| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now” Our Bible verse for today: “And there will be showers of blessing.” Ezekiel 34:26 (KJV) Our thought for today: “Cover them with God’s love” When the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel used the phrase “there shall be showers of blessing” in Ezekiel 34:26, he was referring specifically to how God would bless His people once they repented and returned to Him. That was the specific context but I love the imagery of God’s blessings falling down upon people like a fresh spring rain, and it fits well with the story I want to share with you this morning. In yesterday’s devotional I told you about the time I was in a small Gypsy farming village sharing a message of encouragement with a group of Gypsy Christians who were trying to reach their village for Jesus. My subject was about how to impact people with the love of Jesus. I noted that the strategy Jesus teaches is for His followers to engage in small acts of kindness and compassion and that cumulatively, as those acts are carried out by dozens, hundreds, and thousands of His followers, the little acts altogether combine to have a big impact. To illustrate that point I told them this story about a snowmaking machine in the mountains of Southern California. In those years I was living in Southern California and I enjoyed snow skiing. There are mountains just outside of Los Angeles that are over 8000 feet high. They do get snow and there are ski resorts there. But often they don’t get enough natural snow and therefore, they have machines that make snow. The machine has a long barrel protruding from it with hundreds of small pinprick holes in it. Then large volumes of high-pressure water are forced through it, producing a fine mist of atomized water. The machine is mounted on a swivel so it can rotate from side-to-side, and the barrel also rotates up and down. Therefore, as the machine rotates side-to-side, up-and-down, shooting its fine mist of water up into the cold night air, the mist of water freezes and falls back to the ground as snow. Because the machine rotates as it does, it produces a blanket of snow on the ground. But if the machine malfunctions or if isn’t properly aligned, there will be a bare spot on the ground that should have been covered by snow. Now understand, in the remote regions of the Carpathian Mountains in those little Gypsy villages snow is not a fun thing to be played with. Instead, it is a major problem that traps them in their remote villages and in their homes, and it pretty much shuts down life. When I told them that story they had looks of amazement on their faces. One older gentleman stood up and in wonder asked, “In America you actually “make” snow? On purpose??” Then he smiled, shook his head, and said, “You crazy Americans!” The point of the illustration is that Christians should be like that snowmaking machine. But instead of making snow we should be dispensers of God’s love, covering the earth with His love. However, if one of us is not properly doing our job to blanket the earth with God’s love, there will be bare spots that should have been covered in His love. My challenge to them and to us is this: “Who should be covered in God’s love because they were around you?” I encourage you to do your part today to cover your little part of the world with God’s love. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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