[Membersandfriends] Monday, December 13, 2004

Sun Dec 12 22:01:15 PST 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Monday, December 13, 2004

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ANGELS OF MERCY
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Acts 8:26-40 (NRSV)

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

     "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
     and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
     so he does not open his mouth.
     In his humiliation justice was denied him.
     Who can describe his generation?
     For his life is taken away from the earth."

The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

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The psalmist wrote, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."
-- Psalm 119:105 (NIV)
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IT was 1978 and I was living alone, single again, in Charleston, West Virginia.  One night I went to a gathering and met a young woman who was also single again.  We danced and talked.  In conversation we learned that we were both Christians.  We attended my church together the following Sunday.  Afterward we went to lunch and then to my house.

"Where is your Bible?" she asked.

I thought, Surely, I must have one somewhere!  But the truth was that I had been long separated from Bible study.  There was no Bible.  The next day we went to a local Christian bookstore, and I purchased a leather Bible.  My new friend took it from me right away and wrote on the dedication page, "To Jake, with love, from the Author."

We parted company, and I never saw her again.  However, what immediately came over me was a passionate desire to know everything in that Bible.  It led me to a calling to ministry, seminary, ordination, and 14 years of dedication in Christ's service.  I believe that that woman was an emissary of God sent to turn my heart to God's word.

Prayer:   Thank you, Lord, for your messengers.  Help us to learn about them through the witness of holy scripture and to see them in our everyday life.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Watch for God's messengers.

-- Jacob Andrew McMorri (Ohio, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Those striving to hear God's voice

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RELATED READING ...

JESUS, OUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR is designed for personal reflection and small-group sharing. Church leaders and committed disciples will appreciate this invitation to a more profound relationship with Christ and with others on the journey of ministry in the world today. Using a groundbreaking narrative approach, Wendy Miller demonstrates the deep biblical roots of spiritual direction in the ministry of Jesus, his disciples, and Christians today.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=170045

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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.