October 21

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

I love presents. Not that I get many mind you, but just that moment of anticipation you feel when you hold a gift in your hand and you are not sure what it is. Maybe you shake it or even hold it to your ear, I know I do. The smaller the gift usually means it might be more expensive. But whatever the cost you cherish it all the more because you know that someone has thought of you enough to give you something when they really didn’t have to.

The other aspect that is special about presents, is that they hold unique memories, which are loaded with emotions. They become like micro time capsules.

I was sent a present the other day. It was a piece of music from a church brother. Maybe you received one from him too. Sometimes I must admit that I don’t find the time to immediately open the present (listen to the track) but I look forward to receiving it. Well when I got to this particular track, which is the one below, I froze as I was immediately taken back in time to a school campus in Liberia, west Africa, where I was a student missionary. These young men had a vocal group and this was one of the songs they sang but I had never heard it before or since. So some 25 years later this kind and thoughtful act, I think prompted by God, has reminded me of the one of the greatest gift – God giving His life in service to us.

Sometimes as Christians a well known text can loose it’s impact and meaning because we have overused it. One year, in my case, is nothing compared to a life given in service as God did, for us.

God’s greatest gift is love. Please do not leave it unopened, share it with someone today.

Click on the picture to hear the song for today - “Rivers of Joy.”

       

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here