God be with you

FOCUS READING

Luke 2:1-7 (The Message)

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

DAILY BYTE

The scripture from Luke 1 for this week says that Mary is a ‘favored one’ – which simply means that God graciously gave her a beautiful life. Those words in Greek are only used one other place in the Scriptures. You’ll find it in the book of Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 5 and 6. It says there: ‘He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.’

In other words, we are all favored by God, if we choose to accept his life growing in ours. And when we do that, our whole life is beautiful.
I noticed a strange thing this week, as I studied this scripture. Did you know that in Greek, the same word for becoming pregnant is the word for catching fish? I wasn’t sure what to make of that, really, and had a great debate about it with some friends.

I’m not sure I’ve got it 100 percent right, but I do have an imaginative thought about it to share with you. I wonder if it might not have something to do with the fact that when we allow ourselves to be filled to bursting with Jesus – expecting that God is going to do great things through our lives – that’s when we fully live out our calling as disciples to be fishers of people.

We are called to catch fish – to distract them with our beauty so that they will be drawn not to fall in love with us but to fall in love with the Christ they can see within us.

And so I hope that you have a truly beautiful Christmas – not because of the shiny things you see under the tree or because of how great you think you look in the photos you take, but because of the beauty of something new that is born in you.

And as this is the final day for the production of the BDC, I simply want to say to you for myself and on behalf of the other past writers of this devotional, thank you for the privilege of journeying with you. We pray that your life will continue to be richly blessed, as you grow in love of God and love of others.

Remember always that you are beautiful with God’s beauty. Beautiful inside and out. God be with you.


(It is with heavy hearts that we, at Manning Road Methodist Church, announce that this week’s BDC will be our last. With both Anna and Roger moving on and Gareth’s work commitments unable to allow him to continue this service, the decision was taken to bring it to a close.

HOWEVER, all is not lost!

The daily messages of “Faith For Daily Living” are available on an internet site specifically designed for cellphones. If you are able to access the internet on your cellphone and would like to make use of this service, SMS "MOBI FFDL" to 33978 and a link will be sent directly to your phone that you can add to your bookmarks for daily use.

Alternatively, type http://faithfordailyliving.mobi into your phone’s internet browser and access the site directly.

There is no subscription fee for this service, although there is a once-off charge of R1.50 for the SMS and your cellphone provider will apply its usual rates for accessing the web.

For those who wish to receive it via email daily, go to http://faithfordailyliving.org/Apply.html and enter your email address in the relevant box.

Another excellent resource is the Upper Room Daily Devotional available for mobiles and email and can be sourced from http://devotional.upperroom.org/emaildevotional - follow the relevant instructions.

Thanking you all for sharing this journey with us…

Manning Road Methodist Church)

Surprise! You’re pregnant!

FOCUS READING

Luke 1:46-48 (The Message)

And Mary said,

I'm bursting with God-news;
I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!

DAILY BYTE

The Message version of the scripture today says that God took one good look at Mary, and look what happened – she’s the most fortunate woman on earth. God took one good look at her – in her scrawny, peasant, teenage state and said – yes, look how beautiful I can make you.

People often say that there is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman. I’m not sure pregnant women always feel that way, but I have to agree with the general sentiment that pregnancy is beautiful. Women do tend to have a special radiance when they’re pregnant – when there is life actually growing inside of them.

When Mary’s soul magnifies the Lord – she is not asking, does this baby make me look fat? She is not obsessed with her own image and what people will think of her, as an unmarried mother. She is doing everything in her power to point people to the beautiful thing that is happening inside of her, which is that God is growing in her and is literally about to burst out into the world.

The Message says she’s ‘bursting with God-news’ – not the latest tabloid trend – but God’s news about what is good and beautiful in the world. She contrasts how humble she is with how great God is – never boosting her own ego but always putting the focus on the beautiful and amazing thing that God is doing in and through her.

How many of us, honestly, look in the mirror and without worrying about our frizz or age spots or extra lumps and bumps – and without pompously building ourselves up because of our bulging muscles or huge eyes or lovely skin can peacefully and confidently look back, accept what we see, and then turn to face the world, with the knowledge that we are beautiful and that something miraculous is growing inside of us?

My prayer is that we can grasp this, particularly in this season of the year when we’re worried about so many other less important things.

I pray that you can grasp today that we all – even the men, even the barren, even those of you who are too old and too young – all of us are pregnant! We are expecting the birth of Jesus in ourselves.
This truth makes us all radiantly beautiful.


(It is with heavy hearts that we, at Manning Road Methodist Church, announce that this week’s BDC will be our last. With both Anna and Roger moving on and Gareth’s work commitments unable to allow him to continue this service, the decision was taken to bring it to a close.

HOWEVER, all is not lost!

The daily messages of “Faith For Daily Living” are available on an internet site specifically designed for cellphones. If you are able to access the internet on your cellphone and would like to make use of this service, SMS "MOBI FFDL" to 33978 and a link will be sent directly to your phone that you can add to your bookmarks for daily use.

Alternatively, type http://faithfordailyliving.mobi into your phone’s internet browser and access the site directly.

There is no subscription fee for this service, although there is a once-off charge of R1.50 for the SMS and your cellphone provider will apply its usual rates for accessing the web.

For those who wish to receive it via email daily, go to http://faithfordailyliving.org/Apply.html and enter your email address in the relevant box.

Another excellent resource is the Upper Room Daily Devotional available for mobiles and email and can be sourced from http://devotional.upperroom.org/emaildevotional - follow the relevant instructions.

Thanking you all for sharing this journey with us…

Manning Road Methodist Church)

Magnifying

FOCUS READINGS

Luke 1:28-33 (The Message) & Luke 1:46-57 (NRSV)

Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus...

And Mary said,‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

DAILY BYTE

This week, we are asking the question, ‘Are we beautiful?’

We receive varied answers to this question from ourselves and from other people who have their own ideas of what beauty looks like. But the true answer to that question comes from God – our best mirror. The scriptures say we are made in the image of God. We are a reflection of God’s beauty. And so, it seems it is God’s voice that we should hear the loudest when God says to Mary and to us, ‘Good morning – you’re beautiful with God’s beauty – beautiful inside and out – God be with you.’

Mary’s response to this revelation is classic. She was ‘thoroughly shaken,’ wondering ‘what could be behind a greeting like that!’
She says, ummmm – who, me? Are you talking to me? With this face? This body with the hips that are slightly too wide and the pock mark by my nose and…’ Uh – what do you want from me?

It is hard to believe, isn’t it, that someone would think we’re beautiful just the way we are. So, I wonder, if Mary really wasn’t that pretty – what was it that God saw in her that was so beautiful? Why did God choose her to bring Jesus into the world?

Well, as I’ve read the scriptures, Mary has became more and more beautiful to me, too. The scripture that you see above is often called The Magnificat, or Mary’s Song, and it is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful and oldest songs in the scriptures. But it’s not just a beautiful song – it gives us a picture of beauty that we might be able to imitate with our own lives.

Magnificat means ‘magnifies.’ This does not mean that Mary has gotten one of those scary mirrors that magnifies the size of your face so that you can see every pore.

Mary is magnifying something beyond but including her outer beauty. She sings, my soul magnifies the Lord! We’ve lost sight of the meaning of soul. Our soul, in Greek, is our inner life – our deepest self. Remember that when Mary sings this, she is pregnant with God – which means that her soul - her inner life is alive with God. Her inner life magnifies, enlarges, literally shows the presence of God.

That must have been a beautiful sight to see. What might it look like for you to magnify God in your life?

(It is with heavy hearts that we, at Manning Road Methodist Church, announce that this week’s BDC will be our last. With both Anna and Roger moving on and Gareth’s work commitments unable to allow him to continue this service, the decision was taken to bring it to a close.

HOWEVER, all is not lost!

The daily messages of “Faith For Daily Living” are available on an internet site specifically designed for cellphones. If you are able to access the internet on your cellphone and would like to make use of this service, SMS "MOBI FFDL" to 33978 and a link will be sent directly to your phone that you can add to your bookmarks for daily use.

Alternatively, type http://faithfordailyliving.mobi into your phone’s internet browser and access the site directly.

There is no subscription fee for this service, although there is a once-off charge of R1.50 for the SMS and your cellphone provider will apply its usual rates for accessing the web.

For those who wish to receive it via email daily, go to http://faithfordailyliving.org/Apply.html and enter your email address in the relevant box.

Another excellent resource is the Upper Room Daily Devotional available for mobiles and email and can be sourced from http://devotional.upperroom.org/emaildevotional - follow the relevant instructions.

Thanking you all for sharing this journey with us…

Manning Road Methodist Church)

Good Mornin’!

FOCUS READING

Luke 1:26-28 (The Message)

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!
You're beautiful with God's beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.

DAILY BYTE

So, it struck me, as I read this passage for the first time from The Message version of the Bible that when the angel Gabriel visits Mary, he says to her, ‘Good morning! You’re beautiful with God’s beauty. Beautiful inside and out. God be with you.’

Can you imagine, how great it would be – every morning when we wake up with bags under our eyes and matted down hair to hear, Good morning! You are beautiful with God’s beauty! And in fact, the Greek real translation for good morning here, is “rejoice”! In other words – Yeah!! – Woohoo!! – I am beautiful!!! Good MORnin!

I would love to have that at my house! Picture the scene in the Bible….
Gabriel is talking to Mary – a teenager – and no offense to any teenagers who are reading this, but let’s be honest – our teenage years are probably some of our most image-obsessed years...!

In the ancient world, Mary probably never owned a mirror – the clearest reflections she saw of herself were probably in pools of water or shiny pieces of metal, which don’t give a very accurate portrayal.

She lived in a time when, frankly, peasant people lacked great hygiene, so even though Mary’s often portrayed in pictures as pristinely beautiful with perfect skin and symmetrical features – I’m not convinced that Mary really was all that pretty, at least by our standards. She was probably a pimply, greasy-haired teenager who wondered to herself when she stared in that pond – am I beautiful?

What do you think about and say to yourself when you wake up in the morning? Is your first thought that you are beautiful? What might it mean for you to be ‘beautiful with God’s beauty’?

Stay tuned this week to discover what it might have meant for Mary and what it still may mean for us.

(It is with heavy hearts that we, at Manning Road Methodist Church, announce that this week’s BDC will be our last. With both Anna and Roger moving on and Gareth’s work commitments unable to allow him to continue this service, the decision was taken to bring it to a close.

HOWEVER, all is not lost!

The daily messages of “Faith For Daily Living” are available on an internet site specifically designed for cellphones. If you are able to access the internet on your cellphone and would like to make use of this service, SMS "MOBI FFDL" to 33978 and a link will be sent directly to your phone that you can add to your bookmarks for daily use.

Alternatively, type http://faithfordailyliving.mobi into your phone’s internet browser and access the site directly.

There is no subscription fee for this service, although there is a once-off charge of R1.50 for the SMS and your cellphone provider will apply its usual rates for accessing the web.

For those who wish to receive it via email daily, go to http://faithfordailyliving.org/Apply.html and enter your email address in the relevant box.

Another excellent resource is the Upper Room Daily Devotional available for mobiles and email and can be sourced from http://devotional.upperroom.org/emaildevotional - follow the relevant instructions.

Thanking you all for sharing this journey with us…

Manning Road Methodist Church)

Primping

FOCUS READING

Proverbs 4:3b (The Message)

Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! Throw your arms around her—believe me, you won't regret it; never let her go—she'll make your life glorious. She'll garland your life with grace, she'll festoon your days with beauty."

DAILY BYTE

This past week, I had to have my photograph taken. I knew the photographer was to arrive in the morning, so I made sure I had my favorite clergy outfit on, and I stood in front of the mirror to primp and prod myself, as I, and, it seems, most of the rest of the world does every morning.

We look at our faces in the mirror, wondering, what can I do to make myself look more beautiful today...? Definitely wash my face. A comb would help. And a little blush and some lipstick... For the men, a little gel, and a haircut? No time for that now – but mmm – Botox? – really not an option, although ...?

We ask our reflection in the mirror, am I good-looking? Was I ever good-looking? Will I ever be good-looking? When you look at models on TV, they’re almost always in their twenties. I wonder when I see that – did I miss my moment? Is it too late for me to be beautiful? Am I beautiful the way I am? And if not, what do I need to do to become more beautiful?

There’s no question in my mind, as I stand in the queue at the grocery store, gazing at all the magazines, that we are an image-conscious culture. Just a little while ago, I heard a very beautiful little girl compare her face to that of a baboon. The young girls at a children’s home I work with smear their walls with magazine cutouts of anorexic Caucasian models – images that are totally unachievable for most of them because of their skin colour and body type. Who gave these young people the idea that their own bodies are ugly and should be replaced by something or someone else? I think we’re all somehow responsible.

And this message is for the guys, too! I go to gym – I know some guys who spend a lot more time in front of the mirror and picking out an outfit than I do. Guys who are very quick to critique their own features and plenty of other peoples’, too.

The drive to be good-looking or beautiful – however we define beauty – rages through all of us. We are obsessed with the image that we see in the mirror.

Do find that you are obsessed with your mirror image? Do you linger a little longer than you would like, examining your features in the morning, as you wash up and get dressed? Do your eyes critique those you see in public whom you decide are more beautiful or less beautiful than you think you are?

If so, keep reading this week.

This is, according to many, the most beautiful and wonderful time of the year, as we anticipate the birth of Christ at Christmas. And so, we’re going to look this week at why Mary was beautiful and what her beauty might have to teach us about our own.

(It is with heavy hearts that we, at Manning Road Methodist Church, announce that this week’s BDC will be our last. With both Anna and Roger moving on and Gareth’s work commitments unable to allow him to continue this service, the decision was taken to bring it to a close.

HOWEVER, all is not lost!

The daily messages of “Faith For Daily Living” are available on an internet site specifically designed for cellphones. If you are able to access the internet on your cellphone and would like to make use of this service, SMS "MOBI FFDL" to 33978 and a link will be sent directly to your phone that you can add to your bookmarks for daily use.

Alternatively, type http://faithfordailyliving.mobi into your phone’s internet browser and access the site directly.

There is no subscription fee for this service, although there is a once-off charge of R1.50 for the SMS and your cellphone provider will apply its usual rates for accessing the web.

For those who wish to receive it via email daily, go to http://faithfordailyliving.org/Apply.html and enter your email address in the relevant box

Another excellent resource is the Upper Room Daily Devotional available for mobiles and email and can be sourced from http://devotional.upperroom.org/emaildevotional - follow the relevant instructions.

Thanking you all for sharing this journey with us...

Manning Road Methodist Church)