[Membersandfriends] Friday, August 06, 2004

Thu Aug 5 22:02:15 PDT 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Friday, August 06, 2004

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A LIVING FRIENDSHIP
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Revelation 1:9-20 (NRSV)

I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." 

Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force. 

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

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It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
-  John 6:63 (NRSV)
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MY first graders, who were just learning to read, sat by me as I pointed out the storybook children in that day's lesson.  Suddenly one child asked, "When do we get to meet them?"  

I was puzzled.  "When do you get to meet whom?" I asked.

"These children," he answered excitedly.

That's when I realized that a special moment had occurred in this child's life.  The boys and girls in the storybook had become real to him.  The words formed thoughts, and those thoughts made him desire not only to read about the characters but to know them.  To him the children in the storybook were alive.

The same kind of experience can occur when we read about Christ in the Bible.  The difference is that, unlike storybook characters, Jesus Christ is alive!  As we read the Bible, we can move into friendship with Christ and know Christ personally.  As we get to know him better, we will love the Bible more, relishing Christ's friendship and receiving all that he promised.

Prayer:  Dear Lord Jesus Christ, help us to realize that as we read the Bible we draw closer to you and become more like you.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How can I know Christ more deeply?

-- B. J. Funk (Georgia, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Those learning to read

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Designed for 6- to 12-year-olds, POCKETS offers wholesome devotional readings that teach about God's love and presence in life. Each page of POCKETS affirms a child's self-worth. Included are fun and exciting puzzles, games, stories, poems, recipes, colorful pictures, and scripture readings.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=12897

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The scripture quotation is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright (c) 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.