Tag Archives: sanctification

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Keep Ducking | Bible Gleanings | October 11-12, 2025

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I always duck my head when I put away the dishes. But not because my wife stealthily wields a frying pan, eager to cash in on some life insurance. No, I instinctively lower my head because of our poorly placed cabinet door—and my poor memory of its existence. It sits right above the dishwasher, and I have a bad habit of leaving it open while I put away plates, mugs, and cutlery. And having hit my head on it many times, I have learned to automatically duck—even while it is closed.

And the other day, the old adversary vanquished me again. Vibing to some good music with my headphones on, I forgot to duck, and a thud echoed across the kitchen. And a pulsing abrasion on my balding head served as a reminder that no matter how many times you’ve learned your lesson, old problems can still get you. Many dangers remain in place, waiting for you to forget they are there.

Paul the apostle understood this problem profoundly. After twenty-something years of continual Christian maturity, he admitted in Romans that he still “hit his head” from time to time:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing . . . So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand” (Rom. 7:15, 18-19, 21).

Struggling with the same old sins and suffering from setbacks is a part of every saint’s sanctification. Sin isn’t going away until we are away from our bodies and present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Until then, we must remain diligently watchful and continue ducking our heads to avoid sin and the headaches it induces. The real danger is thinking there is no danger—that is precisely when sin inflicts another bruise on our heads. As Paul also said, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). 

And when sin hits us on the head due to our carelessness, the good news is that God will lift us up by His grace. The writer of Proverbs 24:16 promised, “For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.” The psalmist likewise assured, “Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand” (Psalm 37:24). Keep ducking your head, Christian. And when you forget to do so, remember that God raises the humble heads of those who have been wounded by their besetting sins.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Growing in Grace | Bible Gleanings | June 15-16, 2024

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A group of tourists visiting a picturesque village walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked him, “Were any great men born in this village?” The old man replied, “Nope, only babies.” His point was that no one is born as a hero or heroine, or someone who joins the annals of renowned history. Everyone starts out at ground level as a crying infant.

And that’s how you start out as a born-again believer as well. You aren’t born as a Christian adult, but as a babe in Christ (1 Cor. 3:1). You take baby steps on the narrow road that leads to life, and you eventually start to run the race of redemption (Heb. 12:1). You drink the milk of God’s word until you can mature and feast on the meat of truth (1 Peter 2:2; Heb. 5:12).

And while we start out this way, we must not stay this way. It is God’s will that we grow in Christ as believers. We must “no longer be children,” commanded Paul in Ephesians 4, “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (4:15a). We must “grow up” into salvation and give up “childish ways” (1 Peter 2:2; 1 Cor. 13:11). And we must “graduate” from the elementary school of faith, moving on from the ABCs of the Christian life to the deeper things of God (Heb. 6:1-3).

Therefore, the Lord commands all believers: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). We are exhorted to always seek a deeper understanding of Christ and to experience His grace more fully. We should never settle with what we already know and who we are right now. Rather, we should strive for continual growth and constant progress in spiritual maturity.

And the measure of our growth in grace is fruitfulness. Growing crops produce fruit and growing Christians produce spiritual fruit. Thus, all believers should be a good tree that “bringeth forth good fruit” (cf. Matt. 7:16-18). When you abide in the True Vine, you will bear “spiritual produce” that points people to its source, which is the Lord Jesus (John 15:1-8). If you possess the Holy Spirit and let Him possess you, you will bear fruits of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance” (Gal. 5:22-23, KJV).

Therefore, our daily prayer should sound like the words of Growing in Grace, a hymn penned by Edmund S. Lorenz (1854-1942) which pleads, 

“Help me Saviour, more each day,

Gladly Thy sweet will obey;

More and more Thy love display,

Oh, help me grow in grace!

Growing in grace ev’ry day,

Growing in grace ev’ry hour,

Help me Saviour, Thou hast pow’r,

To ever grow in grace.”

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Conformity to Christ | Bible Gleanings – November 18-19, 2023

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It is an enormous celebration, but many people have never heard about it. “Hemingway Days,” as it is known, is a week-long celebration in Key West, Florida, in which writers, fisherman, and fans of the famous Ernest Hemingway gather to honor his legacy. And one of the highlights of the festival is the Hemingway lookalike contest, in which dozens of older men with frosted beards compete against one another for the prize of resembling the great American writer. The contest is held at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, and it is so momentous that it occupies three whole days of the festival! And according to the Associated Press, a winner is chosen on the anniversary of Hemingway’s birthday, which is July 21st.

It must be a great honor to look like the renowned Hemingway, but it is a far greater honor to look like the Author of Salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. And while it is not a contest between believers to see who looks the most like Jesus, looking like Christ is every believer’s ultimate conquest. God’s plan for His people is that they be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29b). Moreover, the Holy Spirit is always shaping and molding all true believers, with the goal of helping them resemble Jesus. As Paul said, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). 

It is through this transformation process that believers may be fully assured that they have been saved by God’s grace. Everyone who truly knows Christ will look like Him: “But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:5-6). Such Christlikeness primarily entails following the example of Jesus in our thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions (John 13:15). Simultaneously, looking like Christ also means looking less like our old selves and less like the world around us. That is why Paul commanded, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2a). 

And the process of becoming like Christ will be completed one glorious day (Phil. 1:6). But it won’t happen in this life; it will happen on the Last Day when Christ comes again. As John assured, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Until then, all believers must resolve to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus until all the world bows before His feet (Phil. 2:9-11).

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Wash Your Hands | Bible Gleanings – September 9-10, 2023

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“For God’s sake, wash your hands!” Dr. Ignaz Philip Semmelweis thundered this desperate plea in the middle of a meeting of doctors in the mid-19th century. In his day, there was an alarmingly high death toll among new mothers, post-surgery patients, and even medical professionals—and Semmelwies suspected that unwashed hands were the culprit. After inventing a chlorine solution that effectively eliminated bacteria from surgical instruments and hands, his suspicions proved true. Unfortunately, his advice was ignored (as he was believed to be insane), and doctors continued to unknowingly kill patients by neglecting sanitation. Those entrusted with saving lives were unknowingly ending them because of their contaminated hands.

Likewise, the Great Physician’s admonition to believers is, “For My sake, wash your hands!” As James said, “Cleanse your hands” (James 4:8b). The Lord calls His gospel-entrusted people to keep themselves clean and holy as they minister to a world sick with sin (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; Gal. 6:14; 1 John 2:15-17). Wickedness is the most contagious spiritual bacteria known to man, and believers must exercise extreme caution when preaching Christ to an idolatry-infected world, lest they become ill and kill their testimony. Christians must remain “unstained from the world” (James 1:27), or they will cause more harm than good by transferring the stain of sin to those who need cleansing from Christ’s blood (1 John 1:7b).

Do you remember the unnamed prophet from Judah? His story is told in 1 Kings 13, and his sole responsibility was to preach the word of the Lord without becoming tainted by idolatry. He was sent to preach the cleansing word of God to the sin-polluted king, Jeroboam. But he was admonished to do so at a distance—he wasn’t even permitted to eat with him (1 Kings 13:8-9). But, despite resisting Jeroboam’s cunning offer of dinner, he ironically accepts an identical invitation from a false prophet in Bethel (1 Kings 13:18-19).

He was subsequently slaughtered by a lion, and the prophet’s testimony died with him (1 Kings 13:24-25). Unlike the unidentified prophet from Judah, believers are called to speak God’s word and the gospel without becoming infected by idolatry. The Lord Jesus exemplified this by befriending sinners, but not their sin (Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34). Unlike the Judean prophet, the Prophet from Galilee ate with tax collectors and sinners, and He made it home pure (Mark 2:15-22). Christ reached the world without becoming worldly.

Christ is our example. The prophet from Judah and doctors from old are our warnings. The hymn-writer Harper G. Smyth (1873-1945) reminds us in Make Me a Channel of Blessing:

“We cannot be channels of blessing

If our lives are not free from known sin;

We will barriers be and a hindrance

To those we are trying to win.”

Will you administer the soul-saving remedy of the gospel with hands washed through sanctification?

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:

Bible Gleanings, devotions

His Workmanship | Bible Gleanings – October 22-23, 2022

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Repairing the rusting russet-colored sedan seemed like a waste of time to me. If you searched for “clunker” in Webster’s Dictionary, you’d see a picture of this car. It was in terrible shape: the tires were ashy from wear, the paint was chipped from weather, and the engine sputtered from sitting idle for so long. Despite its sorry state, it was my father’s restoration project for a few weeks. He took a hunk of junk, and burned time, broke sweat, and battered tools to make it run like new. 

Likewise, you are the heavenly Father’s “restoration project” if you have been saved by grace. The Scripture says, “For we are His workmanship” (Eph. 2:10a). The Lord bought you from sin’s junkyard, and He is always working on you to make you run like new (cf. Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9-10). You are in His workshop of sanctification, but not for self-improvement. God is working on you to make you more like Christ: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). 

Like any good mechanic, the Father uses many tools to fix you up. The Bible is a hammer that God uses to flatten out the dents in your theology (Jer. 23:29). The local church is the place where God gives you a weekly “engine tune up” in order to run effectively for Him throughout the week. Trials and tribulations are the buff pads God uses to polish the scuffs on your faith (James 1:2-4). And prayer is the “jump” that cranks your engine for righteous living, since it is through prayer that we receive God’s own power to obey Him (James 5:16).

God isn’t finished with you yet, but He will finish what He started. The Scripture assures us, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). Until then, we must humbly submit to His means and methods of making us what we ought to be. And, we may exuberantly resound the words of He’s Still Workin’ on Me, the gospel classic which says: 

“He’s still workin’ on me

To make me what I ought to be;

It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,

The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.

How loving and patient He must be!

He’s still workin’ on me!”

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Get Rid of the Rags | Bible Gleanings – July 1-2, 2022

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He calls it “trashion.” Daniel Silverstein, a ragpicker from Brooklyn, creates designer outfits from clothing scraps and old garments that have been discarded. According to the New York Times, Silverstein only “works with the fabrics that other designers and costume departments and factories would normally throw out.” The old idiom that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure is the guiding proverb for his fashion line. Now, the closets of happy customers are fuller and landfills are a little emptier.

Christians are sometimes ragpickers, too. We have a tendency to pull the old clothes of sin from the bin of death and wear them again. The tattered garments of “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk” occasionally appear as treasure to the eyes of our flesh (Col. 3:8). However, such old clothes do not fit a new person (Col. 3:10). Therefore, the Scripture calls believers to jettison old sinful ways, like throwing away old clothes that no longer fit: “So then let us cast off the works of darkness” (Romans 13:12b).

God wants His children to “take out the trash.” Put them in the garbage can and walk away with the lid closed. Don’t hang the sins of your former life in the closet of your life. Tear off the old rags because one day, you shall walk in white: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment” (Rev. 3:5a, KJV).

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

Bible Gleanings, devotions

The Potter | Bible Gleanings – June 25-26, 2022

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The coffee mug in your cabinet was not always shiny and smooth. It began as a wet lump of shapeless mud that was formed and fashioned into a cup. It was held in the hands of a proficient potter before it held your morning joe. He carefully sculpted the clay until it was just right. And because of his handiwork, the once-useless and deformed clay was transformed into something meaningful and beautiful. 

To achieve the desired shape, the potter adds and takes away from the clay chunk at times. The things it doesn’t need are removed, and the things it does need are added. The potter also spins his wheel at various speeds to get the splodge of dirt precisely perfect. Finally, the clay is polished and perfected by being heated in a fiery kiln. The clay needs time, fire, and the wisdom of a potter to become useful—there is no product without the process. 

And such is the precious metaphor in the Scripture describing the work that God is always doing within His children. “But now,” said Isaiah, “O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8). The Potter shapes His people on the wheel of sanctification, molding them into vessels that are “useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21). He gives His saints what they need for the process of maturation to Christlikeness. Sometimes, He pinches off the besetting ways of the old life, and other times, He adds the water of His word to smooth away imperfections.

But the process cannot be rushed. It takes time to be shaped into a God-pleasing vessel. As the Scripture says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The fiery furnace of tribulation is also required to make one a beautiful masterpiece in God’s sight (1 Peter 1:6-7). The best thing believers can do is trust the wisdom of the Potter and, with humble submission, let Him work. “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?” (Isaiah 45:9)

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Total Remodel | Bible Gleanings – May 28-29, 2022

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Thank God for the Lowe’s credit card; without one, I would have overstayed my welcome at my parents’ house like Eric Forman from That 70’s Show. The puny plastic card allowed my wife and I to purchase the plethora of raw materials required to remodel our first home. And boy, did it need it. Patches and putty couldn’t repair the years of erosion and negligence that had rendered it uninhabitable. Everything old had to be removed and replaced with something new.

And thank God for the Carpenter, who does the same for everyone who is being remade in His image. That is why the Scripture says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17, KJV). Jesus does not merely patch up the old you—He makes you a new person. For He said:

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins” (Mark 2:21-22).

Jesus tears out our rotten and sin-eroded heart and replaces it with a new one that loves Him: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 36:26). He cleans out the living room of our hearts to make it a suitable dwelling for His presence: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20; cf. Eph. 3:17).

He sets us upon the sturdy foundation of His truth, delivering us from the deteriorating foundation of disobedience: “[We are] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20). And one day, the remodel will be complete when Christ appears in the sky to give His children a new body: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

Bible Gleanings, devotions

The Book That Cleans | Bible Gleanings – Feb 5-6, 2022

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Several years ago, Time Magazine published a segment titled The 25 Best Inventions of 2015, in which they listed a bevy of innovative inventions and cutting-edge gadgets that make the world a better place. Each gizmo and doodad enhances the quality of everyday life, but one invention stands above the rest: the Drinkable Book. Created by Theresa Dankovich, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, the Drinkable Book contains silver-infused pages that can be used to filter contaminated water. Just one page filters up to 100 liters of water, providing a cost-effective solution for impoverished communities who do not have access to clean drinking water. The book’s purifying pages ensure survival for people who would otherwise perish from bacterial infections and other deadly waterborne diseases—the book is literally life-saving.

There is another kind of Book that cleanses—one that may be found on the nightstand, the pulpit, or the pew: the word of the living God, the Bible. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Scripture contains sanitizing pages that filter the bacteria of evil from our lives. Each passage in God’s word is infused with sin-killing, iniquity-cleansing, wickedness-purifying truth that sanctifies us from sin unto God. That is why Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Without its disinfecting truth, we will suffer from sin-infections contracted from worldly corruption, heart-borne evils, and false teaching.

The human heart flows with the “springs of life” as Solomon wrote, but because the heart is also “desperately wicked,” it spews tainted water that toxically contaminates all of existence (Proverbs 4:23; Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, we need the truth of Scripture to pierce our innermost being and expunge us of evil (Hebrews 4:12). It is only by His “precious and very great promises” that we are cleansed of defilement (2 Peter 1:4). Nothing but the “whole counsel of God” can flush the mind of the muck of error (Acts 20:27; cf. 2 Timothy 3:16). As the psalmist aptly confessed, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word” (Psalm 119:9).

Filter your heart’s fountain with God’s word. Sift all ideas and teachings through the pages of Scripture before you drink them in. Clean off the dust from your Bible so God may use it to clean you. “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3, KJV).

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

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The Grime of Sin | Bible Gleanings – Sept 18-19, 2021

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The sidewalk was caked in stubbly greenish lichen. Decades of black algae enveloped each concrete step. My pressure washer was up to snuff, and the icky gunk peeled off without a fight. Sandy white steps now sat beside grimy ones, and a friend remarked, “I didn’t realize how nasty they were until now!” The muck didn’t seem so bad when all the steps were buried in grime. The depth of the filth was only evident when compared to the speckless and sparkling steps beside them.

We don’t seem all that bad when compared to supposedly more wretched sinners. Our grimy sins don’t seem that horrible measured against the unfathomable sins committed by others who appear to be more depraved than we are. None of us have mass-murdered millions of people the way Hitler, Stalin, or Mussolini did. Who among us has a gangster or drug-trafficking background like Al Capone or Pablo Escobar? Who among us, like Jim Jones or Charles Manson, has formed a cult?

However, such worthless comparisons will only deceive. The truth is that we are all buried in the vile muck of evil. We are sin-aholics—slaves of darkness who can’t seem to get enough of it. We are darkness-lovers and light-haters; rotten to the core and contaminated by sin’s putridity (John 3:19; Psalm 14:1-3; Romans 1:18-31; 2:1; 3:10-18, 23). And we can only grasp the seriousness of our sinfulness when we compare ourselves to the sinless and spotless Savior, Jesus Christ.

The depth of our depravity becomes apparent when we measure ourselves against the untainted righteousness of the Lord Jesus. Our garments are soiled—His robes are white without a speck (Isaiah 64:6). We have the scarlet stain of sin on our hands—He is wholly unstained (Isaiah 1:15; 59:3). Our eyes are fixed on evil—His are immaculately pure (Habakkuk 1:13). We are enchanted by sin’s darkness, but, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

Fortunately for you and me, Christ is up to the task—He will thoroughly wash us of sin’s sludge. His blood erases the stain of evil (1 John 1:7). His Spirit detoxifies us from the filth of sin (Titus 3:5). His grace scrubs the guilt of our wickedness away (Jeremiah 33:8).

Therefore, come in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ—just as you are—begrimed and bedraggled by the mire of sin. Turn away from the foul path of spiritual filth toward Jesus, believing that His blood can wash you. When you do, God says to you, “You will walk with Me in white!” (Revelation 3:4).

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).