Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics sung by Queen Latifah from the movie, Joyful Noise, singing … Fix Me Jesus … poignantly singing a prayer of repentance and sorrow for sin to our Lord, … praying for His redemption and restoration.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Genesis 32:22-24 [NLT] …
22 “Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied [to Moses]. “You yourself know how evil these people are. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”
… Knowing that he had done wrong, Aaron cannot own up to his sin.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Exodus 32:1-5, 19-26 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Before his brother, Aaron deflects blame for his golden-calf sin, blaming the evil on others.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Genesis 3:8-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Blaming others for our own sin goes all the way back to the garden; … and we have inherited that selfish blame-shifting nature of Adam and Eve.
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … 1st John 1:8-9 [NLT] …
8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 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.
… God’s promises to cleanse us from any/all sin, … IF … we’re willing to own up to the sin and confess it to receive His cleansing redemption and restoration.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Cindy Hess Kasper , used some OT biblical illustrations to teach on our need, as born-again sinners, to own up to our sins, to confess, and be fixed by God’s Spirit. The ODB author wrote: “Mistakes were made,” said the CEO as he discussed the illegal activity his company had been involved in. He looked regretful, yet he kept blame at arm’s length and couldn’t admit he had personally done anything wrong.
Some “mistakes” are just mistakes: driving in the wrong direction, forgetting to set a timer and burning dinner, miscalculating your checkbook balance. But then there are the deliberate deeds that go far beyond—God calls those sin. When God questioned Adam and Eve about why they had disobeyed Him, they quickly tried to shift the blame to another (Gen. 3:8–13). Aaron took no personal responsibility when the people built a golden calf to worship in the desert.
When Aaron was uncovered making the golden calf, or when Adam and Eve tried to shift the blame for their sins to others, they demonstrate the unfortunate default in our human character to deflect blame for our sin, rather than admitting it, confessing it before God, and then receiving His forgiving grace to cleanse us of the sin.
Am I sensing any of my fellow Christian reading here saying, “Been there, done that, and certainly have that T-shirt?!! ... Yeah, we’ve all felt that inner need to deflect the guilt for our sin and pin it on someone or some thing other than self! But when we can be vulnerable and accountable for our sins, confessing them to a loving and merciful God, … our Lord is most certainly able … and very willing to cleanse us COMPLETELY (see 1st John 1:8-9).
So, if we have any need to be fixed, as Queen Latifah sings in the linked song, let’s come to Jesus and plead for Him to fix us and help us do a U-turn in our life (see photo).
And He will !!!
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Fix me, Lord, … fix me! … 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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