Today's Devotional:
The Upper Room Daily Devotional "Granny’s Girl" for Wednesday, 20 May 2015 - Scripture: Romans 8:14 All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to bring you back again into fear; on the contrary, you received the Spirit, who makes us sons and by whose power we cry out, “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”). 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our own spirits that we are children of God; 17 and if we are children, then we are also heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Messiah — provided we are suffering with him in order also to be glorified with him.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God![1 John 3:1 (NIV)]
Recently my husband and I were shopping in a shoe store when a four-year-old girl and her grandmother appeared. The child looked at me with the happiest smile you can imagine. I commented on the small shoebox that she held, and she eagerly showed me her new pink athletic shoes. After our conversation, the girl took her grandmother’s hand, and they began walking away. Then the child turned, looked back, and said proudly, “I’m Granny’s girl!”
How proud that little girl was of her new shoes, holding them close to her heart! But it was evident by the expression on her face and assurance in her words that her greatest joy was her loving relationship with her grandmother.
I was reminded of the many scriptures in which God expresses a yearning for a loving relationship with us. How many of us are as sure of who we are and whose we are as that child was, and how often do we joyously proclaim it to others, even to passing strangers? For Christians this can be as spontaneous as a child expressing love for her grandmother. And so I proclaim with all the joyfulness and thankfulness of my heart, “I am God’s child — today and forever!”
The Author: Norma Hubbard (Mississippi, USA)
Thought for the Day: I am God’s child — today and forever!
Prayer: O God, may we always be proud and eager to tell the world that we are your beloved children. Amen.
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Today's Devotional:
The Upper Room Daily Devotional "Ordinary Jars" for Tuesday, 19 May 2015 - Scripture: John 2:1 On Tuesday[a] there was a wedding at Kanah in the Galil; and the mother of Yeshua was there. 2 Yeshua too was invited to the wedding, along with his talmidim. 3 The wine ran out, and Yeshua’s mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 Yeshua replied, “Mother, why should that concern me? — or you? My time hasn’t come yet.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now six stone water-jars were standing there for the Jewish ceremonial washings, each with a capacity of twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Yeshua told them, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. 8 He said, “Now draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the banquet”; and they took it. 9 The man in charge tasted the water; it had now turned into wine! He did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. So he called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone else serves the good wine first and the poorer wine after people have drunk freely. But you have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This, the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs, he did at Kanah in the Galil; he manifested his glory, and his talmidim came to trust in him.[Footnotes:
John 2:1 Greek: the third day, equivalent to Hebrew yom shlishi]
The steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”[John 2:9-10 (NRSV)]
When Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding in Cana, he did not request special, priceless vessels. Jesus called simply for the ordinary, everyday water jars made of clay that could be found in every home and public building. From these commonplace vessels, the stewards surprised the wedding guests by pouring out the best wine that had been served that day.
In his ministry, Jesus continually turned society’s expectations upside down. He chose to eat and pray with women and tax collectors. He fed a multitude with five loaves and two fish. And Jesus chose ordinary jars of clay — sinners like you and me — in which to pour the priceless gift of his love.
Like the stewards at the wedding at Cana who poured the best wine, we can pour out the love that Jesus has put in us so that many may be served and satisfied.
Sensing Joy and Love by Neely Baugh
The meditation today speaks of “Ordinary Jars” and “Empty Jars” and how these mediocre vessels and ordinary, plain water were used by Jesus to provide the best wine for the wedding guests. How sinners and “flawed vessels” can glorify Him!
My right ear is totally deaf and it is deemed, by specialists, that it is pointless to provide a hearing aid to amplify the available hearing because simple mathematics states that zero multiplied by any number remains zero. That’s how bad it is! My left ear is not much better but has a glimmer of usefulness!
Then, out of the space age, arrived a man-made digital “miracle” that perched, feather-light, behind my ear and fed wonderful pure sound through a tiny tube into my dysfunctional “sound system.” For the first time in 30 years I heard a quiet clock ticking! My life and relationships (and the patience and vocal gymnastics of my family and friends) over the last 3 years have been transformed!
About a month ago my ear began to feel tender and irritated. It became swollen and uncomfortable. Ear drops were prescribed and I could not wear my hearing aid for 2 weeks. Silence reigned!! My family and friends again suffered from laryngitis and ragged patience but the tensions were relieved frequently by paroxysms of laughter at my mis-interpretations and wildly inappropriate responses. My miracle had been taken from me!
Through two Sunday and two midweek services I sat in a vacuum of silence and watched lips moving and tried to interpret the hand and arm gestures, to little avail. Although the lovely strains of the organ penetrated softly, I was scared to sing too loudly in case I had the wrong hymn or was singing a different verse to the others!
It was given powerfully to me that I could still see and sense the joy and love in the worshipful expressions on the faces around me and feel the love in the embraces and hand-shakes of the “peace”; the loving concern and guidance of my precious Val beside me in the pew. The presence of the Holy Spirit was all around me. God’s glorious light was visible brightly through the stained-glass beauty and as I knelt at the altar-rail “Christ’s Body and Blood” forgave and rejuvenated my Spirit. Silence reigned but my heart was overflowing.
God’s promise was very real; that neither height, depth, width, death (or deafness) would ever remove the miracle of His presence and love from me.[Keith Honeyman]
Keith's hearing aid
The Author: Keith Honeyman (Western Cape, South Africa)
Thought for the Day: God is ready to fill us with love to share with others.
Prayer: Loving God, make us stewards of your love that all those who touch our lives may be served and never thirst again. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Prayer focus: Couples Planning Weddings
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