Thursday, February 16, 2017

February 16, 2017 ... From Garbage to Glory

Berry Patch Devotions in 2017 - Day 47 

Devotional Song:  … GO TO THIS LINK …  Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images from Josh Groban singing his song … You Raise Me Up … poignantly depicting the One who raises all who’ve fallen and are being cast on the junkyard of life, … being raised from garbage to glory by our Messiah, … the King Who came to transform all who believe in Him into the glorious remake of His image.

Assemblage (or Junkyard) Art
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Highlight Verse[s]: John 9:11, 25 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK
… The formerly blind man gives testimony to the healing power of Jesus.
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Highlight Passage [context]: John 9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK
… Jesus heals a blind man.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Luke 4:18-20 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ...
… Jesus declares from the Prophet Isaiah that He had come to give sight to the blind; … and He did [see John 9].

Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … John 20:31 [NLT] … 
31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. 
… The Apostle John led by the Spirit to write the Gospel message helping believers to have assurance that Jesus was/is The Messiah and Lord of all.

My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David McCasland, used a modern-day word picture of junkyard art to illustrate how Jesus could - and can - turn garbage into glory. The ODB author wrote: Noah Purifoy began his work as an “assemblage” artist with three tons of rubble salvaged from the 1965 riots in the Watts area of Los Angeles. From broken bicycle wheels and bowling balls to discarded tires and damaged TV sets—things no longer usable—he and a colleague created sculptures that conveyed a powerful message about people being treated as “throw-aways” in modern society. [See attached photo] … One journalist referred to Mr. Purifoy as “the junkyard genius.” 

Well, the word picture in this ODB entry is an apt analogy of what Jesus came to do, did in His time on earth, and is still doing today. Seven-hundred years before Jesus, the Son of God, came to mankind, Isaiah prophesied that a Messiah would come to set captives free and give sight to the blind [see Isaiah 61:1-2 ]; and In the writings of Luke and John (see scriptures above), we see that Jesus proclaimed that He was that Messiah; and He showed that he could - and did - give sight to the blind. 


And above you see a selfie of yours truly, … one of those who once was blind (spiritually) and now sees. I was once a pile of broken pieces; and now Jesus is reassembling me into His image. Perhaps you’re one of those the Lord has taken from the junkyard of this world, like me, and God's Spirit is making you over for His glory, ... in essence from GARBAGE TO GLORY!! … That’s my prayer for any reading here today.

My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lord, I pray all here have come to You to be made over into Your image. I sure have!! … 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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