Daily Devotion, October 14, 2019

Devotion:

Read Matthew 9:35-38.

As Jesus traveled about, healing, teaching, and preaching the Good News, he was moved by the sheer number of persons who were living like sheep without a shepherd. This stirred him to ask his disciples to pray for more workers who might join him in the harvest. Jesus spoke from a deep connection with the people and the land. I grew up on a farm, and there were times in the late summer when the plants were grown, the fruit was ripening, and the time for harvest was coming. There was always a sense of urgency in preparing for the harvest, whether it was gathering the hay, corn, wheat, or whatever. The urgency came from the fact that the fruit of our labor would soon ripen and be ready for harvesting over a fairly short period of time; and if not harvested, the fruit or produce would soon decay or become unusable in other ways. As harvest time approached, it was time for “all hands on deck.”

Jesus’ call for prayer and preparation sends the clear message to us today that Jesus could not reach all the people by himself, and he needed workers then and needs workers now to help. In the very next verses in Chapter 10, he sends the twelve to join the harvest. This is a clear call for us to join in the harvest of seeking and nurturing others.

Personal Worship Option:

As you pray today, reflect on how the world today is filled with people without a shepherd. As Christ asks, pray for more workers who will go outside the church and into the community and their places of work and school to help others find Christ. Ask God to lead you into places of harvest as well and be open to God’s leading.

Daily Devotion, October 13, 2019

Devotion:

Read Genesis 1:11, 20, 24, 26-27.

  These verses remind us that God has been in the life-giving business from the beginning of time. God gave life to the plants, to the animals of the water, air and land, as well as to us humans. God is all about giving life where there is no life. God gives life.

  As the Bible story continues, we see this truth in other times and places. When Abraham and Sarah thought they were too old to have a child, God gave them a son named Isaac. God gave new life where there was no hope of new life. God gives life.

  Throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth, he regularly healed people and in some cases, brought them back from the dead. God gives life.

  Obviously, Easter is the ultimate example of this truth. Jesus gave up his life to die for us on the cross. But where there was no life, God gave new life. God resurrected Jesus from death. God proved that he could not be defeated by anything, including death. God gives life.

  As you go through each day, be open to the presence of this life-giving God all around you. God gives life.

Personal Worship Option:

There is a Taiwanese hymn in our UMC Hymnal that offers these words:

God created heaven and earth, all things perfect brought to birth;

God’s great power made dark and light, earth revolving day and night.

Let us praise God’s mercy great; all our needs that love await;

God who fashions all that lives to each one a blessing gives. 

Daily Devotion, October 12, 2019

Devotion:

Read John 20:30-31.

  As this writer nears the end of his book, he lets us know why he wrote it. Here is how Eugene Peterson translates verse 31 in The Message: “These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.”

  “Life” is a theme throughout this Gospel. In the fourth verse of the first chapter, the writer is talking about Jesus and says “In him was life…” John 3:16 says that all who believe in him “shall not perish but have eternal life.” And at 10:10, Jesus says “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Those are just a few of the places where this writer makes it clear that for him, Jesus was all about giving life to people.

  He still is. He invites us to receive the life he offers and then learn from him how to become a life-giving person; to let his life flow through us to others. Any time you are feeling lifeless, look to Christ for new life. Then go share it with others.

Personal Worship Option:

Is there some aspect of your life or world that is feeling lifeless? Pray about receiving new life from our Lord.

Daily Devotion, October 11, 2019

Devotion:

Read Acts 9:36-42.

  One of the purposes of the book of Acts was to assure the early Church that the ministry of Jesus continued on as powerful as it was when he was physically among them on the earth. The same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus was at work in his followers. (That is still true today.) This story is a prime example of that. I went back and looked up the story of Jesus healing Jairus’ daughter in Luke 8. As in this story, the gathered people were weeping because of her death. Jesus clears the room of everyone except his three disciples and her parents. Then he simply says to the girl “get up” as does Peter to Tabitha in this story.

  It had to be tempting in those early days and years after Jesus’ ministry to say “It’s just not like it was when Jesus was here.” Acts tells the story of his followers to emphasize “In a very real sense, he still is here.”

  Sometimes it is easy for us to look back on days gone by and say “It’s just not like it used to be” and forget that God is still very much alive and at work in the world. God is always about bringing new life out of what may seem dead in our life and world. You or I may not be given this particular healing power that Peter had, but we can still be the life-giving people of Christ.

Personal Worship Option:

Think about someone you know who is searching for a new sense of life right now. Pray about how God might want to use you to help provide a “springtime” for them.

Daily Devotion, October 10, 2019

Devotion:

Read Luke 8:40-42, 49-55.

Do you ever get impatient about the end of February to see those little buds pop out on the trees and have the daffodils start blooming? It seems like it takes so long to see that sign of life and spring. We are all eager at that point to put away the winter coats and we long to see the green of the grass and the dogwoods. We have faith that new growth will appear. When it does, we rejoice in God’s brilliant creation of spring life.

Let’s talk about the patience and faith that Jairus had concerning his daughter’s healing. After Jairus has made Jesus aware of the crisis, in going to attend to the girl, Jesus seems to be sidetracked by someone else’s need. It is while these things are happening that Jairus receives the bad news that his daughter has died. If one truly believes in God’s word, one must trust it will come out okay. What Jairus saw as time running out was in itself a test of his faith where God’s Word is concerned. Jairus still believed in Jesus’ plan as he continued to take Jesus to his house and go inside. She came alive. Jairus’s faith was recognized and rewarded. 

Personal Worship Option:

Help us to listen for your word, be patient as situations occur, and realize that our real life is the eternal life that we are promised. We need to trust in you in each season of our lives.

Daily Devotion, October 9, 2019

Devotion:

Read Romans 5:15-21.

In my much younger years, I heard a sermon series on the seven deadly sins---pride, envy, gluttony, anger, greed and sloth. It seemed to me to be the saddest set of sermons I had ever heard. And sins were, in my definition, more behavioral than these deeper sins of the mind and heart.

In these later years, my eyes have been opened to the truths of those sermons years ago. From the second stanza of Charles Wesley’s great hymn, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”, my prayer has become, “take away our bent toward sinning”.

Paul is speaking truth in Romans 5 when he declares that sin brings death to everyone. But Paul is also speaking truth that God’s grace through Jesus gives LIFE to everyone! In verses 15 and 17, Paul offers the words of comparison saying “how much more” is God’s gift and provision of grace to everyone!

Paul’s message to us all is that even though we have this “bent toward sinning” which brings death, God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ brings LIFE!!!

It is important to note the first verse of Romans 6, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means!” Paul says!!! Paul’s point is now that we have experienced God’s grace, our lives must also be transformed by God to walk in new ways!

Personal Worship Option:

Charles Wesley’s third stanza speaks of this new life. Let this be our prayer today. “Come, Almighty to deliver, let us all thy life receive; suddenly return, and never, nevermore thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above, pray and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love.”

Daily Devotion, October 8, 2019

Devotion:

Read Psalm 107:1-9.

This Psalm is a call to give thanks to the Lord. We are reminded that the Lord is good and his love lasts forever. His love has “redeemed” his people from their enemies and that is cause for celebration. In the dark “winter” of their lives his children were in the desert wastelands, hungry and thirsty. The Israelites had experienced captivity and bondage, had wandered through land and sea, and had experienced a famine. God led them to a city where they could settle, and this new life was worthy of praise. God helps us all through our own emergencies. He wants to guide us out of the dark and scary times of our life into a period of new life. I remember feeling God’s presence when my son suffered a terrible accident when he was nine years old. I wasn’t permitted to ride in the back of the ambulance with him, but I remember praying for God to give my son courage and me peace as we traveled that long ride to the hospital. We felt his presence and comfort through the kindness of the EMTs and then the hospital staff. We relied on God through the long recovery period and felt his presence through that hard season of life. What a wonderful celebration of God’s goodness the day my son was released to run and play. We celebrated God as we moved out of the dark period and into a fresh new life of healing and happiness. God is good – all the time.

Personal Worship Option:

Give thanks to God for the times he has seen you from the darkness to the light. Thank him for his goodness.