Conversation on the road to Emmaus
What conversations have you had while travelling? My husband and I love to listen to the ABC radio podcast “Conversations” while on road trips. There is such a vast and diverse array of guests the interviewers interact with, some to make us laugh, some to move us to tears. Travelling conversations with a captive audience can pass the time, and also be enlightening.
Have you any siblings? What do conversations with them sound like? Often children from the same family are described as being “chalk and cheese”. Is that so for you?
Mary and Martha seem like “chalk and cheese”. It would be interesting to know if they were of similar ages, or how they shared the household duties. I get the impression that Martha is older, and I wonder if she was bossy or just very responsible. Was Mary easily distracted from a task or even lazy? Whatever my questions, they both appear devoted to Jesus – Martha devoted to serving him and Mary devoted to listening to him.
And Jesus loves them both. Read the full devotion for April 2024 …
Curiosity and an inquiring mind are triggers for gaining further information and knowledge about a particular topic. Recall a time when you carried out some research to become more deeply informed. Was it when buying a product, to obtain accurate facts, or just to enrich some prior understanding with a thirst for further knowledge?
What source of expertise did you use? A person, a book or “Mr Google”?
Read Margaret’s full devotion …
A Drink of Water and a Conversation with Jesus No doubt you have been asked to provide someone with a drink of water. Recall a situation. Who was the person: a child, an adult, a visitor, someone visited, a stranger? When and/or where did this request occur? Did an extended conversation follow? Read John 4:5–42 Here is a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman. This conversation is more than a mere exchange of words. …
Self-control But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other. Galatians 5:22–26 NIV Twelve months have passed since I first began …
“Gentle Jesus meek and mild, look upon a little child” – this well-known children’s hymn, sometimes used as a prayer, seems very fitting during the Advent season because as we approach Christmas, the model of gentleness takes centre stage. Jesus’ humble birth in a manger amidst the busy town of Bethlehem exemplifies the gentle nature of our God. Here our Lord is born in the humblest of places – an animal shelter no less – who would suspect?
Read the full devotion …
Faithfulness
Driving home after celebrating the beginning of another new year, I was surprised at how quiet and uneventful the streets of our little town were. It was relatively early for New Year’s Eve, around 12:30 am, the night was calm, the air crisp. Having just welcomed in 2023 and thinking about what the year ahead may bring, I noticed a movement to the left of my vision. There he was making a surprise appearance, entering unannounced, a huge grey kangaroo heading like a moth toward my headlights. It all appeared like slow motion – him bounding, my reacting as I slammed my foot hard against the brake. I managed to miss him; I don’t know how but I do know his fur polished my fender! Talk about a jolt to the new year! It crossed my mind; could this be a sign that 2023 would be a year of near misses!
Read the full devotion …
After our mother passed away, my sisters and I had the task of sorting through her belongings. Whilst the majority of our mother’s household items were passed on to charity, there were sentimental objects that remained far too precious for us to ever give away. One of those items I happened to come across while sorting through an old brown suitcase. In my hand I held something very familiar to me. A simple black book with the word “visitors” embossed in gold on the font cover. Read the full devotion …
In our backyard we have several fruit trees. One of my favourites is a peach tree that my mother grew from the seed of a particularly sweet, juicy peach she had purchased from a supermarket. Affectionately called “Mum’s Peach”, this little tree has had good years and not so good years, mostly depending on whether I have remembered to spray for curly leaf. When I have neglected to spray, my yields are severely impacted. The fruit is generally fewer and smaller. However, when I have placed time and effort into controlling this disease, then the fruit is usually large, sweet, and juicy just like the original parent fruit that my mother had purchased all those years before. Read the full devotion …
It was the morning of the second day of winter, a grey blanket of cloud hung low stretching to the horizon. Drizzly rain smeared my windscreen making everything seem even greyer. Soggy paddocks anchored a patchwork of woolly sheep huddled together to conserve some heat. Even the birds had perched closely on the telephone wires leaving no gaps between their feathers.
Read Dee’s full devotion here …
Have you ever had a trying day and then, out of the blue, someone comes along and shows a little kindness toward you? I remember one such day when it seemed that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong – a day when I should have stayed in bed! Then quite out of the blue I was handed a beautiful red rose. The person who gave it to me had made a special trip to my place of work and, as she handed me the rose, she whispered, “I feel you needed this today”, and with that, she left. I do not know how she knew, but I do know that God knew.
Which Way? If there is one thing that unsettles me, it is when I am lost. Unlike my husband who has an inbuilt compass, I cannot go anywhere without my phone, and just in case technology may fail, I dust off the old “Melways” for good measure! I like to know where I am headed, the route I will be taking and the estimated time of arrival. So, I cannot imagine trekking through the wilderness …