Something More To Experience

Question to think about: Are you willing to experience something more?

We took a break and relaxed at the Oregon Coast with some friends. Sharing breathtaking views, laughter, and fun with friends put life in perspective.
The details that seemed important a few days before paled in comparison to the details of creation: blue sky, towering trees, tide pools filled with starfish and anemone, and the rising rock in the ocean called "haystack rock" accompanied by the three adjacent rocks, "the needles."

Have you noticed that life looks different when you step back from the daily schedule to not only catch your breath but to breathe?

Sometimes we get in a rut of living without realizing there is something more to experience. John described Jesus encountering people that wanted something more than what they had:
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids -- blind, lame, and paralyzed.(John 5:1-3, NRS)

The people went to the pool at Bethesda to find something more in their life.
Bethesda can be interpreted as "house" but it also may mean "house of mercy" or "house of outpouring." Both interpretations speak of life that is beyond our human limitations.

Break free.
Step back.
Breathe.
View life from the perspective that God has more for your life.
Experience the mercy and outpouring of God.

One of my favorite promises comes from the book of Lamentations . . . a time when the people had experienced excruciating loss . . . it is worth knowing:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23, NRS)


Learning with you to experience something more today . . . the new mercies of God,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2008 All Rights Reserved)