Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Chris McClarney singing … Beauty For Ashes … poignantly singing of the beauty of God’s grace as He is willing cover our ugliness with His beauty when we repent and confess of our sins.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Luke 13:8-9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
8 “The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. 9 If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”
… God’s patience with sinners, desiring that we repent for His saving grace.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Luke 13:1-9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ parable showing God’s patience, giving sinners the opportunity to repent and be saved.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Lamentations 3:22-23 [NLT] …
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.
… God’s mercies are endless.
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … John 15:5-6 [NLT] …
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers.
… Jesus declares how we must abide in Him in obedience to be fruitful.
Reference Passage #3 [NKJV] : … 1st John 1:9 [NLT] …
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.
… He makes us clean any time we’re willing to humble ourselves, in repentance, and confess our sinfulness.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Sheridan Voysey, used a personal story to illustrate that our Lord is so patient and willing to forgive us, cleanse us of our sins, and let us bloom into fruitfulness anytime we’re willing to repent, confess, and receive His grace. The ODB author wrote: Last spring I decided to cut down the rose bush by our back door. In the three years we’d lived in our home, it hadn’t produced many flowers, and its ugly, fruitless branches were now creeping in all directions.
But life got busy, and my gardening plan got delayed. It was just as well—only a few weeks later that rose bush burst into bloom like I’d never seen before. Hundreds of big white flowers, rich in perfume, hung over the back door, flowed into our yard, and showered the ground with beautiful petals. [See photo]
Oh how our God desires that His children, we Christians, come to Him, repent, and blossom into fruitfulness. And I pray that all who read here today join me in prayer and action to do just that.
So, hear the linked song today and realize God’s call for us to repent, confess, and to receive His cleansing, redeeming, and restoring grace … so that we, like the roses in the ODB author’s garden, can bloom as witnesses to God’s wondrous grace.
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … Lord God, … allow me to be fruitful, blossoming forth as a testimony to Your saving/sanctifying grace. … 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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