Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with images and lyrics from the group Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing … Your Grace Still Amazes Me … poignantly singing of we must be overwhelmed by the wonder of God’s transforming grace.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Luke 22:61-62 [NLT] … 61 At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
… Three times Peter denies Jesus … even after declaring Jesus to be the Son of God.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Luke 22:54-62 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Peter fulfills Jesus’ prophesy of denying Him thrice.
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Reference Passage : … 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 mercy and grace are new every morning … yes, even every moment … to allow us the availability to His amazing grace.
Reference Passage : … John 14:21 [NLT] … 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
…Jesus promises any/all true disciples that He will be manifest in the life of anyone who is willing to obey and follow His commands.
Reference Passage : … John 21:7-17 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus returns to the Disciples after the resurrection and allow Peter to be restored by giving him the opportunity to declare Peter’s love for Jesus three times.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Remi Oyedele, uses a historical reference to the life of Mary of Magdalene, to illustrate one who was transformed from sinner to saint by the wondrous grace of Jesus. . The ODB author wrote … Before she followed in the footsteps of John the Baptist by living in the desert, Mary of Egypt (c. ad 344–421) spent her youth pursuing illicit pleasures and seducing men. At the height of her sordid career, she journeyed to Jerusalem in an attempt to corrupt pilgrims. Instead, she experienced deep conviction of her sins and thereafter lived a life of repentance and solitude in the wilderness. Mary’s radical transformation illustrates the magnitude of God’s grace and the restoring power of the cross.
And one of the most powerful stories about the transforming grace of God is also that of the Apostle Peter, who denied Jesus three times just before His crucifixion [see highlight passage]; and then was restored to service of the Lord, by Jesus, in John 21. And very personally, I think of how Jesus’ grace pursued yours truly for the first 40 years of my life, where I denied Him as an avowed atheist, only to be saved, and allowed to serve our Lord, in ministry, as I have for over two decades now.
GO FIGURE!! … It’s no wonder that Phillips, Craig, and Dean sing, in the linked song, that God’s saving and restoring grace is truly amazing. But perhaps you, too, have experienced His restoring grace. And if so, would you join me in a resounding … HALLELUJAH!!
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your ever available mercy and grace, which transforms sinners to saints.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me, to praise our Lord for His wondrous, transforming 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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