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cember 12
“Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds listened to the angels' song. Humanity is still as much the object of heaven's solicitude as when common men of common occupations met angels at noonday, and talked with the heavenly messengers in the vineyards and the fields. To us in the common walks of life, heaven may be very near. Angels from the courts above will attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command."
First, we don’t have to be special in order for God to be close to us. Shepherds, unclean shepherds, get to listen to a heavenly choir. They even get the special treatment. Remember, the angel made sure that his initial approach was gentle lest he scare off a mere human being.
Mind you, the shepherds were close to God – because they were looking for God. Perhaps there is a lesson there for us?
Two, we have need of God. Illness, sadness, loneliness are the common lot of man. You have your issues and I certainly have mine. But we aren’t on our own.
“Angels from the courts above will attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command.”
You read Shiella’s testimony about the daffodil bearing angel. I hope that inspired you. There is an attending word of wisdom within the sentence. There is a little note about coming and going at God’s command. There is little point in being a consumer of God’s grace and favour.
You have much experience yourself of life. There are people you meet who inspire you. The person who inspired me used to be a nurse in west Africa. Sadly the ravages of illness began to consume her. My job was to visit and encourage her. Ha! I was always the one who was filled with hope by a lady, who though paralysed, filled her ‘sick room’ with hope. Truly this lady was still able to come and go at God’s command. Perhaps there is another lesson there for us?
There is a wonderful picture we need to remind ourselves of. We don’t need to be spiritual superstars for God to make sure we have companions to walk with through our lives.
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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
