Light

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Upper Room Daily Reflections The Light of the World Mar 20, 2019 12:00 am Today’s Reflection OUR DARKNESS is not always of our own making. Sometimes our paths are just cloudy. We can’t see the destination. We don’t know how the road will end. All we can do is trust Christ one step at a time. Sometimes our darkness is a result of our own actions. When we come to such acknowledgments, as painful as they are, we can know that being able to admit our fault is a result of Christ working within us. We have not been abandoned. We are not beyond grace. Part of the work of Christ’s light is to reveal truth, not to condemn us but to spare us. —Rob Fuquay The God We Can Know: Exploring the “I Am” Sayings of Jesus

View this email in your browser Upper Room Daily Reflections The Bread of Life Mar 19, 2019 12:00 am Today’s Reflection YOU WOULD THINK Jesus would be encouraged by thousands of people searching for him, but he knew why they came. They were just looking for another miracle. They were driven by a need for fullness. Therefore Jesus told them that he could give something lasting and complete. In response, the crowd asked him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?” (John 6:30). Think about that response for a moment. The crowd is fewer than twenty-four hours removed from a miracle and they are asking, “What can you do for us now?” That’s the problem with chasing fullness. There is never enough. We always need more. It keeps us on the lookout for the next miracle. —Rob Fuquay The God We Can Know: Exploring the “I Am” Sayings of Jesus

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Upper Room Daily Reflections The Bread of Life Mar 19, 2019 12:00 am Today’s Reflection YOU WOULD THINK Jesus would be encouraged by thousands of people searching for him, but he knew why they came. They were just looking for another miracle. They were driven by a need for fullness. Therefore Jesus told them that he could give something lasting and complete. In response, the crowd asked him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?” (John 6:30). Think about that response for a moment. The crowd is fewer than twenty-four hours removed from a miracle and they are asking, “What can you do for us now?” That’s the problem with chasing fullness. There is never enough. We always need more. It keeps us on the lookout for the next miracle. —Rob Fuquay The God We Can Know: Exploring the “I Am” Sayings of Jesus

Wisdom from the Psalms

Psalm 25:15
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Jerry was terrified of heights. He had been all his life. Unfortunately, his new job required that he climb ladders and travel across catwalks high above the ground. With great courage and resolve, Jerry worked on overcoming his fear. Whenever he had to climb or walk the catwalks, he would focus his attention on the end of the line and pretend that Jesus was waiting there with outstretched arms. His fear left him completely, and he was able to scale great heights without concern.

It we will set our sights on the Lord, He will make sure our steps. No snare, trap, or pitfall can stop us when our eyes are on the Lord. He will guard us each step of the way

Prayer: I am uncertain, Lord, and often I am afraid. Dispel my fears, and instill me with Your holy confidence. I place my trust in You, that I might walk a good walk of faith and never stumble. Amen

The Gospel of Luke ~A film

Book of Luke is Word for Word from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Please watch Luke's Gospel to find out about the Lord Jesus Christ and all the amazing things that He done!

Gospel of St Luke - Luke's Gospel - Book of Luke - Bible Movie - Visual Bible

"If You Say So!" — What Jesus Did! for 03/07/2019

[Jesus] noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish." "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again." And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. — Luke 5:2-7

Key Thought:

Simon (Peter) was a fisherman. Being a fisherman was his life. Being a fisherman was his trade. So when Jesus told him to fish in a certain place and at a certain time that Peter "knew" were wrong from all of his experience, he must have had to swallow hard to follow this carpenter's instructions. But, he did! He basically told Jesus, "If YOU say to do it, then I'll do it!" Let's be honest. There are times when what Jesus tells us to do seems at best counter-intuitive and sometimes crazy. Just a cursory reading of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) gives us more than enough to chew on for a lifetime. That's when our love for Jesus and our submission to his lordship really are tested. Are we willing to be like Peter and say, "Lord, if you say so, I'll do it!"?

Today's Prayer:

Give me a pliable heart and a willing spirit, O God, to obey what your Son has taught and to do what his lordship calls me to do. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

No Limits

IF WE ARE WILLING to listen, we encounter voices of truth in unexpected places. The greatest sermons of our lives do not necessarily come from behind a pulpit. Moses encounters God in a burning bush, and Paul is blinded by a bright light that leads to his conversion on the road to Damascus. (See Exodus 3; Acts 9:1-20.) When Paul and Silas are accused of causing uproar in the city, they are flogged and jailed; from the jail cell they sing hymns and pray. (See Acts 16:16-25.) The prison walls cannot suppress the expression of their faith. Though they are not in a church, they continue to worship.

When we carry the attitude of being in constant worship, when we consider that everything in our life might be a church service with different types and styles of sermons from everyday people, we can begin hearing God’s voice more often—even from within the walls of a prison. God is revealed to me most in everyday activities. I can hear the voice of God on Tuesday afternoons and Saturday nights just as well as Sunday mornings if I listen for it. There are no limits to where and through whom God can speak.

—Angela D. Schaffner
Revealed: What the Bible Can Teach You About Yourself

Wisdom from the Psalms

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Two families disputed for years who held claim upon a stretch of fertile land. Harsh words and insults were exchanged regularly, and on occasion, tempers flared to the point of physical violence. Neither family would budge in their conviction that they were the rightful owners. No compromise could be reached, and so the seeds of bitterness took root and flourished between the two clans.

Long after the tow families are but faint memories, the land wills till be there. How foolish it is to devote so much of our lives to the acquisition of things, when all things truly belong to the Lord. We are but caretakers of what the Lord has made, and it has been given us for everyone's pleasure. Wise use of our resources and preservation of all creation is the responsibility of all humankind. We have been given many precious gifts, but they are only ours for awhile. In time, all things return to the Lord.

PRAYER

 Lord, make me a wise steward of Your creation. Let my actions hurt not one living thing. Help me to build up, rather than destroy. Inspire me to share, to give, and to love. Amen.