This is daily devotional from the Upper Room - www. upperroom.org.

KEPT IN LOVE

Quite dramatically it dawns upon you: There is a God. There's more to life than what I have been seeing. There is a God. And God makes a claim on my life.

Perhaps at the very same moment, you get a whole different view of yourself. Scales fall off. It is horrible. "I've been living for me. I've been curved in on myself all these years. ... All the love lost!
And the betrayals -- by neglect as much as anything! The blindness! Woe is me. I'm a mess that can't be fixed. I've got to close all these thoughts up and get out of here." The boat is sinking.

But then, if you are blessed, just as soon as the horror of self-knowledge is embraced, there comes another feeling of presence. A gentle voice which speaks from the depths of the soul, even from the depths of the universe. "It's all right. Do not be afraid. I know who you are. Forgiveness is mine to grant. I'm not here to destroy your life. I'm here to remake it." It feels like death at first, but then there is new life. "See, this coal upon your lips makes them clean. I
remove your sins."

The sudden apprehension of God's reality creates a sudden knowledge of self. And you perceive a horrible gap between yourself and God. But immediately into the breach God pours love and forgiveness. There is an intuition that God knows full well who you are and loves you
anyway. Beneath the crisis of the meaning of life, whatever form it takes, God gives a sense that all is well and you are kept in love. God lifts you out of the sinking boat.

-- Gerrit Scott Dawson
HEARTFELT

Here's what The Upper Room is about:

From its beginning, The Upper Room® magazine has been interdenominational. We seek to build on what draws us together in Christian belief. The intent of the founders of the magazine was that it be non-sectarian and non-doctrinaire, and we work to include many perspectives in what we publish. The magazine was created in response to a call from a Sunday-school-class prayer group in Texas, who asked the church to provide for families a devotional resource to use for home worship each day. It was the time of the Great Depression, and these people felt that prayer and Bible study could help people face the difficult times with faith.

The magazine was begun by the Home Missions Board of the Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1935. This is a predecessor denomination of the United Methodist Church, which still owns the magazine. Though the magazine is owned by the United Methodist Church, it is financially separate from it. We receive no grants or subsidy from the United Methodist Church or from any other denomination. Our income comes completely from sale of our magazines and books.
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I always see copies of the magazine at church, and sometime pick it up to read. Many members of my church write meditations for the magazine which have been published. Now I get a daily devotion by email.

The Upper Room website also takes online prayers. I totally believe in the power of prayer, and there's nothing like a group of people praying for you for your hard times to turn around. After I submitted my prayer request, within a couple of days I swear I could feel people praying for me. It's an intense feeling that is just amazing!