Devotional 11-2-18

Is there a difference between God and Jesus?

 Have you ever thought of the differences between God and Jesus? We know that they are one and the same. In John 11: 33, John stresses that we have a God who cares, in contrast with the Greek concept of of God that was popular in that day—a God with no emotions and no messy involvement with humans.

In John 11: 33 we see many of Jesus emotions—compassion—indignation—sorrow—even frustration. He often expressed deep emotions and we must never be afraid to reveal our true feelings to him. He understands them because He experienced them. Be honest and don't try to hide anything from your Savior. He cares

When Jesus saw weeping and wailing, He too wept openly. Jesus showed that he cares enough for us to weep with us in sorrow.

God values honesty—Dishonest communication will hinder our relationship, with out honesty, a relationship with God is impossible. If we lie to others we begin to deceive ourself. God cannot hear or speak to us if we are building a wall of self deception.

In Isaiah 25: 6-9
Here is a marvelous prophecy of “all people”. It shows that God intended his saving message to go out into the whole world, not just to the Jews. When God speaks He does what he says. It is comforting to know that God’s plans and activities are closely—tied to his word.

When we pray according to God’s will and claim his promises he hears us and answers our requests.

All three members of the Trinity are involved in our lives. God the Father loves us and sought a way for us to come back into a relationship with Him. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, provided the way back to God by offering Himself as a sacrifice in our place. Now that we believe, The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, fellowships with us as we journey through life, guiding and comforting us every step of the way.

As we go through our daily lives we must remember that God wants a relationship with you, and He will be there for you. God wants us to honestly communicate with Him. Jesus it there for you and wants to show His love for you and all you have to do is ask Him to come into your heart. He will always be there for us and will be our connection to God!

Please Pray,
Dear God, thank you for always being there calling us to you and letting us know that you love us unconditionally.  Sometimes we fail to be honest with you. You never give up on us and will be there to show your love for all of us.
We praise you name, and remember to communicate with you honestly to receive a relationship with you. We must “Let Go and Let God” lead us on our journey through our lives.
In Jesus Name,
Amen

Melanie Herr

Devotional 4-28-17

Read Luke 24: 13-35

Many Christians are faithful in attending worship, volunteering to serve in many aspects of their church; such as singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, serving on different Committees and helping out wherever called. This was my Christian life--just going through the motion. I knew that Jesus loves me-------but I had not felt his Love!

My life changed when I attended my walk to Emmaus. Fred had attended a walk first, I had not planed on attending until later. But when he came home after his walk, I saw such a difference in him, a big smile and a changed Christian man, with the love of Jesus in his heart.

I wanted that too! I attended my walk two weeks later and I am glad I did!

I have experienced the Love of Christ that he has for all of us! i know that some are not interested in attending the walk, but if you would like to have a closer relationship with Christ you might consider giving it a try, if someone should approach you. It is something that will change your journey with Christ. You might just like it and come back to your home and church a changed Christian. It is out there for you to experience for your self.

Just like the two men walking to Emmaus discussing what was taking place in their home land, when a stranger joined them and continued on with them.......they didn't know who he was until he was gone.

Their eyes were opened and they saw Jesus more fully!

Pray,
Dear Father please let your children have the desire to know you and experience your love that you have for them. Lead and guide them the way that you desire them to follow.
Thanks you for the love and blessing you spread to all your people.
Hold everyone in your hand and comfort them all no matter where they are in in their journey with you.

All Gods children say,
Amen

Melanie Herr

Devotional 12-30-16

Untethered by time, God sees us all. From the backwoods of Virginia to the business districts of London; from the Vikings to the astronauts, from the cave-dwellers to kings, from the hut-builders to the finger-pointers to the rock-stackers, he sees us.
Vagabonds and ragamuffins all, he saw us before we were born.

And he loves what he sees. Flooded by emotions. Overcome by pride, the Starmaker turns to us, one by one, and says, “You are my child. I love you dearly. I’m aware that someday you’ll turn from me and walk away. But I want you to know, I’ve already provided a way back.”

And to prove it, he’d did something extraordinary.

Stepping from the throne, he removed his robe of light and wrapped himself in skin: pigmented, Human skin. The light of the universe entered a dark, wet womb. He whom whom angels worship nestled himself in the placenta of a peasant, was birthed into the cold night, and then slept on cow’s hay.

Mary didn’t know whether to give him milk or give him praise, but she gave him both since he was, as near as she could figure, hungry and holy.

Joseph didn’t know whether to call him Junior or Father. But in the end called him Jesus, since that’s what the angel had said and since he didn’t have the faintest idea what to name a God he
could cradle in his arms.

....Don’t you think.....their heads tilted and their minds wondered, “What in the world are you doing God?” Or better phrased, “God, what are you doing in the world?”

“Can anything make me stop loving you?” God asked. “Watch me speak your language, sleep on your earth, and feel your hurts. Behold the maker of sight and sound as he sneezes, coughs
and blows his nose. You wonder if I understand how you feel? Look into the dancing eyes of the kid in Nazareth; that’s God walking to school. Ponder the toddler at Mary’s table; that’s God
spilling his milk.

“You wonder how long my love will last? Find your answer on a splintered cross, on a craggy hill. That’s me you see up there, your maker, your God, nail-stabbed and bleeding. Covered in spit
and sin-soaked.

“THAT’S YOUR SIN I’M FEELING. THAT’S YOUR DEATH I’M DYING. THAT’S YOUR RESURRECTION
I’M LIVING. THAT’S HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU.”

Melanie HerrTaken from The Glory of Christmas by Max Lucas in The Gift of Grace

Devotional 8-12-16

This was taken from  book "Poems of Inspiration and Comfort" by Deborah Bell

God can Handle It

I an the vine, he are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.   John 15:5

I tried to do it on my own...I tried to work it out
I knew that God could handle it (with just a little doubt)
I was closer with each step I took...new hope each day arose
But when I'd near the end it seemed the book would quickly close.

From my Lord these words then came...My Child...just move aside
I heard your prayer...now here I am but both My hands are tied
Yes...I will give all things you ask...just ask in faith and believe
Then do your part...and step aside...do not My Spirit grieve
You ask but still continue on so what am I to do
I cannot work a mighty work until your work is through

So...I laid aside my selfish will and moved out of the way
I left it in God's loving hands and left it there to stay
He intervened so lovingly with timing and with skill
I laid my crown down at His feet...and yielded to His will....

Let us pray:
Thank you God for loving us and for always listening to us. All we must do is to let go and let you take care of us by believing in faith and the Holy Spirit to see us through! Keep all of your children in your loving arms and bless them all!
Amen

Melanie Herr

Devotional 6-2-16

Please read Psalm 146:3-8

Oh, what great friends we have! Have you ever thought about your friends? How many true friends can you have? There are the friends or classmates you had when you were in elementary school clear through high school. Some were closer to you than others, many memories were shared during those years. After high school graduation most everyone went their separate ways; to college, to vocational schools, and so on. Many got married, some to high school sweet hearts, had families, divorced, and worked at their vocations for 30 plus years, then retirement. A long with all those years there are health issues and sometimes loss of a spouse, a parent, or a child, which is difficult to cope with.

Growing up in a small town in southern Ohio, this was what our life was like. Most classmates left Gallipolis to further our careers but we left our hearts there. My graduation class of 1967 at Gallia Academy High School was the typical class as described above.

Two years ago after Caryl had retired and moved back to Athens, Ohio where Sonja already lived. Shortly after, two other classmates discovered they had breast cancer, a day a part and had surgery the same week. Caryl and Sonja wanted to “do something” to comfort them. So they invited those in our class to come to a Blanket making party to make the felt cut and tie blankets to give to classmates and to the cancer center at Holzer Hospital, in Gallipolis.

These blankets have been given to classmates, family, friends and cancer patients to show the Love, Hope and Comfort to the recipient. It is a reminder that they are not alone because everyone has special friend, Jesus Christ. God is the hope and the help of the needy, Jesus affirms his concern for the poor and afflicted. He does not separate the social and spiritual needs of people but attends to both. While God is the hope of the needy, we are his instrument to help here on earth.

We have been meeting once a month for over 2 years and have 12-15 members who make the blankets. Other classmates send love donations to keep this project funded.

This past April, ten of the blanket ladies went on a trip to Arizona to visit a classmate and to meet a wonderful new friend who we made a blanket for that had breast cancer and lost her husband right after she was diagnosed. We had a wonderful time and came back closer friends than before the trip. We are a close knit class who is very supportive of this project and our friendships. We are all looking forward to our 50^th class reunion in 2017!

We are all friends who share the Love and Concern for others through the “Best Friend” anyone could have, Jesus—we will never be alone because He will always be with us!

Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for all you do for us, show us the way to show others who Jesus really is, someone who loves us and will always be there for us. Help us to continue to love and keep Jesus as our friend by showing others his love. What a friend we have in Jesus!

Amen
Melanie Herr

Devotional 6-26-15

Each one should use what ever gifts he has received to serve others, 

faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that  in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. 

To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. 1 Peter 4: 10

As a christian, a child of God, we have always been taught that we should praise the Lord God. Thank him for the things we have been given.

It is right  to give thanks and praise Him In all we do. When you are traveling on a trip and you are setting down to eat a meal in a public place, such as an airport, don't forget to give Him praise. When we were at the Charlotte airport, on our way to D.C., we had a layover and were at a fast food establishment for breakfast. After we got our food, Fred and I joined hands and bowed our heads and said a prayer over our food and asked for a safe journey. We then ate our breakfast. Before we boarded the plane, I went to the restroom. While i was washing my hands a lady came up to me and said, "Oh, you are the ones who were praying earlier, I just think it is wonderful for you both to do that in public! It was a reminder to me that we should also be praying and praising Go. Thank you so much for being an example!"  I said, "Well that's what it is all about, God, and we must give it all to Him."

So the next time you want to give God all the glory, just pray to him in public, and maybe you will reach someone you don't even know. We don't know  who will be watching all our actions, so we must give Him the praise for all He has given us.

Let us Pray,

Dear Lord,

Thank you for all you have made possible for all of us to be able to praise your name.

Hold all of us in your loving hand and comfort us as we travel and go out in the world so that we can spread your word by our actions. May those who see us be reminded of the things they may have if they just trust and have the faith in God that we have. May we all be an example of what a Child of God is like by your grace as you guide us throughout your world.

Amen,

Melanie Herr

Devotional 12-24-14

Taken from Little Seeds of Hope by Karen Moore

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up. I put away childish things.  Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now. There are three things that will endure---faith, hope, and love---and the greatest of these is love.  (1 Corinthians 13:11-13)

The beautiful part of our faith is that it is always subject to growth. We may have greater faith in certain matters than we do in others. We may truly believe God has a plan and purpose for us, but still doubt that we'll figure out what it is. Or we may believe that God sees us and knows us sometimes, but not all the time. That's because our faith walks hand in hand with doubt. Our faith takes a long time to mature. We are always growing.

Consider the rest of the parable about seed of the farmer from Matthew 13. When the soil was not fertilized, the seed died. When the soil was too rocky, the roots did not go deep enough and nothing could grow. When the soil was thorny, the seed got choked in the weeds. It was only when the seeds were planted in prepared soil that they began to grow.

Your heart is the good soil. Your heart is the place where God plants his seeds for faith, hope, and love. He wants to bring more joy to your life, more  possibility to your days, and more opportunity for you to know Him in a real and personal way. God wants you to know how great His love really is. He is the farmer. He offers seeds for faith and hope and love so that you can grow up strong and firm in Him. The One who provides you with air and water and light and food, is the same One who offers you His bounty through faith. He will harvest a great relationship with you, because He knows your heart is ready for Him.

Hope and a Prayer

Lord, You have given us this incredible gift called faith. Like children, we are not always aware of how much we depend on You, or how much faith provides the way for us to go, but we are truly grateful to You. Help us to grow up and become adults strong in our faith, eager to embrace even more faith in every area of our lives. We thank You for Your love even when we can't feel it, for the hope You bring even when we have lost our way, and for the faith that sustains us through all things.

Melanie Herr

Devotional 8-30-13

Today as I was sitting out on our deck, I began to think about what all has happened in the last 8 months in our family. In January Fred and I had plans to go to South Africa to visit Melissa and Kevin, Aundrea and Cassie for 4 weeks, and we were looking forward to the trip to be with family and to see another country that God had made.  What a great new experience for all of them to live there. We were excited to go.

I had been care giver for my Mother, Betty Lemley, for the past year.  Mike, my brother, was coming to be with Mom while we were gone.  Michelle, our daughter, would be there to help, too.  Mom was continuing to hurt with pain and was admitted to the hospital to get help for the arthritis, or so we thought.

We left on Sunday........... Mom was in good hands.............Mike and Michelle were there ............. She would be given relief for her pain............and would be rehabbed and be home and recovering when we returned in a month. Well, God had other plans for all of us. In the week that followed, she was found to have bone cancer!!!!!!  I was in denial. "There is no cancer in our family!" How could it be?"  We were all praying for God to help her through the ordeal.  Well, He did, but the answer was not what we all wanted. We returned home in the next week on Wednesday, and she died on Thursday, 24 hours after we all came home.

Since she died, I had just been going through the motion, doing what I had to do with her personal items and the estate. I was questioning, “Why?” What did we miss that could have done to help her?  I was not mad at God; I was just putting my feelings and trust on hold for a while. Wondering what was to come, if I were doing what I should be doing, asking myself what could I have done if we would have stayed home and not gone on our trip.  I had doubty and didn't do my devotions and bible reading as faithfully as I should, and not going to God for help, really praying to Him for comfort and guidance.

I miss her every day and find myself wanting to talk to her as we did every day. Now there is a void in my life.

I read Psalm 81:1 and 10-16.

In verse 11 &12:  God will let us go on blindly, stubbornly, selfishly, when we should have been obeying and pursuing God’s desires. God sometimes lets us continue in our stubbornness to bring us to our senses. He does not keep us from rebelling, because he wants us to learn the consequences of sin. He uses the experiences to turn people away from greater sin to faith in Him.

God had provided in his covenant that he would restore his people if they would listen and return to him. I finally realized that I had to give it to Him and ask for his help for me to renew my faith and to go to him for guidance and remember Hebrews 13:5:  Keep your lives free from the love of money or other things away from God and be content with what you have been given because God has said, "Never will I leave you: Never will I forsake you." And 13:8   Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hosea 14:2:   Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously that we may offer the fruits of our lips.  A "sacrifice of praise" today would include thanking Christ for his sacrifice on the cross and telling others about it. Acts of kindness and sharing are particularly pleasing to God, even when they go unnoticed by others.

In the past months, God has given our family a joy from him:  the joy of the birth of our third Granddaughter, MaKenna Brook Herr, daughter of Anthony and Kelli Herr, born March 14th. Kelli was blessed to get a new opportunity for work, and we are blessed with the task of caring for MaKenna while Mom and Dad work. What a great experience to be able to see her every week for 2 days and to watch her grow and to experience her as she grows. It is a blessing to be involved in her care along with her parents and other family members, and to see all the changes happening to her day by day as she grows.

We miss our other 2 granddaughters,  Aundrea, and Cassie and enjoy seeing them develop into beautiful young ladies through face time.

Let us pray:  I just have to thank you God for all the experiences of sadness and joy, doubt and faith, and feeling of hurt and feeling the love of Jesus that He has sent our way. Thank you for being there through it all and thank you for reveling to me on this beautiful day that you are the truth and light and the one to lean on  in our life's trials. Bless everyone as they go through what you have in store for them.

In His Name,
Amen

Melanie Herr

Devotional 6-14-12

Read Psalm 92

On Friday June 7, 2012 we participated in the “Relay for Life” Cancer fundraiser, at the Barboursville Park around the lake. We had never attended this before although we had supported the “Relay for Life” many times over the years during our employment at St. Mary’s MC.

On this Friday night we were there to support our sister in Christ, Elicia Bias, in her fight of cancer, along with her “Pac Man Team”. Elicia started out last year with ovarian cancer, she had surgery and treatment and was cancer free for 3 months, but it is back and she must fight on. She just went to the doctor at Ohio State and found that she must go through more chemo. She is a very upbeat person who shows her love for Christ. She knows she is in His hands and the Lord will take care of her as He has before.

The first lap around the lake was the survivor’s lap. There were survivors of all ages: young, teens, middle age, older people, those on crutches, in wheel chairs, and being carried by their parents. You could tell that they all had a bond with the Lord and that He was with each of them as they go through their lives. They were all there to help raise money to find a cure for cancer and to support each other.

Later that night there were luminaries, which were purchased in memory or honor of someone with cancer, by friends or family members. They were placed all around the lake. When they were lit, it was a humbling experience to see all of them, knowing they represent people who were courageous in their fight for life. They are not suffering now, and were looking down in awe, knowing that God is with everyone; and that He will be there for all of us in whatever circumstance we have, just for the asking.

Psalm 92 12-14
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon,
planted in the house of the Lord
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age
They will stay fresh and green
Proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him”.

The psalmist saw believers as upright, strong and unmoved by the winds of circumstance. Those who place their faith firmly in God can have this strength and vitality.

God is for everyone, not just the young. As we grow older, believers can remain fruitful. There are many faithful older people who continue to have a fresh outlook and can teach from a life time experience of serving God. Ask an older person to tell you about their experiences with the Lord and challenge you to new heights of spiritual growth.
We all need to keep the faith, like all of those fighting cancer, in whatever path we are led down, knowing we are God’s people and that He will be there with us through it all.

Dear Lord,
Continue to be with all your people on the paths you have opened for us to follow. We know you have a reason for everything and everyone. Help us to keep the faith in you and live our lives like you want us to. Open our hearts that you can come in and support all of your people where you know where we need you. Thank you for all you do for us and all that you will do in us in the future.
Amen

Melanie Herr

Devotional 9-5-08

Read Romans 12:9-21

Love our enemies

There are so many different types of love, each with many sides and aspects to it. It is one of the many flaws of the English language that we have a single word to describe them all, so we often fail to distinguish between that which we feel for our spouses, and that which compels us to feed the poor. Where this linguistic limitation has the most impact is where it tricks us to believing that love is a feeling, and worse, one over what we have no control.

It’s probably true that we cannot choose whom we love romantically. We fall in love and out of love at the whim of our emotions. Since this is the kind of love with which we are the most familiar (and perhaps the most comfortable), we struggle when we hear Jesus speak of “loving our enemies.” A contradiction forms in our mind as we think, “How can I love them? I don’t feel a shred of sympathetic emotion for them at all!”

The love of which Jesus speaks is not a feeling in any sense of the word. It is a decision resulting in action. It is a choice you make that has nothing whatsoever to do with how you feel, and quite often, occurs in spite of a feeling to the contrary. This kind of love judges the needs of a person but never the person themselves, and responds according to the gravity of the need, never the character of the person.

Understand that you must absolutely ignore whatever you feel for a person and treat them with as much compassion and kindness as you would show your own mother or child. This is the kind of love that Christ demands --not a feeling, but rather a spirit of service, selflessness and humility. It is the ability to give to others with no regard to what they can do to repay you, what they feel for you or what you feel for them.

This kind of love is extremely hard. Unlike romantic love, which naturally drives us to do wonderful things for our spouse, loving our enemies goes against what our sinful nature drives us to do. It is far from effortless. Very often, when we stand at the brink of loving our enemies, our sinful nature cries out, “I don’t want to do this!” And stand poised to halt our progress. We have to push through it. We have to resist the notion that something so difficult and so contrary to our natural desire could be called “love.” It is, in fact the greatest kind of love. It is the kind of love that God demonstrated when he saved us while we were his enemies (Romans 5:10).

There are opportunities for each of us to put this kind of love into practice every day, but it takes extraordinary courage and faith to even recognize these opportunities, let alone act on them. Imagine a coworker that you simply cannot get along with who is on the verge of making a huge mistake that will get her fired. Our sinful nature revels in this, and tells us that it serves her right. Let her get fired! Yet, if we are to love as God loves, we cannot let this situation unfold. We must intervene and prevent her from making that mistake despite all objections from our emotions. This is not at all what we will “feel” like doing, and that is why it requires such courage and faith. And what reward will we get? Perhaps she will thank us, or perhaps she will tell us to mind our own business. Yet, our love does not expect her appreciation and our motives are simple and pure-- love her as God loves her.

Remember that this kind of love is not about emotion, it is about action. Never stop looking for these opportunities to act in your life, and don’t give in to the nagging voice which insists that love is always easy and always rewarding. Don’t stop when you’re on the brink of kindness because it doesn’t feel right, for it often doesn’t. This kind of love can be hard and uncomfortable, but it is the most important of all, for it is by this kind of love that others will know that Christ lives in you.

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother who he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. (I John 4:20)

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with action and in truth. (I John 3:18)

From “Delve into Jesus: Devotionals: Love our Enemies”

Dear Lord,

Be with us as we go through out our daily tasks and remind us that you are there for us to call on when we get into a situation that we should love our enemies, or someone that needs the love of God reveled to them through us. Even when we say, “I can’t do this,” give us the strength to love the children of God. For it is by your strength that we depend on to get us through the day. Thank you for all the blessings you have given to all of us, and let us share the blessing of your love to our enemies, by showing them that “Jesus loves you” through our actions.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

Submitted by Melanie Herr