is the church that safe place where a broken soul can come for repair, renewal, and restoration? … I hope so.
Years ago, I heard my Pastor (at the time) say, “Our church is not a hotel for saints; … it’s a hospital for sinners!” … And to this day I can say that’s true with regard to the church where I serve as an Elder and Ministry leader. We do all we can at Central Church to provide a safe place where the broken can be fixed by a Savior so willing to do what He promised in the two reference passages above.
And I pray that you have such a church where you can go to a safe place and worship today (which happens to be Sunday).
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lord, thank You for providing a safe place where so many can find healing and freedom from their brokenness. … 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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