FISHERMAN'S NET LIBRARY

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|     |   |          A WEEK FOR CREATIVE MEDITATING         |   |     |
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       THE SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST WORLD FEDERATION WEEK OF PRAYER 
      is sponsored by the  SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST WORLD FEDERATION
      P.O Box 1678 3120 Kennedy Road  Janesville, WI 53547, USA

 Members of the Federation include conferences and churches of Brazil, 
   Burma, England, Germany, Guyana, Holland, India, Jamacia, Malawi,
 New Zealand, Philippines, and the United States of America and Canada.

SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS FOR SUNDAY:

Genesis 1:1-5; John 8:12; John 1:4-9; John 3:19-21; Matthew 5:14-16
 
In the beginning God said, "Let there be light." These were God's first
recorded words in scripture. Without them all creation would have
remained in total darkness. God obviously felt that light needed to be
created first.

It is no wonder that Jesus declares Himself the light of the world.
Without Him mankind lives in spiritual darkness. We must not try to hide
in the darkness. We must not try to keep our sins hidden. Instead we are
to come to the light of Jesus. He will cleanse us and forgive our sins.
Instead of having our sins hidden, they will be removed--as far as the
East is from the West!

Once Jesus becomes our Saviour, He becomcs the Light of our life. His
light can and will shine through us. We then become spiritual lights to
the world around us, also. May Seventh Day Baptists around the world
shine spiritually today and every day.

SPECIAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: It only takes one candle to dispel total
darkness--your candle!

PRAYER: Eternal and Almighty God, Lord of all creation, we are grateful
for the physical light that lights up our universe. We are also grateful
for the spiritual light that comes from Jesus. Help us on this first day
of our worldwide week of prayer to be obedient to Christ. May we let our
lights shine that others will see our good works and glorify You. Amen.

SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS FOR MONDAY:

Genesis 1:6-8; John 4:7-14; Revelation 22:1, 17; Matthew 10:42; 25:34-40

On the second day of creation God established the life-sustaining cycle
of the waters. Without the rain from the sky and the rivers and streams
that flow, we could not quench our thirst. We would not be able to
sustain our lives.
 
Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, also used water as an illustration.
He described His spiritual relationship with us as the Source of Living
Water. When we drink of Him, we will never thirst spiritually again. As
Christians with Jesus living in us, we also through Him become a source
of Living Water for others.
 Jesus told us to share life's waters with others who are thirsty, both
physically and spiritually. We are to share a cup of cold water in the
name of Jesus. In doing so He said we actually are giving it to Him!

SPECIAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If a cup brim-ful of water is jostled, the
water will spill. If you are brim-ful of God's love and someone agitates
you, how could anything be spilled except God's love.

PRAYER: Almighty God and Heavenly Father, who wisely created the waters
of our universe, we thank You. We also thank You for Jesus Christ, our
Living Water. Help us as Sevenrh Day Baptists to be mindful of others
who are thirsty. May we be always willing to share a cup of cold water
in Jesus' name. May we remember that in giving to them we are giving to
Him. Amen.

SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS FOR TUESDAY:

Genesis i:9-13; John 6:31-35; Matthew 4:1-4; Matthew 5:6; John 4:3

On the third day of creation week God brought forth the vegetation. He
caused to grow the grains from which we prepare our daily bread. Once
again Jesus uses our physical needs to explain the spiritual truths. He
described Himself as the Bread of Life. 
 
When He fasted for 40 days, His hunger did not lessen his spirituality.
He said we cannot live by bread alone. Our spirits must be nourished as
well. We also live by every word of our Heavenly Fathþþr. Jesus said,
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled. " May we as Seventh Day Baptists be numbered among the
ones that are so blessed.

SPECIAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Jesus told his disciples that His meat (or
nourishment) was to be doing His Father's will. What is our "meat"?

PRAYER: Great and Loving Father, Creator of all, who so wisely brought
forth the worid's vegetation, You told us every herb and every fruit
bearing tree was given for our physical nourishment. We are also mindful
that Jesus is our Bread of Life. For these needful things we are deeply
grateful. Help us to remember that we are not to live by physical food
alone. Help us to obedient to all that You have spoken. Amen.
 
SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS FOR WEDNESDAY:

Genesis 1:14-19; Psalm 8:3-6; Psalm 19:1-6; Malachi 4:2; Revelation 21:
 23-25; Revelation 22:5, 16

On the fourth day God created the stars, the sun, the moon. Only today
are we beginning to realize how organized are the galaxies and how vast
is the whole universe. We know bow that warmth and energy from our sun
sustains life on our earth. We realize that the regularity of the stars
guide our navigation and plot our seasons.  Even our desolate moon has
chalenged us to visit it. We still, however are forced to recognize our
limitations. We stiil say with the Psalmist, "What is man, that God is
mindful of him?"

SPECIAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Mankind thought it was a great step to the
surface of the moon . Zechariah 14:4 describes mankind's greatest step.
Jesus will place His feet on the Mount of Olives at His Second Coming!
 
PRAYER: Lord God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Most Powerful
God Who sustains the vast universe, we express our gratitude that You
are not only mindful of great and immense things. You are mindful of us
as well. Thank You for visiting us in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is
truly yje Sun of Righteousness and the Bright and Morning Star. We look
forward, O Lord, to that future eternal day. Then there will be no need
for the sun. Your glory will far outshine it. Amen.

SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS FOR THURSDAY:

Genesis 1:20-23; Matthew 6:24-26; John 1:32-34; Luke 5:1-11; 9:57-58

In yesterday's devotional we noted that God controlled the vastness of
the universe. In today's scripture we can see His concern for details as
well. He is not only an omnipotent God. He also is a loving God. On the
fifth day of creation He made the birds and the fish. And He said it was
good. Jesus pointed out that our Heavenly Father cares for and feeds the
tiny birds. He knows when one of them  falls to earth. Our God certainly
concerned for us as well. Jesus said that even when He didn't have any
place to lie down, the birds still had their nests.

The Holy Spirit is even portrayed as a dove. This is a timely symbol for
today. Our war torn world deserately needs the Prince of Peace. Jesus
also used the fish in his teachings. He commanded us to be fishers of
men.

SPECIAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The Greek word for fish is IXTHUS. This
word was used by early Christians for Jesus. I: Insous (Jesus)
X: Xristos (Christ) TH: Theos (God's)  U: Uios (Son) S: Soter (Savior)

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Creator of all things great and small, we now
acknowledge your love and cnncern which continues to bring to existence
the tiniest creatures of our world. We give You praise for Your loving
concern for us as well. Help us to share that same love and concern for
others. Help us to be fishers of men. Amen.

SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS FOR FRIDAY:
 
Genesis 1:24-31; Exodus 12:1-13; John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22;
1 Corinthians 15:45-49. Hebrews 9:12-14

On the sixth day God created man in His image and pronounced it very
good. Mankind, however, has not lived up to the likeness of his Creator.
On this sixth day God also created the animals. Ever since, they have
borne the consequences of our sin. The first time was the animal whose
skin was used to cover man's shame and nakedness. Then through the ages
as sacrificial offerings, and down to today as we force them to become
endangered species.

Jesus Himself was described as a lamb. The Lamb of God that takes away
the sins of the world -our sins! Jesus also found meaning in contrasting
Himself with Adam. As the Second Adam, He is undoing all the wrongs of
mankind from thc very beginning.

SPECIAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: In Psalm 51:16-17 we are told that the only
sacrifice we can offer to God is a humble and contrite heart.

PRAYER: Eternal Father and God Most Holy, we sorrowfully acknowledge we
have not lived up to your image. We are truly penitent. We thank You
above all for your Son, Jesus Christ, who became the lamb without spot
or blemish. He died on the cross for us. May He also live in our hearts
that we through Him, can also be spotless. Amen.

SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS FOR SABBATH:
 
Genesis 2 1-3, Isaiah 58:13-14; Mark 2:27-28; Mark 3:4; Hebrews 4:4,9-11

Our Creator God in his omniscience completed creation week by resting on
the seventh day. He hallowed its hours and called it his Holy Sabbath.
An omnipotent God surely didn't need to rest no matter how hard he had
been working. Just as Jesus though sinless was baptised, so God may have
rested "to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). God rested to set
this example for us to also rest on the Sabbath.

Jesus also set an example of using the Sabbath Day for doing good works.
He even reasoned that the Sabbath was the day especially for doing good
and saving lives. Hebrews reminds us that the Sabbath rest continues to
remain with us. It will only be replaced by the eternal Sabbath of the
new Heaven  and the new Earth. At that time we will experience perfect
rest and worship in God's eternal presence.

SPECIAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "Keeping" the Sabbbath can never make up
for "throwing away" the other days of the week!

PRAYER: Divine Creator and loving Father in Heaven, this Sabbath Day we
complete another week of prayer. We are deeply thankful for this day of
Sabbath rest. Help us to truly call this day a delight. Help us to spend
this Sabbath day in thoughts and deeds worthy of the blessedness and
sanctity You gave it. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and Amen.

Rev. John A. Conrod has served as a Seventh Day Baptist pastor in Denver
Colorado, and Marlboro, New Jersey; Field Pastor for the Pacific Coast
Association and Seventh Day Baptist Missionary to Malawi, Africa. These
are in addition to earlier part-time and student pastoral work in Kansas
City, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Washington, D. C. and Salemville,
Pennsylvania. John received a bachelor's degree from Seattle Pacific
University in Washington in 1961 and a master of divinity from Eastern
Baptist Seminary in Philadelphia in 1969. In addition to pastoral work,
he also worked as a corporation accountant. He was ordained by the 
Marlboro Seventh Day Baptist Church in New Jersey. He authored the very
popular correspondence Bible study, Guide to Bible Understanding, and
continues to serve the Seventh Day Baptist ministry in a very special
way through service as editor of Fisherman's Net Publications. John and
his wife Joyce, now live in Denver, Colorado. 

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