Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”
Devotional
During WWII my Scottish mum went to work in an English munitions’ factory where she met a Canadian soldier. She married him and headed across the Atlantic in a ship brimming with war brides and their children.
Mum met Jesus in a Pentecostal meeting while living in New Brunswick. In the 1950s, Mum & Dad moved to Sarnia Ontario, where she joined an on-fire-for-God church. I grew up in revival and knowing the power of the Holy Spirit.
When she was ten, my mother-in-law’s family relocated from Prince Edward Island to Saint John New Brunswick, where she met Terry’s dad. In the 1950s their family also moved to Sarnia Ontario. Terry and I met when we were in high school, and he eventually came to Jesus through me.
Now here we are on PEI, the birthplace of Terry’s mom and 14 generations of ancestors. It is amazing to me how our families’ decisions eventually led us to each other and, most importantly, to Jesus. Only God could have orchestrated it.
Question to Consider
How has God been directing you toward Him throughout your life or even before you were born?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you have not left us as orphans. You are in us, we are in you, and we, as your body, are interconnected with each other. You are continually weaving the threads of our lives together. Joyfully, we submit our families, our homes, our jobs and our decisions to your loving direction. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
The 40 days of decrease blogs have been inspired by the book “40 Days of Decrease” by Alicia Britt Chole.
Expressions from Summerside Community Church 