Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from the group I Am They singing … Scars … poignantly singing of how our scars remind us of our Savior’s scars which He endured for our salvation and sanctification.
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Highlight Passage : … John 20:28-28 [ESV] ... 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
… A doubting Thomas comes to see and believe. We must believe, without seeing, to receive God’s promise of eternal life.
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Highlight Passage [context] : … John 20:24-29 [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus reveals to a doubtful Thomas that His scars are real … that He is truly the Son of God.
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Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [ESV] ... 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
… We must trust the Lord with ALL our heart.
Reference Passage : … Isaiah 53:5 [ESV] ... 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.
… 700+ years before Christ died and was raised from the dead, His wounds/scars were prophesied for our eternal healing as sinners.
Reference Passage : … John 3:16 [ESV] ... 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. …”
… Jesus describes what God, the Father, was willing to do to redeem mankind thru His love and sacrifice.
Reference Passage : … Romans 8:28 [ESV] ... 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
… For born-again Christians, all things in our lives, including the scars, our for our good and our Lord’s glory.
Reference Passage : … Hebrews 11:1 [ESV] ... 1. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
… Our faith is in an unseen, but very real, Lord, Who REALLY died and was resurrected to show us that He is the Son of God.
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Arthur Jackson, AT THIS LINK shares the story of a young man who always used a fist-bump greeting (see photo) to hide the scars of a past suicide attempt, … reminding the ODB author of the very real fears in the heart of Thomas (in today’s highlight passage), who needed to see and touch the risen Savior’s scars to have his faith confirmed. But when Thomas touched Jesus’ scars, he knew Jesus was the Son of God.
Do we believe? … In our lifetime, as Christians, we will never likely be granted a physical touch, or even a vision, of our raised Savior; but faith we still must have to receive His saving grace. And our own sin scars, and the healing promised by Christ’s scars (see Is. 53:5), are reminders of what Christ did on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave, to bring us the salvation and eternal life God has promised for all who repent and believe on the Son of God for healing and redemption.
So, I pray that all reading here have the faith that Thomas didn’t have … faith without seeing, … and the trust that we must have to glean the promise of healing we have received from the scars Jesus endured from the cross. Because in those scars we are healed forever.
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for Your healing grace.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me, to remember that the scars from our lives are reminders of our Savior’s scars. … 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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