[Membersandfriends] Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Tue Oct 12 22:03:13 PDT 2004

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

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Spiritual Encouragement for Teens

Help teens develop a lifetime pattern of prayer and spiritual reflection by ordering DEVO'ZINE, a devotional magazine just for teens.  http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/description.asp?item_id=70105&ep_id=247
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OUR OLD HOUSE
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Luke 19:1-10 (NRSV)

[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

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The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
-- 1 Peter 5:10 (NIV)
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RECENTLY I visited my childhood home.  Almost 70 years old, the home had problems that required many of the inside walls to be torn down to make repairs.  Looking at this once-beautiful home -- now filled with construction debris and with large holes in its walls and floors -- I kept thinking, Who would want to own such a sad-looking piece of property?

The new buyer arrived and began to show us all the things she planned to do to our old home.  Because she restores homes for a living, what looked like expensive problems to us were simple repairs to her.  What's more, since it was to be her home, this house was a special project for her -- one to which she would devote all the loving care and expertise she could.  What we saw as a burden she welcomed as an adventure and a challenge.

I began to consider a spiritual parallel to this.  Our lives may have fallen into disrepair, but God, the restoration expert, the master builder, patiently works to restore us to service and honor in the kingdom.  We may think we can never be fixed, while all the time God is just waiting for the invitation to restore, heal, and bless us.

Prayer:  Creator of all, help us to see ourselves and those around us through your eyes of love.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
God wants to restore us and abide in us.

-- Dick Lewis (California, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Those who are hard to appreciate

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ALIVE NOW magazine seeks to nourish people who are hungry for a sacred way of living in today's world.  Each bi-monthly issue explores a theme that follows the seasons of the church year, contributions from a variety of authors, daily devotions, interviews with contemporary thinkers, and award-winning poetry.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=12895

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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.