Pastor Ellen's Daily Devo -- Shrinky Dinks
Posted on March 14, 2010 with 0 comments
Revelation 12:11 “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
In Vacation Bible School, we used to do this cool craft called, “Shrinky dinks.” We would color these little plastic thingies with our markers; stick them in a toaster oven, and voila! We had a harder-than-rock trinket that we brought home as mementos of our experience at Bible camp. It was a cool process to see our design become smaller-than-life by just a little heat!
Jesus wants us to know that these saints who overcame Satan by their faith and love for Jesus had three tactics: 1) being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb; 2) believing in and sharing the Word of God; and 3) being willing to stand firm in their faith, even to the point of death! Satan cannot defeat us no matter how hard he tries! Jesus has us safe and protected in His hands of love and grace. For us as followers of Jesus, we know and can be confident of being His beloved, cleansed by His blood shed on the cross. As flawed and as imperfect as we are, Jesus’ blood covers us and makes us pure and holy. It is such an awesome privilege that we just can’t help but share this with our friends, family, and others who need to hear about this! It’s life giving! And ironically, it is such a life-giving process to know and love Jesus that we would stand up for our faith even to the point of death (at least we think so!). It’s as if each of us who love Jesus and is loved by Him become our very own Shrinky Dinks! We are not only lovingly designed and colored by our Master and Creator, but we also are subjected to heat (hopefully not too hot!) to strengthen and galvanize our hearts and souls. And just like Shrinky Dinks, we emerge from that refining process even better than when we started! How sweet is that! So let’s not shrink away from our troubles and adversities when they come our way. Even if we face ridicule, persecution, and maybe even death threats, Jesus will be right by our side, making us tough and resilient because He looms over us, larger-than-life and victorious over all.
Dear Jesus, Thank you for your blood shed on the cross for me. And thank you also for being with me even when it seems that life is becoming overwhelming and tough! You are my lifesaver, and I am your Shrinky Dink! In your name, Amen.
In Vacation Bible School, we used to do this cool craft called, “Shrinky dinks.” We would color these little plastic thingies with our markers; stick them in a toaster oven, and voila! We had a harder-than-rock trinket that we brought home as mementos of our experience at Bible camp. It was a cool process to see our design become smaller-than-life by just a little heat!
Jesus wants us to know that these saints who overcame Satan by their faith and love for Jesus had three tactics: 1) being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb; 2) believing in and sharing the Word of God; and 3) being willing to stand firm in their faith, even to the point of death! Satan cannot defeat us no matter how hard he tries! Jesus has us safe and protected in His hands of love and grace. For us as followers of Jesus, we know and can be confident of being His beloved, cleansed by His blood shed on the cross. As flawed and as imperfect as we are, Jesus’ blood covers us and makes us pure and holy. It is such an awesome privilege that we just can’t help but share this with our friends, family, and others who need to hear about this! It’s life giving! And ironically, it is such a life-giving process to know and love Jesus that we would stand up for our faith even to the point of death (at least we think so!). It’s as if each of us who love Jesus and is loved by Him become our very own Shrinky Dinks! We are not only lovingly designed and colored by our Master and Creator, but we also are subjected to heat (hopefully not too hot!) to strengthen and galvanize our hearts and souls. And just like Shrinky Dinks, we emerge from that refining process even better than when we started! How sweet is that! So let’s not shrink away from our troubles and adversities when they come our way. Even if we face ridicule, persecution, and maybe even death threats, Jesus will be right by our side, making us tough and resilient because He looms over us, larger-than-life and victorious over all.
Dear Jesus, Thank you for your blood shed on the cross for me. And thank you also for being with me even when it seems that life is becoming overwhelming and tough! You are my lifesaver, and I am your Shrinky Dink! In your name, Amen.