Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of a song sung by an anonymous singer … I Am An Earthen Vessel … poignantly singing of how we Christians are broken clay pots carrying the treasure of His love/grace to share with others in our lives.
"Library House in Bogota, Colombia
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Highlight Verse[s]: 2 Corinthians 4:7 [NLT] … 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
… The fact that we can serve up heavenly treasures from these broken, earthly, jars of clay (i.e., our minds/bodies) shows that we are filled with God’s Spirit.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Corinthians 4:5-7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul, teaching that we may be cracked-pots; but we shine His light thru these earthen vessels.
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Reference Passage : … Matthew 5:14-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… No matter who or what we are, we need to shine Christ’s light, from these broken vessels, into a very dark world.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] … 9 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
… Jesus helped Paul (and us) realize that His grace is enough to help us overcome the brokenness and weakness of these, our earthen vessels.
Reference Passage : … Galatians 5:22-23 [NLT] ... USE THIS LINK …
… The fruit of the Spirit is the Heavenly treasure that we carry in these earthen vessels.
Reference Passage : … 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.
… God’s Spirit is continually repairing the spirits which reside in these “cracked pots”
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Patricia Raybon, used a powerful story of a Colombian man who shined the light of Christ from within a broken-down house. … The ODB author wrote: The trash man’s house sits atop a steep street in a poor Bogota neighborhood. Not one thing about it looks special. Yet the unassuming abode in Colombia’s capital is home to a free library of 25,000 books—discarded literature that Jose Alberto Gutierrez collected to share with poor children in his community. [see photo]
Local kids crowd into the house during weekend “library hours.” Prowling through every room, each packed with books, the children recognize the humble home as more than Señor Jose’s house—it’s a priceless treasury.
We Christians are all earthly and broken vessels of God’s love and grace, aren’t we (you likely know Romans 3:23)? So, the highlight passage today applies to all of us who’re truly born-again disciples of Christ. And we need to realize that, just as the Columbian trash man in the ODB story above, we can carry around heavenly treasures [i.e., God’s love/grace] in these broken pots (i.e., our lives) to share with others.
And in some respects, the brokenness of these earthen vessels allows us to shine Christ’s light more brightly into a very dark world for others to see His light [see Matt. 5:16].
So, my dear one … let’s go out, with these broken vessels, and shine His light for all to see Him from the way we live today.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your love/grace shining forth from the broken vessels of our lives.
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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 shine Jesus forth from these broken abodes in which we live. … 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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