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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017
To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and
the government will be on his shoulders. (ISAIAH 9:6 (NIV))
Celebrating Christmas as Jesus’ birthday has always helped me to remember God’s love for us. However, the birth of our first son, Peter, gave Christmas new meaning for me. My wife, Rosie, was about two weeks overdue, so she was asked to come to the hospital on the morning of December 3, 1993. After the doctors tried multiple times to induce labor, they decided to perform a cesarean section. On the evening of Sunday, December 5, we finally had a baby boy! Peter experienced his first Christmas when he was three weeks old. We took him to church on Christmas Day, and while I was holding him in my arms and looking at his face, tears came to my eyes. This little baby of ours reminded me that Jesus was born into the world as a tiny baby. As I looked at my son I saw God in action: the world’s salvation came as a baby who was just as helpless and dependent on his family as Peter. Our baby son that I held in my arms helped me see the meaning of Christmas in a whole new way.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Celebrating Christmas as Jesus’ birthday has always helped me to remember God’s love for us. However, the birth of our first son, Peter, gave Christmas new meaning for me. My wife, Rosie, was about two weeks overdue, so she was asked to come to the hospital on the morning of December 3, 1993. After the doctors tried multiple times to induce labor, they decided to perform a cesarean section. On the evening of Sunday, December 5, we finally had a baby boy! Peter experienced his first Christmas when he was three weeks old. We took him to church on Christmas Day, and while I was holding him in my arms and looking at his face, tears came to my eyes. This little baby of ours reminded me that Jesus was born into the world as a tiny baby. As I looked at my son I saw God in action: the world’s salvation came as a baby who was just as helpless and dependent on his family as Peter. Our baby son that I held in my arms helped me see the meaning of Christmas in a whole new way.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
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Isaiah 9:1 (2) The people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those living in the land that lies
in the shadow of death, light has dawned.
2 (3) You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice in your presence
as if rejoicing at harvest time,
the way men rejoice
when dividing up the spoil.
3 (4) For the yoke that weighed them down,
the bar across their shoulders,
and their driver’s goad
you have broken as on the day of Midyan[’s defeat].
4 (5) For all the boots of soldiers marching
and every cloak rolled in blood
is destined for burning,
fuel for the fire.
5 (6) For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us;
dominion will rest on his shoulders,
and he will be given the name
Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor
Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom
[Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God,
Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace],
6 (7) in order to extend the dominion
and perpetuate the peace
of the throne and kingdom of David,
to secure it and sustain it
through justice and righteousness
henceforth and forever.
The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot
will accomplish this.
7 (8) Adonai sent a word to Ya‘akov,
and it has fallen on Isra’el
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Jesus came into the world as a baby just like I did.
New Parents
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Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
---The Upper Room Daily Devotional from The United Methodist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Monday, 4 December 2017 " Simply Doing Good" by K. Anne Smith (Tennessee)- 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017
Paul wrote, “As for you, brothers and sisters,
never tire of doing what is good.” (2 THESSALONIANS 3:13 (NIV))
A friend and I were collecting trash along a walkway in our town. We picked up discarded coffee cups, hamburger wrappers, and potato chip bags. When we spotted two city employees emptying nearby trash bins, we asked if we could add our bag to the pile in their truck. “Sure,” they said, “toss it in.” So we threw our small, white bag onto the pile of large, green bags in the truck. Then we congratulated ourselves for our good deed. Later that evening as I drove into town, I passed the same walkway. In the middle of the road lay our bag of trash. It had fallen off the truck, and its contents lay strewn across the highway. Our good deed had been undone. Often it seems that my good deeds go awry: I hold the door for an elderly man, and he barks that he is capable of opening the door for himself; I brake to allow another driver to merge into traffic and I get rear-ended. It’s then that I want to throw my hands into the air and give up. That is when I need to remember that “doing what is good” is an end in itself. Even when our acts of love seem to be for naught, we can serve God by caring for others, and such service is a blessing.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
A friend and I were collecting trash along a walkway in our town. We picked up discarded coffee cups, hamburger wrappers, and potato chip bags. When we spotted two city employees emptying nearby trash bins, we asked if we could add our bag to the pile in their truck. “Sure,” they said, “toss it in.” So we threw our small, white bag onto the pile of large, green bags in the truck. Then we congratulated ourselves for our good deed. Later that evening as I drove into town, I passed the same walkway. In the middle of the road lay our bag of trash. It had fallen off the truck, and its contents lay strewn across the highway. Our good deed had been undone. Often it seems that my good deeds go awry: I hold the door for an elderly man, and he barks that he is capable of opening the door for himself; I brake to allow another driver to merge into traffic and I get rear-ended. It’s then that I want to throw my hands into the air and give up. That is when I need to remember that “doing what is good” is an end in itself. Even when our acts of love seem to be for naught, we can serve God by caring for others, and such service is a blessing.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
* * *
1 Thessalonians 5:12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who are working hard among you, those who are guiding you in the Lord and confronting you in order to help you change. 13 Treat them with the highest regard and love because of the work they are doing. Live at peace among yourselves; 14 but we urge you, brothers, to confront those who are lazy, your aim being to help them change, to encourage the timid, to assist the weak, and to be patient with everyone.
15 See that no one repays evil for evil; on the contrary, always try to do good to each other, indeed, to everyone.
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I will do a small deed in God’s service today.
Sanitation workers
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Copyright © The Upper Room 2017, All rights reserved.
Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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The Upper Room Daily Devotional from The United Methodist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Sunday, 3 December 2017 "First Sunday of Advent" by Ruth E. Hetland (Minnesota) -
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2017
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a
son, and they will call him Immanuel
(which means “God with us”). (MATTHEW 1:23 (NIV))
Advent may be the church season of beginnings, but in the northern hemisphere Advent occurs during a cold season in which very little in nature is pointing to burgeoning life. But life is there nonetheless. Deep under the ground, seeds are waiting for the warmth of the sun to bring them to sprout new life. The trees will again put forth leaves as the days become longer and warmer. In the middle of winter we may begin to feel as if spring will never come, but the promise is there. God promises new life for us as well. In the midst of the dead ends of our lives — those times or places where we feel lost or just too tired to think — God reminds us: there is yet time! Those things you dream about are still possible. God can still answer those prayers you have been praying. No matter whether we are refreshed or tired, peaceful or anxious, hopeful or hopeless, God sends a message we need to hear. The story of Advent is the story of Immanuel, “God with us.” Even in the darkest night, even in a hospital room, even on the cross, God is always about beginnings.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Advent may be the church season of beginnings, but in the northern hemisphere Advent occurs during a cold season in which very little in nature is pointing to burgeoning life. But life is there nonetheless. Deep under the ground, seeds are waiting for the warmth of the sun to bring them to sprout new life. The trees will again put forth leaves as the days become longer and warmer. In the middle of winter we may begin to feel as if spring will never come, but the promise is there. God promises new life for us as well. In the midst of the dead ends of our lives — those times or places where we feel lost or just too tired to think — God reminds us: there is yet time! Those things you dream about are still possible. God can still answer those prayers you have been praying. No matter whether we are refreshed or tired, peaceful or anxious, hopeful or hopeless, God sends a message we need to hear. The story of Advent is the story of Immanuel, “God with us.” Even in the darkest night, even in a hospital room, even on the cross, God is always about beginnings.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
* * *
Matthew 1:18 Here is how the birth of Yeshua the Messiah took place. When his mother Miryam was engaged to Yosef, before they were married, she was found to be pregnant from the Ruach HaKodesh. 19 Her husband-to-be, Yosef, was a man who did what was right; so he made plans to break the engagement quietly, rather than put her to public shame. 20 But while he was thinking about this, an angel of Adonai appeared to him in a dream and said, “Yosef, son of David, do not be afraid to take Miryam home with you as your wife; for what has been conceived in her is from the Ruach HaKodesh. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this happened in order to fulfill what Adonai had said through the prophet,
23 “The virgin will conceive and bear a son,
and they will call him ‘Immanu El.”[Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14]
(The name means, “God is with us.”)
24 When Yosef awoke he did what the angel of Adonai had told him to do — he took Miryam home to be his wife, 25 but he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Yeshua.
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God offers me hope and new beginnings.
Someone waiting for an answer to prayer
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Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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The Upper Room Daily Devotional from The United Methodist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Saturday, 2 December 2017 "God’s Comfort" by David Powell (Cumbria, England) - 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2017
Just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. (2 CORINTHIANS 1:5 (NIV))
I was in Dhaka, Bangladesh in April 2013 when the Rana Plaza building collapsed killing 1,100 people — most of them women. I reluctantly decided not to join the search for the bodies because I knew I would slow down the search-and-rescue process. I felt so frustrated that I couldn’t help the very people my family and I had come to serve. As the death toll mounted over the following days and weeks, other Christians and I visited hospitals and prayed with those who were injured or grieving. Throughout that time I remembered the verse quoted above, and the disaster gave me new understanding of the reality of Christ’s suffering. If I could feel such pain for people I loved but barely knew, how much more does God — who knows us perfectly and gave Christ to save us — love us? It brought me to tears as I thought about the way God comforts us in times of distress. God understands the pain we feel from loss and offers us peace in the midst of grief. And we are called to let the comfort God gives us overflow to others.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
I was in Dhaka, Bangladesh in April 2013 when the Rana Plaza building collapsed killing 1,100 people — most of them women. I reluctantly decided not to join the search for the bodies because I knew I would slow down the search-and-rescue process. I felt so frustrated that I couldn’t help the very people my family and I had come to serve. As the death toll mounted over the following days and weeks, other Christians and I visited hospitals and prayed with those who were injured or grieving. Throughout that time I remembered the verse quoted above, and the disaster gave me new understanding of the reality of Christ’s suffering. If I could feel such pain for people I loved but barely knew, how much more does God — who knows us perfectly and gave Christ to save us — love us? It brought me to tears as I thought about the way God comforts us in times of distress. God understands the pain we feel from loss and offers us peace in the midst of grief. And we are called to let the comfort God gives us overflow to others.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
* * *
2 Corinthians 1:3 Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, compassionate Father, God of all encouragement and comfort; 4 who encourages us in all our trials, so that we can encourage others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God.
5 For just as the Messiah’s sufferings overflow into us, so through the Messiah our encouragement also overflows. 6 So if we undergo trials, it is for your encouragement and deliverance; and if we are encouraged, that should encourage you when you have to endure sufferings like those we are experiencing. 7 Moreover, our hope for you remains staunch, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, you will also share in the encouragement.
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I will trust in God’s comfort so I can share it with others.
The people of Bangladesh
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Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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The Upper Room Daily Devotional from The United Methodist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Friday, 1 December 2017 "Our Anchor" by Belinda Jo “BJ” Mathias (Mississippi) - Mark 4:35-41
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017
We have this hope as an anchor
for the soul, firm and secure. (HEBREWS 6:19 (NIV))
I never thought about the absolute necessity of an anchor until I stood aboard a 1935, 45-foot, double-masted sailing vessel watching dark storm clouds roll in above the Chesapeake Bay. The clouds obscured the sun’s light from above, as choppy seas tossed us about. In the midst of that storm, the captain dropped anchor, and the heavy chain delivered it to the depths. There the anchor grabbed hold of the sea bottom and the ship was steadied by the anchor’s weight, giving us a sense of security. It was then that I realized why we need an anchor. I also learned what the writer of Hebrews meant when he spoke of God as our anchor. Sometimes an anchor is the only thing that holds firm. During our life’s journey we may feel battered about as if wind were tearing at our sails and water overtaking the deck of our ship. We may cry out for peace and yearn for safe passage through the storm. When the storms rage, God holds us firmly, never wavering, never failing, always loving, always caring. The one who can calm a raging sea is our anchor and our almighty God.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
I never thought about the absolute necessity of an anchor until I stood aboard a 1935, 45-foot, double-masted sailing vessel watching dark storm clouds roll in above the Chesapeake Bay. The clouds obscured the sun’s light from above, as choppy seas tossed us about. In the midst of that storm, the captain dropped anchor, and the heavy chain delivered it to the depths. There the anchor grabbed hold of the sea bottom and the ship was steadied by the anchor’s weight, giving us a sense of security. It was then that I realized why we need an anchor. I also learned what the writer of Hebrews meant when he spoke of God as our anchor. Sometimes an anchor is the only thing that holds firm. During our life’s journey we may feel battered about as if wind were tearing at our sails and water overtaking the deck of our ship. We may cry out for peace and yearn for safe passage through the storm. When the storms rage, God holds us firmly, never wavering, never failing, always loving, always caring. The one who can calm a raging sea is our anchor and our almighty God.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
* * *
Mark 4:35 That day, when evening had come, Yeshua said to them, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So, leaving the crowd behind, they took him just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. 37 A furious windstorm arose, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was close to being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern on a cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, “Rabbi, doesn’t it matter to you that we’re about to be killed?” 39 He awoke, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind subsided, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no trust even now?” 41 But they were terrified and asked each other, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the waves obey him?”
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“God is our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1).
Those who work on the sea
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