Daily Bible Reading
To prevent the frustration of falling behind, which most of us tend to do when following a Bible reading plan, each month of this plan gives you only twenty-five readings. Today we start a few “free days” . We encourage you to catch up on any readings you may have missed this month.
If you have finished the month’s readings, you can use these final days of the month to study the passages that challenged or intrigued you.
Daily Devotion
The Good Shepherd
A week ago, I had the opportunity to meet for dinner with one of my high school friends. We have not seen each other for such a long time. The great part about having life-long friends is that we always pick right back up from where we left off.
Along in our conversation, she had expressed her interest in talking to me because I’m a good listener, always positive, and down to earth; it is healing for her. In the back of my head while listening to her venting out to me, I was thinking, I am not the only one who goes through the things that she had shared with me about her life troubles. But when I open up to Grace, I find life-affirming help.
At various times, we all have felt rejected, devalued, and lost. What I’ve learned from our conversation was that we do not have just emotional needs: rather the reality is that we are in denial of our hurts and tend to isolate ourselves from our inner pain.
I was sitting there thinking of my imperfect self, believing that I have gone astray like a lost sheep. In my mind, I began to cry to God, seeking His hand to help me. I know we all have different parts of our self that are broken, hurt, and lost: that self needs to cry out and ask for the love of God. He promised us that He would go after the lost sheep until He finds it (Luke 15:4). I know one thing: Jesus is a Good Shepherd who not only looks for the lost sheep, but He also looks for the lost parts of the found sheep. Let the Spirit of God live in us and let us connect with His great love and share it with others.
~ Niezel Carganilla