Don't forget to bring someone along to worship and brunch . Revival has begun and many just need an invite to come and see and feel His Love! Maybe even invite someone to our Eve Eve Acts 2:42 dinner worship with communion?
We will be looking thankfully at Isaiah 43 . (A passage used since the beginning of The Chosen)
Good Morning Chosen, Redeemed, Called-By-Name Child of God! Thanks Lord! Amen! We are known, loved, called, saved and empowered to become like Jesus and to share the Good News of how He has changed us from glory to glory--from one way to another to another and how He is always with us and helping us to overcome, choose joy and stand firm and be thankful always! Yes PTL! Check out the devotionals below and meditate on the greatness and deep love of the God who made you, loves you, calls you by name, forgives, redeems and empowers you to live and love like Him . You were created for such a time as this and get to overflow with love and from a position of great gratitude for all He is and all He has done for you! Yes rejoice with much !
The Upper Room is a separate tract yet can tie to living thankfully because of God and His love, even in our pain and suffering. I did a funeral for a family that lost a child/sister/mother last year at the race track and now the 56 year old father/husband/brother unexpectedly. He had sort of adopted the grandson of the daughter who passed. It was a tough day. Yet we were able to celebrate and rejoice because of God, His saving love and promises and because we know we can have a heavenly reunion someday with them because of their faith and ours. Many struggle during holiday seasons. It's difficult to lift and find joy in these dark valleys...BUT GOD. We need to prepare our hearts for these kind of hard things and commit ourselves to always choosing joy and being thankful in all things. It's very hard sometimes. We need God and each other in these times but we just want to be alone and miserable and grieve. Ask God to help you be still and know that He is always God and with you and working all things together for good for those who believe. Ask for help to choose joy and to refocus with . Life just plain sucks sometimes and is even worse for many during holidays. Pray for peace beyond understanding over many and for a faith that stands firm in Christ always. And then ask who you can help and then choose to go live and love like Jesus and this holiday season. God made you and has gifted and empowered you for such a time as this! Go! Be Christ in the flesh and bring His love and help alive. Someone needs you and to feel His love right now. Go! Live and love like Jesus and with a thankful heart . Amen! I'm thankful for all of you and praying for you to see, hear, feel and want to go incarnate His love and help. Amen
ODB:
Treasured Possession
Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. John 12:3
My father first locked eyes on my mother at a party in London. Next he gate-crashed a second party, then organized a third, just to see her again. Finally he asked Mum out for a country drive, picking her up in his old Rover sedan—his treasured possession.
Mum and Dad became sweethearts, but there was a problem. Mum was about to move to Peru to become a missionary. Dad took her to the airport, then five months later arrived in Peru himself—to propose to her. And the best part of the story? He’d sold his beloved Rover to pay for the plane ticket.
If you would’ve asked Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, what her most treasured possession was, she’d have shown you a precious bottle of “expensive perfume” (John 12:3). And if you’d have been at the party she and Martha threw for Jesus (v. 2) and watched her lavish that bottle’s contents on his feet, you’d have known just what Christ meant to her. He was that precious, that valuable.
For my mother, Dad selling his car wasn’t just about a plane ticket. It was a sign of how much he valued her. And Mary’s actions had deeper meaning too—she was preparing Jesus for His burial (v. 7). Like her, when we sacrifice for God what we treasure most, we take part in His redemptive work by echoing His great sacrifice for us.
By Sheridan Voysey
REFLECT & PRAY
What treasure would you give up for God? How would you feel in Mary’s place, when Jesus revealed the deeper meaning of her actions?
Dear Jesus, You’re more valuable to me than my most treasured earthly possession.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Through her actions, Mary of Bethany displayed how precious Jesus was to her. Several things are worth noting in this account. Her devotion was costly: “Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume . . . . It was worth a year’s wages” (John 12:3, 5). Furthermore, the scent of the perfume (v. 3) matched the fragrant aroma of her devotion to Christ. But the striking scene of lavish devotion was disrupted by the response of Judas Iscariot. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?” he asked (v. 5). Judas, who would later betray Jesus (v. 4), was a deceiver who covered his motives with pious words (v. 5); he was a hypocrite and a thief (v. 6) who would betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver (four months’ wages). But Jesus had the last word when He replied, “Leave her alone” (v. 7). Christ, who surrendered all for us, still desires that we treasure Him over everything.
Visit go.odb.org/112225 to learn more about what Mary’s actions tell us about worship.
Arthur Jackson
TWFYT
Sarah Young
UR: A Journey Through grief
[The Lord] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. - Psalm 147:3 (NIV)
“Dear Lord,” I prayed, “I feel as though I have reached the bottom of despair.” I was on my way home from my son’s funeral. What right did the people on the streets have to be happy? Why was the musician allowed to play a merry tune outside of the music store as I passed by? My world was shattered. Didn’t they understand?
The road loomed ahead of me out into the darkness. Then to my astonishment, as I approached a small village, an illuminated cross on a church came into my view. God, you are with me, I thought. You know the depth of my sorrow. The cross reminded me of the suffering Jesus endured for me, and I was comforted.
I knew that in time I would have to accept my son’s sudden death. Denial was not a choice. I began to realize I had been blessed to have had my son in my life for 33 years. Time is indeed a healer, but this fact is of no comfort when grief first strikes. As time has gone by, the lives of my relatives and friends have returned to normal, but mine has not. Working through grief isn’t easy, but it is necessary. And I know that only God’s constant love can deliver us from despair.
's Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for being with us as we walk through the valley of death. Amen.
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