Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and lyrics from the group Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing He’ll Do Whatever It Takes ... poignantly singing of how God is willing, and able, with His forever mercy and grace, to turn our shattered lives into testimonies of His glory.
Highlight Verse[s]: Romans 3:23 [NKJV] ... 23 … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, …
… There is not one who is not capable of hypocrisy and sin.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Genesis 38:16-26 [NKJV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… The somewhat bizarre, but very human, story of Judah and Tamar illustrates how we all can be - and often are - purveyors of hypocrisy in our lives.
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Reference Passage : … Isaiah 53:6 [NKJV] ... 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
… We’re all wayward sheep and sinners; but God has laid all our sins on His Son, the Messiah, and our Savior.
Reference Passage : … Luke 8:17 [NKJV] ... 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.
… God’s truth will ALWAYS win out in the end for all sin will be revealed and brought into the light of Christ.
Reference Passage : … 2Corinthians 5:17 [NKJV] ... 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
… When we receive God’s saving grace, thru our faith in God’s completed works on the cross, His blood makes us completely new with His Spirit taking residence in our hearts.
Reference Passage : … Philippians 1:6 [NKJV] ... 6 … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; …
… God will complete his sanctifying work of cleansing in the hearts of all who are truly born again.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Arthur Jackson, uses a brief sports story to illustrate the hypocrisy which lurks in the hearts of us all. … The ODB author wrote: “I’d be very disappointed if one of our team members did that,” said a cricket player, referring to a South African cricketer who’d cheated in a match in 2016. But only two years later, that same player was caught in a nearly identical scandal.
Then the ODB author uses the story of Judah and Tamar in the highlight passage (i.e., Genesis 38) to illustrate how anyone - and everyone - can have the sin of hypocrisy lurking in the darkness of our human hearts. And the morbid story of how even the hypocritical sins of Judah and Tamar was forgiven by God, … to the point that Tamar’s ancestry, which involved her story of harlotry and Judah’s hypocrisy involving incest became a part of the linage of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
As God’s truth documents (see Isaiah 53:6 and Romans 3:23), we’re all sinners; but praise God, the Lord has laid all our sins on His Son, … Who has covered our sins with HIs blood, whether they be harlotry, incest, or hypocrisy. And God’s faithfulness and mercy is making us new again [2Cor. 5:17] by His Spirit taking residence in our hearts.
And as Phillips, Craig, and Dean sing, our Lord will finish that process in anyone who receives God’s saving/sanctifying grace (see Phil. 1:6. That’s God’s promise - see Luke 8:17 - and His truth always wins out in the end (see photo).
So, ... Do I sense a HALLELUJAH from those reading here with me today? Well, if you were here with me, you’d certainly hear one from me.
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, ... for Your blood cleansing me from the hypocrisy which always lurks in my all too human flesh.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me, to declare, “Hallelujah,” for cleansing us of any hypocrisy and sin which lies in the darkness of my flesh. … 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.</ span>
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