Devotionals

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WANT TO JOIN A BOYS' CLUB, EH?
My dad was a contractor and he stored most of his supplies on either the first floor or the second floor of the big barn. It was summertime and very hot. Most of the liquids, mostly paint, were stored in pails on the second floor near the ladder. Yes, the ladder...the only way up onto the loft. Perfect. My older brother Dwight and younger brother John and I had decided to start a "boys' club." Our headquarters would be on the second floor. The ladder was very steep and had to be climbed slowly.
Well, my sister Jean had different ideas about things. Being excluded did not set well with her. So she followed us. We three boys climbed up the ladder and onto the loft. She started up. Dwight hollered to her that "She couldn't follow us, that this was a boys' club." Undaunted Jean plodded on up the ladder rungs. I grabbed a pail and warned her, "If you come up one more step, I'm going to dump this pail on you." She did and I did. It was tar!!! All down over her hair. She forgot joining the boys' club and went screaming into the house.
There were dire consequences, you better believe it.
When my dad got home and found out what had happened, he took care of me first. It hurt to sit down on a hard chair for about two weeks---if you get my gist. That matter settled efficiently, he turned to the tar problem. Not wanting to cut off her golden locks, he went to the barn for a solvent. Now a solvent is a liquid substance which is capable of dissolving one or more solutions. The solvent does not change its own state while performing such actions. The solvent he chose was KEROSENE. Keep your eyes closed, Jean. You don't want kerosene in your eyes. It worked. The golden locks were restored. Everybody was happy now, except...guess who? It even hurt to climb that ladder.
Sinfulness, falling short of God's standards, is just like that old stainful tar. Impossible to eradicate. A solvent is needed. There is only one that works: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the BLOOD of Christ." Eph 2:13. "For God was pleased to have all His fulness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His BLOOD, shed on the cross." Col 1:19,20. "In Him we have redemption through His BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." Eph 1:7,8. The shed BLOOD of Jesus is the SOLVENT. The SOLVENT is the shed BLOOD of Jesus. Extraordinarily great news at Eastertime, and any other time.
Want to please God? "May the God of peace, who through the BLOOD of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the Sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ , to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Heb 13:20,21
Almighty God has focused on this planet. And He wants to be alive and active in our personal lives. Amen and Amen.

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