| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Selfcare” Our Bible verse for today: “For we are God’s masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) Our thought for today: “You need to know this about yourself” I love the way the New Living Translation expresses the reality of how God views us by using the word “masterpiece.” According to the Oxford dictionary a masterpiece is “a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship.” To be considered a masterpiece a work must have been created with extraordinary skill producing something that is unique and special and far beyond ordinary. According to the New Living Translation, that’s you in Christ. The Hebrew and Greek languages are rich languages with words that carry a broad range of deep meaning. That being the case, it often requires several English words, or even an entire phrase, to fully capture the meaning of a single Hebrew or Greek word. The Amplified Bible is a translation of the Bible that uses all the words necessary to capture the full meaning of the original language. That sometimes results in cumbersome and awkward sentence structure in English, but it does provide all the English words needed to capture the full original meaning. Here’s how Ephesians 2:10 reads in the Amplified Bible: “For we are His workmanship (His own master work, a work of art), created in Christ Jesus (reborn from above – spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used) for good works, which God has prepared us for …” You are his master work, a work of art. Sadly, many people have difficulty accepting that truth. But once we do accept it, it changes everything. Augustine Mandino was an insurance salesman who was a troubled, tortured soul. He struggled with alcoholism and consequently, virtually every area of his life was a trainwreck. He had a terrible self-image and he even attempted suicide. But long story short, Mandino eventually surrendered his life to Jesus, accepted the fact that he was deeply loved by his heavenly Father, and he slowly learned how to love and respect himself. Augustine Mandino, better known as “Og Mandino,” went on to be the most successful inspirational writer and motivational speaker of his day. His eighteen books have sold over fifty million copies and are still in print today. In my opinion, his two best books are a semi-autobiographical series with the titles “The Greatest Miracle in the World” and “The Return of the Ragpicker.” This is his story, but it is also all our stories. In those two small books Mandino does a masterful job of proving that you are God’s greatest miracle and that you are loved by Him beyond description. I promise you, if you read those two small books you will find yourself feeling much, much better about yourself. You need to know this: you are God’s greatest miracle; you are loved beyond description; and you have every reason to feel good about yourself. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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