 For your prayerful contemplation from the Witness Ministry Team |
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Does this apply to you?
Sign up for a free E-Mail Devotional by visiting: http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/email/ Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:25-37 (NRSV) Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this. Esther 4:14 (NRSV) "I prayed that you would stop to help me," the woman said, as she stood by the spouting geyser created by a broken lawn-sprinkler head. I had interrupted my morning walk to offer my advice on handling the mishap, but mechanical help wasn't all that she needed. "My husband died six months ago, and I just don't know what to do about anything." Two things struck me about this encounter. The first was that God had brought together someone involved in ministering to those whose spouse had died (me) and this woman who was a widow in need. The second thought, much more disturbing, was how close I had come to walking on by--or even worse, crossing to the other side of the street. I'm convinced there are circumstances every day in which we come into contact with those who need a special touch that we can give. It's up to us to be open to these opportunities and to actively look for them. Who knows? Perhaps that's why we've come to a particular place and time. Richard L, Mabry (Texas, USA) Prayer Dear God, help us to actively look for opportunities to serve others, to respond to needs wherever we find them. Amen. Thought for the Day A day's most important meetings may not be the ones we've put on our calendar. Prayer Focus Those recently widowed Related Reading Compassion Wonderful things happen when compassion becomes more than a feeling and develops in to action. Someone you know would benefit if only you reached out. COMPASSION: CULTIVATING A GOOD HEART is a compilation of essays that encourages us to show our care to others each day of our lives. When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!" There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. Mark 15:33-41 (NRSV) When the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" Mark 15:39 (NIV) WHILE I know in my head that Jesus died for all people, sometimes I am guilty of thinking there are people beyond God's reach. I taught a boy at school whom I subconsciously labeled as a person very unlikely to become a Christian. Even when I prayed for him, I don't think I really believed that God would answer my prayers. The boy seemed to be too emotionally distant, to have too many problems, and to be highly unlikely to stop and listen long enough for someone to tell him about Jesus. I was very wrong. Many of the students I teach hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, but this young man believed what he heard. Now I love to watch the way this boy's life is changing as he reads the Bible and strives to live the way Jesus wants him to. God can change the most unexpected people, at the strangest times and in the most unlikely places. A number of people watched Jesus die, but as today's reading shows, the centurion realized that he was watching the death of the Son of God. No one is beyond the power of God's love. No matter how hard-core or difficult they may seem, Jesus loves them and died for them. Joanna Ronalds (Victoria, Australia) Prayer Dear God, thank you that no one is beyond the reach of your love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thought for the Day God's love has no limits. Prayer Focus New Christians Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John" --although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized-- he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you." Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." John 4:1-39 (NRSV) SOMETIMES I hesitate to talk about God with those around me. Feeling inadequate, I wonder how I can explain that Jesus is alive and loves us deeply. Arguing will not persuade them of the truth. Today's reading showed me how one woman successfully shared the good news about Jesus. Quite simply, the woman at the well could not hide her excitement. "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did," she exclaimed, eager for others to get to know him, too. Instead of a clever argument, she enthusiastically described her meeting with the Savior, making him real to those who listened. Because of that woman's testimony, many Samaritans in her town believed in Jesus. So when I struggle to find the right words, I think of the Samaritan woman and remind myself that I can simply explain that God knows all about me -- the good and the bad -- and still loves and accepts me. Why would I make sharing the gospel more complicated than this? No amount of clever arguments will win hearts as much as will our communicating the joy of knowing God -- and the joy of God's knowing all about us and loving us anyway. Emma J. Peterson (Buckinghamshire, England) Prayer God of all knowledge, so fill us with joy that talking about you is easy and natural. Amen. Thought for the Day Witnessing means talking about what we know of God. Prayer Focus For willingness to speak of my faith. This material is reprinted from The Upper Room magazine, copyright 2009/2010 by The Upper Room, Inc., P.O. Box 340004, Nashville, TN 37203-0004, and is used by permission of the publisher. |
