Sunday, May 8, 2016

“Are You Jesus?”

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” 1 Timothy 6:18 

After their meeting ran late, five out‐of‐town salesmen hurried as fast as they could to catch their train. As they raced through the terminal, one inadvertently kicked over a slender table on which rested a basket of apples. It belonged to a ten‐year‐old blind boy who was selling apples to pay for his books and clothes for school. The salesmen clambered aboard the train, but one felt compassion for the boy. He asked his friends to call his wife and tell her he would be late getting home.

Then he jumped off the train and returned to where the boy was standing. As the salesman gathered up the apples scattered across the floor, he noticed that several were bruised or split. Reaching into his pocket, he said to the boy, “Here’s twenty dollars for the apples we damaged. I hope we didn’t spoil your day. God bless you.” As he walked away, the boy called after him,

“Are you Jesus?”

We are most like Christ when we show compassion and generosity to others. Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). We reflect His character whether we’re helping someone less fortunate or giving our mate a back rub at the end of the day.

Just between us…
  • How do our interactions with others reflect the character of Jesus?
  • When was the last time we stopped to help another person in need?
  • How do you feel when you show compassion to someone else? 
Lord, we ask that Your extravagant love would flow through us each day to touch those around us. Show us how to serve, to help, and to give without expecting anything in return. Amen. 

From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.
Illustration from The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah Books, 1992). Reprinted in Stories for a Man’s Heart, comp. Al and Alice Gray (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1999).

TRAINING CHILDREN

…do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 

A Chinese Bible Woman shares the following situation that helped train her and her children in righteousness while her husband was in labor camp:

One day I said to my children, “The Lord has told me that today I will go to prison for Him. Father is also in prison so please behave. Love each other and don’t forget to bring food for your mom!”

During that time there were so many prisoners that the government could not provide for all of them so family members provided their food.

The children cried when they heard this. Daniel replied, “But mom, we have only five catties of rice left. How can we have rice and also send you some? When it’s all gone, we’ll die!”

I told the children, “The Lord can turn nothing into something!” and I reminded them of the story of Elijah and the widow. They had a simple child-like faith and believed that God could provide for their need. So they concluded, “Even though our rice is not enough, we will cook for you too!”

After talking with the children, The Public Security Bureau police came to the door and arrested me. Daniel followed me to the prison to find out which cell I would be in. The younger two children knelt in prayer. As I was taken away, my heart was wrenched as I heard their little voices trailing off.

I was in prison on that occasion for thirty days. All the while Daniel faithfully sent rice for me. When I returned home I asked, “Is there any rice left?”

Daniel's response was, “Mom, our rice container is overflowing!” It really was. Those five catties had inexplicably grown to about forty catties and were literally overflowing the container.

I said, “Praise the Lord! Now we can continue to cook for the other inmates and feed them as well.” The Lord’s grace is beyond measure. 

RESPONSE: In fulfilling the functions of the church in each Christian home, we have the great responsibility to train and instruct our children in faith and righteousness.

PRAYER: Lord, help me model today Your love, faith and righteousness before the little ones I am in a position to influence.

Dame Julian of Norwich

Today the church remembers Dame Julian of Norwich, c. 1417.

Dame Julian, or Lady Julian, so named from her gentle birth, was born in 1342. She claimed to be a simple, unlettered person; but though she was not learned, she was by no means uneducated. She knew her Bible and the teaching of the church, and she could express herself in vigorous English. It is possible, though there is no proof, that she became a Benedictine nun. On May 8, 1373, at the age of thirty, she received a series of "Sixteen Shewings" that are recorded in the first version of her Revelations of Divine Love. These visions came in response to prayers for "three gifts from God": to have the mind of Christ's Passion, a bodily sickness, and the gift of three wounds" of contrition, compassion, and a "willful longing toward God." Some twenty years later her Revelations were expanded as a result of "inward teaching."

After the experience of 1373 she retired, with a personal servant, to a hermitage in the churchyard of St. Julian, Conisford, Norwich, so situated that she could witness the celebration of Mass in the church and receive visitors. The date of her death is unknown. The latest document that mentions her is dated 1416. Her book reveals tender meditations on the Passion of Christ and the mystery of the Holy Trinity, combined with a keen intellect and shrewd common sense, and a concern for the salvation of Jews and pagans. Her remarkable sense of balance and proportion is exhibited in her Revelations.

Reveal to us your Passion, Lord Christ, that we might celebrate with joy the mystery of our salvation. Amen.

Read the Wikipedia article here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich

Lord God, in your compassion you granted to the Lady Julian many revelations of your nurturing and sustaining love: Move our hearts, like hers, to seek you above all things, for in giving us yourself you give us all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Daily Readings for May 8, 2016 - Seventh Sunday of Easter

Acts 16:16-34
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.


Psalm 97
1 The LORD is King; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.
3 A fire goes before him and burns up his enemies on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees it and is afraid.
5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
7 Confounded be all who worship carved images and delight in false gods! Bow down before him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O LORD.
9 For you are the LORD, most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; he preserves the lives of his saints and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light has sprung up for the righteous, and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, and give thanks to his holy Name.

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
"See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone's work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. "It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let everyone who hears say, "Come." And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

John 17:20-26
"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

The Daily Meditation for May 8, 2016 - Seventh Sunday of Easter

From Forward Day by Day

Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Revelation has a reputation as the science fiction/horror story of the Bible. Too often, it’s been used as a “look at what horrible things will happen” narrative to induce fear in us.

Actually, it’s a hopeful, comforting book. The words of Revelation, albeit filled with images that are otherworldly and strange, are the words we often read at funerals. They are words that reassure us that God will wipe away every tear and the souls of God’s beloved will be comforted.

And Revelation gives us the message that God is letting us know God is the beginning and the end, and all in between. There is no time, space, event, or moment that is not included in the totality of God’s love for us.

Every second is imbued with God. Every year, decade, and eon is part of God. This doesn’t mean bad things won’t ever happen to us. After all, we humans do make mistakes. It does, however, remind us that even in the tension, the chaos, the mistakes, and the tragedies, God is still present.

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Verse of the Day - May 08, 2016

Colossians 4:5-6 (NIV) Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Read all of Colossians 4