Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – Desiring Our Presence (3/7/24)

 Before we met, Joe lived in Italy for a couple years. It was an amazing experience for him to live in Rome with so much history! He talked about it a lot. It was hard for me to understand all that he talked about, since I hadn’t been there, much less lived there. However, we had an opportunity to go to Italy and France our second year of marriage. Joe was excited to show me where he had lived, what he had seen, and who he had met!

We usually don’t want to keep our amazing experiences a secret, but want to share them with others, especially those we love. Jesus has the same desire! He wants us to join Him in Heaven and experience all the blessings of knowing His full character and creation as it was intended.

John 17:24-26         “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. ²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Oneness with and nearness to the perfect and righteous Father in Heaven is the greatest experience anyone will ever have! Jesus wants to share that experience with you and me for all eternity! Will you be joining Jesus for this forever marvelous experience? If so, who will you pray for today about joining you and Jesus?

Thursday Devotional - "Just Because" Miracles

Last Tuesday night we had 52 new women come and register for the Bible study I help lead! It was a good problem to have, but meant several of us stayed late that night to prayerfully figure out in which of our 16 groups to place each woman. So, I didn’t get home until late that night and then forgot to set my alarm for the next morning. However, God woke me up at 5:50 am!

I rarely wake up before my alarm, so I kept thanking God for waking me up! He didn’t need to do that. I didn’t have an early morning meeting. I think my boss would have understood, as I’m not a tardy employee and I’m conscientious about my work. God waking me up seemed like a “just because” miracle simply to remind me who He is, He’s always there, He loves me and He even cares about the little details in my life!

I think this next miracle in the book of John might have been one of those “just because” miracles for the disciples, too.

John 21:1-6  Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. ⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. ⁶ He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

It doesn’t sound like the disciples “needed” to catch fish, but Jesus miraculously gave them more than they could even haul just to remind them who He is! He is the all-powerful, all-knowing Son of God that rose from the dead to offer us freedom from sin! Yet, He’s also personal, compassionate and caring in our day-to-day activities.

What “just because” miracles has God done in your life to remind you of His power and presence?

Alice