Daily Devotional ... Very touching!!
February 15, 2005
"Messenger from Heaven "
Sharon Jaynes
Key Verse:
"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At
that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17 NIV).
Devotion:
My new friend, Katie, lay in her bed trying not to think about
the pain in her abdomen. For years, she had taken care of many patients as
she nursed the sick back to health. Now she was the patient. Just four
weeks had passed since her doctor said those words that kept echoing in her mind.
"Katie, it isn't an ulcer, like we originally thought. It's
cancer - pancreatic cancer. And it has already spread to your liver and your
lungs."
"How long do I have?" she questioned.
"I'd say about three to six months," he replied.
Three to six months. She replayed her past fifty years on the
stage of her mind. Her thoughts were filled with frantic questions. "How did
this happen? What went wrong? How did I get to this point?"
Katie had accepted Jesus as her Savior when she was a young
child. But that seemed like a lifetime ago, and in a way, it was. Now her thoughts
were filled with shame, regret, and guilt. The verses of the woman at the
well came to mind. Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman and said, "Woman,
where is your husband?"
She answered and said, "I have no husband."
Jesus replied, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you
have had five husbands and the one who you now have is not your husband."
"Lord, you know all that I've done," Katie prayed. "How I've
fallen away from following You. I've been married twice and the man I'm living
with now is not my husband. Is that why this is happening to me? Am I being
punished? People have told me that You still love me, but I feel so
alone. Have you left me too, like all the other men in my life?"
Katie reached for her Bible and it fell open to Luke 3 where John
was baptizing Jesus. "And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form
like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven saying. 'Thou art my beloved
Son, in Thee I am well pleased.'"
Tears ran down Katie's dry cheeks like streams in the desert.
"Where are you Lord? Please don't desert me."
Katie turned her head to look out at the sun glistening over the
tranquil lake in her backyard. Suddenly, as though he emerged from the
pages of Luke 3, a dove fluttered to her window sill and perched on its
ledge.
Katie hugged her Bible to her chest as she and the dove locked
eyes. He seemed to say, "Yes Katie. I do love you. You may have strayed away
from the path that I had marked out for you, but that hasn't changed My
love. I never left you and I'll stay right here by your side until the day I
come to take you home."
The dove stayed on the window sill for quite some time, and Katie
thanked the Lord for sending His messenger, like the one from long ago.
An indescribable warmth fell over Katie's body as she realized that God
did indeed still love her.
Three months later, that dove came again to my friend, Katie.
Only this time, when he soared back toward heaven, Katie's spirit went with him.
My prayer for today:
Dear Lord, Thank you that there is no sin so great that Your
grace will not forgive, no place so far that Your love cannot reach down and
save, no heart so cold that Your mercy cannot melt. Thank you for saving me -
for taking my filthy rags and giving me robe of righteousness, for taking
my sinful nature, making me into a new creation, for taking my sorrow and
giving me Your joy. In Jesus' name. Amen.
"Messenger from Heaven "
Sharon Jaynes
Key Verse:
"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At
that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17 NIV).
Devotion:
My new friend, Katie, lay in her bed trying not to think about
the pain in her abdomen. For years, she had taken care of many patients as
she nursed the sick back to health. Now she was the patient. Just four
weeks had passed since her doctor said those words that kept echoing in her mind.
"Katie, it isn't an ulcer, like we originally thought. It's
cancer - pancreatic cancer. And it has already spread to your liver and your
lungs."
"How long do I have?" she questioned.
"I'd say about three to six months," he replied.
Three to six months. She replayed her past fifty years on the
stage of her mind. Her thoughts were filled with frantic questions. "How did
this happen? What went wrong? How did I get to this point?"
Katie had accepted Jesus as her Savior when she was a young
child. But that seemed like a lifetime ago, and in a way, it was. Now her thoughts
were filled with shame, regret, and guilt. The verses of the woman at the
well came to mind. Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman and said, "Woman,
where is your husband?"
She answered and said, "I have no husband."
Jesus replied, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you
have had five husbands and the one who you now have is not your husband."
"Lord, you know all that I've done," Katie prayed. "How I've
fallen away from following You. I've been married twice and the man I'm living
with now is not my husband. Is that why this is happening to me? Am I being
punished? People have told me that You still love me, but I feel so
alone. Have you left me too, like all the other men in my life?"
Katie reached for her Bible and it fell open to Luke 3 where John
was baptizing Jesus. "And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form
like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven saying. 'Thou art my beloved
Son, in Thee I am well pleased.'"
Tears ran down Katie's dry cheeks like streams in the desert.
"Where are you Lord? Please don't desert me."
Katie turned her head to look out at the sun glistening over the
tranquil lake in her backyard. Suddenly, as though he emerged from the
pages of Luke 3, a dove fluttered to her window sill and perched on its
ledge.
Katie hugged her Bible to her chest as she and the dove locked
eyes. He seemed to say, "Yes Katie. I do love you. You may have strayed away
from the path that I had marked out for you, but that hasn't changed My
love. I never left you and I'll stay right here by your side until the day I
come to take you home."
The dove stayed on the window sill for quite some time, and Katie
thanked the Lord for sending His messenger, like the one from long ago.
An indescribable warmth fell over Katie's body as she realized that God
did indeed still love her.
Three months later, that dove came again to my friend, Katie.
Only this time, when he soared back toward heaven, Katie's spirit went with him.
My prayer for today:
Dear Lord, Thank you that there is no sin so great that Your
grace will not forgive, no place so far that Your love cannot reach down and
save, no heart so cold that Your mercy cannot melt. Thank you for saving me -
for taking my filthy rags and giving me robe of righteousness, for taking
my sinful nature, making me into a new creation, for taking my sorrow and
giving me Your joy. In Jesus' name. Amen.