Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video from the group Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing their song … He’ll Do Whatever It Takes … poignantly singing of how our God will do whatever it takes to bring our brokenness into the wholeness of His image.
"Wakeari" Cookies in Japan
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Highlight Verse[s]: Luke 7:47-48 [NLT] … 47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
… And aren’t we who’ve been forgiven, like this woman, grateful for Jesus’ mercy and grace on sinners such as we?
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Highlight Passage [context]: Luke 7:36-50 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… When we’re willing to surrender our brokenness to Jesus, He can forgive us and make us whole again in His image.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Romans 5:8 [NLT] … 8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
… Christ came to save the broken and remake them into His own image.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Philippians 1:6 [NLT] … 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
… And we can be assured that our Lord is going to do whatever it takes to make us over in His image in glory.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Albert Lee, paints a word picture of our brokenness and how our Lord can - and will - redeem us from our sin, making us over into His image of wholeness. The ODB author wrote: In Japan, food products are immaculately prepared and packaged. Not only must they taste good but they must look good too. Often I wonder if I am purchasing the food or the packaging! Because of the Japanese emphasis on good quality, products with slight defects are often discarded. However, in recent years wakeari products have gained popularity. Wakeari means “there is a reason” in Japanese. These products are not thrown away but are sold at a cheap price “for a reason”—for example, a crack in a rice cracker.
Sometimes, as I read and meditate on these ODB entries each morning to start my day, some of them will really strike a chord of reality within me; and this one most certainly does. You see, like the “wakeari” products in Japan, (e.g., the broken cookies in the photo), I was once a broken man, lost in my own sinfulness. But Jesus, just as He did with the broken/sinner woman in Luke 7, was willing to come after me and save me from my own brokenness, … forgiving my sinfulness and beginning the process of remaking me into the wholeness and perfection of His own image.
Oh, … He’s not done with me yet, … for sure! But as the linked song proclaims, my Lord will do “whatever it takes” to complete the process of my redemption (see also Phil. 1:6). And when He’s done with me in glory, I’m going to be completely whole and have a beauty and usefulness akin to His. And I hope you share a robust HALLELUJAH!!! with me as He remakes you in His images as well.
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Oh, Lord, praise your willingness to take me as I was and give me a “redo” to be with You in eternity. … 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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