Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of song and lyrics from a praise chorus singing … Just As I Am … poignantly singing of how we as Christians can come to God’s saving grace and know that we are saved by believing in HIs finished work on the cross.
=============
Highlight Verse[s]: Luke 19:10 [NKJV] … 9 And Jesus said to him [Zaccheaus], “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
… By forgiving and accepting Zacchaeus just as he was, repentant for his sins, Jesus illustrates who He is for all mankind.
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: Luke 19:1-10 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… Zacchaeus was accepted by Jesus in spite of being hated as a tax collector.
=============
Reference Passage : … Mark 2:15-17 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus will accept any sinner who repents and surrenders to Him as Lord.
Reference Passage : … John 3:16-17 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus came to save the lost, whomever they are!!
Reference Passage : … Romans 3:21-23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… No one is worthy of God’s saving grace; but it is offered to anyone who believes in Christ’s finished and is willing to repent of his/her sin.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Leslie Koh, uses an illustration of a child feeling accepted at school after being rejected. The ODB author writes … After several years of struggling to keep up in her studies, Angie was finally taken out of her elite primary school and transferred to a “normal” one. In Singapore’s intensely competitive education landscape, where being in a “good” school can improve one’s future prospects, many would see this as a failure.
Angie’s parents were disappointed, and Angie herself felt as if she had been demoted. But soon after joining her new school, the nine year old realized what it meant to be in a class of average students [see photo]. “Mummy, I belong here,” she said. “I’m finally accepted!”
We all want to feel accepted for just whom we are and not as others feel we should be. That was the way the tax collector, Zacchaeus, felt in the highlight passage, where Jesus was willing to forgive his sinful past and receive him in spite of the way others hated and prejudged him. And the same was true for Matthew, another tax collector, who later became one of Jesus’ inner disciples, as a forgiven sinner (see Mark 2:15-17).
Yes, … aren’t we glad that Jesus will accept and receive any of us, … all who are unworthy of salvation in our sin (see Romans 3:23), but all who can - and will - be saved if we’re but willing to repent of our sin and receive God’s wondrous, and loving, saving grace?
And I pray that all who are reading here with me today have done just that. Because if God can reach out and save a sinner like me, He certainly can - and will - save you too … just as you are!
=============
My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, for Your merciful, saving grace, offered to all … everyday!
=============
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I’m praying that all who read here have come, just as we are, to receive Your saving 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment