[Membersandfriends] Friday, October 22, 2004

Thu Oct 21 22:01:36 PDT 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Friday, October 22, 2004

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CELEBRATING OTHERS
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1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (NRSV)

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? 

As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

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We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
- Psalm 20:5 (NIV)
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I did not recognize the voice.  But when the caller told me his name, I knew immediately who he was.  More than 30 years had passed since I last saw him.  We had once been close friends, but as often happens, education and careers took our lives in opposite directions.  Now we live a thousand miles apart.

We talked for an hour, catching up on three decades of living.  It became obvious that his life, at least by society's standards, had been far more successful than mine.

When the conversation ended, I sat quietly for a few minutes.  Then I began to rejoice.  God has richly blessed my friend's life and used him in a prominent place.  God has also richly blessed my life and used it, although in seemingly smaller, less noticeable places.  I found myself praising God for guiding both our lives.

I remember a day when such a conversation might have left me with feelings of self-pity and jealousy.  What wonderful freedom to be able to celebrate genuinely the victories of someone else!  Christ does indeed change our hearts and allow us to find our true selves as part of Christ's body.

Prayer:  Thank you, Christ Jesus, for the changes you bring into our lives.  We are grateful for the joy we find when we rejoice "in your blessings to all of us."  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
For whose life will I praise God today?

-- Robert E. Rogers (Delaware, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Long-time friends

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RELATED READING ...

Discover a world of saints whose faith, hope, and action will inspire and encourage you.  SERVANTS, MISFITS, AND MARTYRS looks at saints you know, saints you don't, and some you might not recognize as saints.  Howell offers vignettes of figures he calls teachers, Pray-ers, Preachers, Singers, Prisoners, Servants, Misfits, and Martyrs.  Meet misfits Francis of Assisi and Clarence Jordan, the creator of The Cotton Patch Bible.  Experience the stories of Billy Graham and Sojourner Truth.  Hear the stories of singing saints Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and John Newton.  Read the accounts of Thomas More and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, both saints who were imprisoned for their beliefs and needs.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=12673

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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.