Someone Who Understands - Week 1 Devotional 2006

Scripture: " Who, being in very nature God... made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." Philippians 2:6-7

Application: A man was sitting at home one Christmas Eve when his wife asked if he would go to church with her, he didn't want to go. He was a good man but he didn't believe that God came to earth as a man, so he just stayed home and waited for his family to return. Later a heavy snow storm began. A loud thud against his front door startled him. When he continued to hear the thuds, he went to the door to see what they were. To his surprise, it was a flock of birds who were looking for shelter from the storm and one them had tried to fly through his front window. Concerned the man scattered bread crumbs on the snow from his front door to his barn. He opened the barn doors and turned on the lights hoping that the birds would find shelter there. The more he tried to get the birds into the barn the more frigthened they became. He thought to himself if he could only be a bird, he could talk to them, speak their language, and tell them he was here to help them- that they could hear and understand him and trust him. About that time, the church bells began to ring. As they rang he realized that he too was like a frigthened bird, that God sent his Son for the purpose of walking and talking with us- to help hear and understand and to trust.

Quote: "I never ask the wounded person how he feels; I myself become the wounded person." = Walt Whitman

Observations: Write your thoughts about the verse, application and the quote.

Prayer: Write a short prayer that emphasizes the message of the scripture.