[Membersandfriends] Friday, December 10, 2004

Thu Dec 9 22:02:03 PST 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Friday, December 10, 2004

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Advent Seasonal Reflections

Upper Room Ministries is pleased to offer Advent Seasonal Reflections to help you celebrate this most holy of seasons. This year's theme is "Prepare Your Heart." To read these daily Advent reflections, visit us at 
http://www.upperroom.org/seasonal/advent/
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GOD SINGS!
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Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NRSV)

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
     shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
     O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away the judgments against you,
     he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
     you shall fear disaster no more.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
     do not let your hands grow weak.
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
     a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
     he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
     as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
     so that you will not bear reproach for it.
I will deal with all your oppressors
     at that time.
And I will save the lame
     and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
     and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you home,
     at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
     among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the LORD.

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[The Lord] will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
-- Zephaniah 3:17 (NRSV)
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IT is difficult for me to remember that God loves me.  I say it with my lips and know it in my head, but I keep forgetting it in my heart.  I work hard at being a good person, someone God would be proud of, but like many people, in the midst of my hard work, I forget that God loves me just as I am.  As I was searching for a theme for my personal Advent preparations, this idea kept presenting itself to me.  

In conversations, music, and words I read, the Holy Spirit kept trying to give me the message that I am loved.  It wasn't until I was home sick one day, lazily reading through my Bible, that this message finally got through to me.

When I read Zephaniah 3:17, I pictured God looking down and singing about me.  God was singing about the joy of creating me, not about all the things I have done.  God's joy comes from loving the creation -- me!  This is my work for Advent: to enjoy God's love and to remember that God takes delight in me.

Prayer:  God of joy, forgive us when we forget the most important gift of all -- your unconditional love.  Help us to remember that you love us so much you sing about it.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
God delights in me.

-- Chris Hlinak (Illinois, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Someone who feels unworthy of love

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RELATED READING ...

After having a vision, Julian of Norwich, medieval English mystic, struggled for years with the question, "What was our Lord's meaning?" The answer finally came: "Would you know your Lord's meaing in this? Learn it well. Love was his meaning."  THE WORKBOOK ON LOVING THE JESUS WAY is a seven-week study that looks at the many issues of relationships, such as childishness versus childlikeness, "tough love," and patience.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=12613

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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.