The Upper Room Daily Devotionals in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Spider Town" for Friday, 4 November 2016 with Scripture: Leviticus 26:1-13

The Upper Room Daily Devotionals in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Spider Town" for Friday, 4 November 2016 with Scripture: Leviticus 26:1 “‘You are not to make yourselves any idols, erect a carved statue or a standing-stone, or place any carved stone anywhere in your land in order to bow down to it. I am Adonai your God.
2 “‘Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am Adonai.
3 “‘If you live by my regulations, observe my mitzvot and obey them; 4 then I will provide the rain you need in its season, the land will yield its produce, and the trees in the field will yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing time will extend until the grape harvest, and your grape harvesting will extend until the time for sowing seed. You will eat as much food as you want and live securely in your land.
(LY: ii) 6 “‘I will give shalom in the land — you will lie down to sleep unafraid of anyone. I will rid the land of wild animals. The sword will not go through your land. 7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before your sword. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand — your enemies will fall before your sword.
9 “‘I will turn toward you, make you productive, increase your numbers and uphold my covenant with you. (RY: v, LY: iii) 10 You will eat all you want from last year’s harvest and throw out what remains of the old to make room for the new. 11 I will put my tabernacle among you, and I will not reject you, 12 but I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, so that you can walk upright.
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Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.[Matthew 6:33 (NRSV)]
After the rain, the sun shone low across the path as I walked toward my home on a late summer’s morning. This path is bordered by tall close-clipped evergreen hedges, all festooned that morning with row upon row of finger-length webs — small glistening hammocks, each one hiding its builder, a tiny spider.
I thought briefly of this community of spiders, who were concerned only for their essentials, revealing another example of God’s amazing creation.
And then I thought of the many different human communities in our world, each with individual stories to tell. I thought of the residents of the homes around me, and those in the apartments nearer the city center. I thought of the early morning busyness and the anticipation of a new day; of the worries of illness and people looking for work; of the stress of strained relationships; of children who are neglected.
As I walked and prayed for all of these people, I thought of my own life and my communities and gave thanks to God for my health and well-being. I thought of the ways I might be able to meet the needs of those around me, and I praised God, our Creator and Savior.
Read more from the author, here."More from Brian Beeson"

I have always been fascinated by spiders’ webs. I marvel at the intricacy of design and the achievement by such a small creature. I accept that many people are afraid of spiders and shrink from any encounter with them in the home. If I find one in the bath in my home, rather than swamping it with water or crushing it, I use a strategy of catching it by swiftly inverting a glass tumbler over it to contain its movements. Then I slide a piece of card gently underneath the glass so that I am able to lift it out of the bath, holding the card as I do so. With that done I take it out of the house and throw it out of the tumbler onto a boundary hedge.
Webs can be many different shapes, some quite large and intricate; others, such as those mentioned in my reflection "Spider Town," are small and hang on the foliage like miniature hammocks.
Each type of spider had its own lifestyle and has an important place in the ecology – in God’s world – and deserves our respect.[Brian Beeson]

"Link2Life for November 4, 2016"

Upper Room author Brian Beeson beside the spider webs.

The Author: Brian Beeson (Derbeyshire, England)
Thought for the Day: Today I will look for new ways to serve my community.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to see the needs of those around us and to respond as you would. Amen.
Prayer focus: THOSE STRUGGLING IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

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