Do you have a daily devotional you enjoy ?
As many of you have seen on my sidebar my favorite devotional is "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young.
I recently purchased her newest devotional "Jesus Today" while on a trip to Costco. I was surprised and delighted to find them in their book section. I have also been enjoying this newest devotional and would recommend it as much as "Jesus Calling" especially if your walking a hard road in life right now as Sarah wrote this newest one while facing a very long term illness, and that most definitely comes through in the daily devotions.
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About a Month back my friend Christie e-mailed me this great online devotional she wanted to share with me .."Girlfriends in Christ"
I loved it so much and found that it was a daily devotional delivered to your e-mail box and signed up immediately ..
Each day I thoroughly enjoy it .. without doubt it's food for the soul .. it's a way to start out a beautiful day to fill the tank if you will , to put on the armor of God ..to ready yourself for whatever the day may bring.
Today's devotional I really loved ..because Sharon who wrote today's devotional uses her flea market find to give us a visual look at how God works in our Lives .. and I wanted to share that with you all today ...
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Today’s Truth
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
(2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV).
Friend to Friend
Junk. That’s what my family and friends thought of most of my purchases. But to me, they were treasures waiting to be revealed.
When I was in my late teens, I had an unusual fetish for beat-up antique furniture. While most of my friends were at the mall shopping for clothes, I was at estate sales, flea markets, yard sales, and auctions hunting for antiques. Often, when I brought my purchases home, my family would roll their eyes and say, "I can't believe you paid money for that old piece of junk." But I never saw my purchases as junk. They just needed a little work…okay, sometimes a lot of work. But I loved the shabby chic projects!
At one estate sale I spied a little drop leaf kitchen table with three spindle-back chairs. I could just imagine a sweet little older lady spending many years sitting at that very table drinking her morning coffee or perhaps her afternoon tea. I could almost hear the faint whispers of thousands of conversations from generations past. The set was painted a hospital green, but I saw that it had great potential. Obviously the other bidders didn't recognize a treasure when they saw one, because ten minutes and $35 later, the set was mine.
I brought the dinette set home, all excited about my great buy, and couldn't understand why no one else shared my enthusiasm "Sharon, do you realize how much time and energy it is going to take to make that old green rickety table look even slightly presentable?" they asked.
At that point in my life, I had a lot more time than money, so the time wasn't a problem.
Refinishing furniture is a dirty, grueling task. First, I stripped off the paint with paint remover and discovered that not only had the table been green, it had also been blue, and before that white. But underneath it all was pure walnut.
The paint remover raised the grain of the wood, so I had to go back and sand it smooth. If the sanding isn't done well, the finished product will always be a little rough. A few joints were loose from wear and tear, so I glued them back together. Then I applied a warm walnut stain which deepened its color and made the beautiful pattern of the wood grain stand out. Finally, I applied a polyurethane coat to seal and protect the piece.
As I worked I began to think of the old broken table as a symbol of my own life. I was also on the auction block, and God had purchased me with His Son’s precious blood. I had layers and layers of my old self that had to be stripped away to reveal the beauty hidden beneath. This raised my grain, but God sanded me with life experiences and trials to remove the rough edges. He glued my loose joints and mended my broken pieces, for He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Then He put a sealer not only on me but in me – the Holy Spirit who brought out the beauty of who God created me to be.
After I finished refurbishing the old table and chairs, I sat in the garage thinking about all that God had done in my life. My mom opened the door, looked at the old table, and said, "I never thought something so ugly could turn out to be so beautiful."
I said, "Amen."
Where are you in the refinishing process? It’s never really over, this side of heaven. But as we listen to God day by day, He will show us what needs to be stripped off, sanded away, and polished smooth to be all that He has created us to be.
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, I was such a mess before You transformed me. Thank You for restoring my soul, renewing my spirit, and redeeming my life to become Your treasured possession…a true work of art.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 to learn more about your refinishing process.
Think back over the past year. What has God used as His sandpaper to refine your rough edges?
What has God used to glue your broken pieces back together?
What has God used to polish your shine?
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You can Sign up for the "Girlfriends in Christ" devotional ... HERE Just look in the top right of the page for the sign up.
You can visit Sharon's Blog HERE
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Wishing you all a beautiful and blessed week ..and that God's refinishing process in your life like mine is making you a beautiful Person on the inside and the out.
