Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of song and lyrics from the group Hillsong United singing … Who You Say I Am … poignantly singing of the reality of becoming a child of God when surrender to His Lordship and salvation.
=============
Highlight Verse[s]: Isaiah 44:3b [NLT] … 3 … And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your children.
… God prophesied, thru Isaiah, that He would one day pour out His blessing on His children with His Spirit.
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: Isaiah 44:1-5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… The prophesy of those who would declare of their surrender to God’s Spirit.
=============
Reference Passage : … Romans 8:16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 16 For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
… My surrender to God’s Spirit has sealed me with my God forever.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… When God brought us into His family, He sealed us with His Spirit.
Reference Passage : … Ephesian 1:13-14, 4:30 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… When we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are sealed into the family of God by God’s Spirit; and we must live, with the Spirit’s guidance and grace, to identify with God’s Spirit.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Arthur Jackson, uses an interesting tattoo picture (see photo) to illustrate how, when we’re born-again in Christ, we are sealed by His Holy Spirit. The ODB author writes … It doesn’t take much to notice that getting “inked” is very popular these days. Some tattoos are so small that one barely notices them. Others—from athletes to actors to everyday people—have opted to cover much of their bodies with multicolored inks, words, and designs. The trend seems like it’s here to stay, a trend that netted $3 billion in revenue in 2014—and an additional $66 million for tattoo removal.
Regardless of how you may feel about tattoos, Isaiah 44 speaks metaphorically about people writing something on their hands: “The Lord’s” (v. 5). This “self-tattoo” is the climax of an entire paragraph that speaks of the Lord’s care for those He had chosen (v. 1).
Personally, I’m not a tattoo-type person. Nor am I radically opposed to tattoos which express one’s convictions, like the one in the attached photo. However, I do think that extensive body markings, especially those which dishonor God, do, in fact, grieve God’s Spirit … as is chastised in Eph. 4:30, linked above.
Really, all I need to know, as the Scriptures above attest, is that being born-again, God’s Spirit has sealed me as a redeemed child of God for eternity. And what the group Hillsong sings in the linked song is a good enough marking for my life.
But if you feel that a tattoo will help you witness your surrender to God’s Spirit and your faith in Christ, … well, … go for it, dear one!!
=============
My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for sealing me for eternity with the indwelling presence of Your Holy Spirit.
=============
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here are sealed with Your Spirit as children of The King . … 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