Happy Mother's Day! May the love like a mother's love overwhelm you ! God is love and He loves you like a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings to comfort and protect. Amen!
Good Morning Redeemed Worshipers! Yes we are! PTL! Prepare to worship in spirit and truth . Enter His gates with praise and His courts with ! Check out our Mother's Day devotionals below and prepare your hearts and lift praises! We will gather soon to worship together and many will gather with moms and families later . May God be with you and fill you to overflow with His love, peace and joy! Amen!
So freaky night with mom! She passed at 8:15 last evening and was pronounced at that time. About 40 minutes later while my sister was with her waiting for Terry to arrive to say goodbye, she started breathing again and returned to her tent. The staff and all of us were freaking. They had never experienced this before. That's just like mom, messing with us. We had all said our goodbyes and committed her spirit to God in prayer. BUT GOD and mom! We all had made our peace and then--WHAT?!?! She's alive? Reminds me of Jesus and the tomb or Jonah in the whale. (we will study Joan 2 . It's his prayer inside the big fish) All we could do was laugh. around 4:30 with my sister with her, mom did step into the arms of Jesus and take her first breaths of heaven and is now celebrating her best Mother's Day ever! What a trip for sure! My grandmother, mom's mother-in-law waited to pass on years ago. She waited for all of us to have our meals and when her husband returned, she passed. Mom may have wanted to allow Terry his time with her. He was at home and had just pulled into the hospital when she started breathing again. Who knows. But at 4:30 was her appointed time and she let go for good. And now, even though we mourn, we can celebrate and even laugh a little. What the heck mom?!?! We will sure have a story for generations! And now we carry on in the strength and comfort God gives us. Amen!
After worship , we will make plans for heading down to do her service there and then fly her ashes home. There will be no Zoom Huddle and no Dinner Huddle . Thank you for your prayers and love we feel them ! May God bless you all and may you all know His love, joy and peace beyond understanding ! Shalom shalom!
ODB:
Jesus Revealed in Us
We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
After Joni Eareckson Tada’s mother died, Joni thought about how our bodies are like “jars of clay” that hold the treasure of Christ’s presence. She mused about a modern equivalent to describe our earthly bodies—a cardboard box. She knew her mother’s “box,” with its worn-out corners and bends, was now empty. But, she reflected, it was a box they’d treasured, “the vessel in which the treasure of the Spirit of Christ had dwelt.”
As Joni notes, those who follow Jesus let Him shine through them, often in spectacular ways through the creases and holes as their boxes collapse with age. In this she followed Paul’s words about the treasure appearing in “jars of clay” because it would reveal that “this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Although Paul was “hard pressed” and “perplexed” with what he suffered, he was not “crushed” or “destroyed” (vv. 8-9). Through his sufferings in his body, he knew that Christ’s life would be revealed.
How’s your cardboard “box”? You might feel the creases grow larger as you groan under the weight of pain or disease. Know, however, that Jesus is being revealed in your body (v. 10). As you submit to Him, He’ll shine His light through you, so that those who are in darkness may receive His love and His life.
By Amy Boucher Pye
REFLECT & PRAY
How have you seen Jesus revealed in others? Why do you think God encloses His presence in these “jars of clay”?
Spirit of the living God, please live in me, that I might shine with Your love and presence.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Paul’s description of his struggles in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 is a reminder of how difficult life can be. Like the psalmist David, we may be “worn out from [our] groaning” (Psalm 6:6). But the Bible tells us that trials bring growth. Jesus Himself said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). And James goes so far as to tell us we should “consider it pure joy” when we “face trials” (James 1:2). Why? Because “the testing of [our] faith produces perseverance” and perseverance makes us “mature and complete” (vv. 3-4). Trials can draw us closer to Christ, where we find the strength, courage, and joy to go on. Jesus said, “Take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He triumphed over death and the devil through His death and resurrection. As believers in Him, we share in that victory. , in the midst of our trials, as we submit to God, we can be light to those who are in spiritual darkness.
Alyson Kieda
UR: A Child of God
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! - 1 John 3:1 (NIV)
I have fond memories of how my mother would light up when she recited this verse from 1 John. I could tell it spoke to her and touched her on a deep level. When my mother passed away a decade ago, my sister asked if there were any Bible verses she liked a lot, and I referred her to this one. At my mother’s funeral, the pastor shared this passage, proclaiming God’s immense love for us all.
As Mother’s Day comes and goes each year, I think of my mother. We had a strained relationship, but we both tried to love one another the best way we knew how. When I recall her favorite verse, I am reminded that our Father in heaven loves us as his children and desires to be close to us.
God loves us in ways that humans aren’t able to — with a pure, lavish, and unconditional affection that endures forever. May God’s example of love, through Jesus, inspire us to love one another more fully and abundantly.
's Prayer
Dear God, thank you that your love knows no bounds. Teach us to accept the love others extend to us, and reveal to us how we can love others more fully. Amen.
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