Last month, my friend, Anne, and I chose Jesus Loves Me as the topic for our children's sermon. It has been said that Jesus Loves Me is one of the best-loved Christian children's hymns around the world.

So many interesting stories surround the history of Jesus Loves Me. One such story is that the famous Swiss Reformed theologian, Karl Barth, was asked in 1962 if he could explain Christianity in a few words. He replied, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

However, the story behind this hymn is really a tale of two sisters. Anna and Susan Warner lived in New York in the 1800s. When their father, a well-known lawyer, lost most of his holdings in the depression of 1837, the family moved to what had been their summer home on Constitution Island in the Hudson River across from West Point, the US Military Academy. Their summer home became the family's permanent residence.

At that time, The Reverend Thomas Warner, Anna and Susan's uncle, was the chaplain at West Point. Both girls then began teaching Sunday school classes to the cadets, and they continued teaching for 50 years. Neither Anna nor Susan ever married.

In order to supplement their family's income, the sisters used their writing talents. Anna wrote poetry, and Susan wrote novels. While Susan was writing a novel entitled Say and Seal, she asked Anna to write a poem that the father in her story could read to his young son, who was terminally ill, to allay his fear of dying. The poem Anna wrote, Jesus Loves Me, contained three verses, just twelve lines. She based her poem on John 3:16.

During America's civil war, the poem, Jesus Loves Me, was prayed in homes, in churches, and on battlefields. In 1861, William Bradbury, a music publisher and choir director, added music to the poem. He also added a four-line chorus to be sung between the verses. Since that time, many have changed the verses or added new verses, but Anna's original version can be found on Wikipedia.

Missionaries of many denominations have used the simple but beautiful song to teach the gospel to new Christians all around the world. Another story tells that when Christians in China were being persecuted during the rise of communism in 1949, a group of Christians wanted to tell other Christians outside China's borders that they were all right. They were able to do so by writing a letter using the words, "The this I know people are well." The censors allowed the letters to go through because the communist officials thought the phrase nonsensical and meaningless.

The next time that you hear or sing Jesus Loves Me, just think of how this children's hymn has helped to teach the gospel of God's love. Do you consider yourself to be one of "the this I know people"?

Prayer: Father, we praise and thank You for the talents of poetry writing and music that You have given to people to spread in simple but beautiful ways the good news that, indeed, Your Son, Jesus Christ, loves us. Help each of us to use whatever talent that You have given to us to spread Your love. It is in Jesus' holy name that we pray. Amen.

In previous devotionals, I have mentioned that I frequently co-author children's sermons with my friend, Anne. Because we share our sermons with other writers, they share with us. This week, I received a copy of a children's sermon that is part of a tradition on Maundy Thursday in the author's church. The sermon is called, "The Towel". Each child is presented with a new hand towel as they listen to the story.

At first glance, it is easy to look at a towel as a most ordinary object. Have you ever stopped to think that for thousands of years, towels have been used for many wonderful purposes?

Think of the mother who wipes the tears of a child to soothe an emotional or physical hurt. Think of the medic who binds the wounds of a bleeding soldier. Think of the child who wipes the muddy feet of a new puppy. Or think of the woman in her kitchen simply wiping her hands as she moves from one task to another.

Perhaps the most significant use of a towel happened nearly two thousand years ago, when our Saviour — only hours before He was put to death on the cross — washed His disciples' feet, and then took an ordinary towel in His loving hands and dried their feet.

In Jesus' day, the washing of feet was considered to be a job of the lowliest kind — something for servants to do. It would certainly not have been considered appropriate work for the promised Saviour of the world. Jesus' simple, loving act personifies the selflessness and loving service that He performed for anyone in need. What was Jesus trying to teach us? When He washed and dried the disciples' feet, He was trying to show us that if we call ourselves Christians, we are to be humble and see that there is no service that is beneath us. We are to set our pride aside and humbly serve God, the church, and our fellow man. He told His disciples, "I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you." (John 13:15 NRSV)

Jesus was showing us that an ordinary thing like a towel, in the right hands, along with a giving heart, can lighten another's load. As with every action performed by Jesus Christ on this earth, His acts of service remind us that simple, day-to-day kindnesses are the Saviour's way to bless and comfort others.

Perhaps the next time when you look at your towel, you will think of someone who needs your kindness, and you will offer to help.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, so often we see people who are suffering in one way or another, and we fail to respond. Help us, we pray, to dry their tears and soothe their fears, just as Your Son Jesus did through simple acts of kindness. Amen.

While driving to an appointment across town, I was listening to my favourite Christian radio station. The pastor was teaching on the topic of prayer. He caught my attention when he asked the following questions: Are your prayers becoming stale? Do you find yourself praying for the same things in the same words over and over?

If the answer was "Yes", he suggested that we try praying the Scriptures. I wasn't sure that I wanted to listen any more, as that idea had been introduced to me several years before, and after trying it for a week or so, I went back to praying in my own words. Somehow, praying Scripture made me feel that I had lost the intimacy that I feel when talking to God in my own words.

However, the next morning, I decided to give it a try. I did as the pastor had suggested and prayed from the book of Psalms, because, as he said, the whole book of Psalms is a book of praise. I started with Psalm 23 because the words were familiar, and I was comfortable saying them.

After I prayed the first line, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want", I stopped, and in my own words, I praised Jesus for shepherding me through a difficult time. I moved on to the next clauses: "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." Then, I thanked Jesus for the necessities of life, especially a home in which to find solace.

With each line of the 23rd Psalm, I found that I could stop and add my own words of praise, thanks, or petition. This was definitely a new way for me to pray. It allowed me to maintain the closeness that I had missed in my previous attempts to pray the Scriptures.

The following morning, I decided to make a long-range plan to pray the Scriptures. Although the topics for praying the Scriptures are endless, I have always been fascinated by the many names given to our Saviour. So, I found a list of His names online with accompanying Scriptures. Now I choose a different name for Jesus each morning and pray the Scriptures attached to the name on the list. I stop and add my own words to maintain the feeling of closeness to God as I pray. What a blessing this has been for me. Now I've said good-bye to stale, repetitive prayers.

If you find that your prayers have become stale and repetitive, perhaps praying the Scriptures would be of help to you, too.

Prayer: Father, we praise You for the beautiful words in the holy Bible, and we thank You for hearing our prayers in whatever words we use when they come from our hearts. In Your Son Jesus' holy name, we pray. Amen.

John 9:6-7 – When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. (KJV)

In November five years ago, these two Scriptures took on a tremendous significance for me. I love reading the story of Jesus healing the blind man by putting clay on the blind man's eyes. I read this story as Jesus placing the substance of man (clay) on the substance of man (clay) to heal his blindness.

I remember that five years ago, I heard it said that the miracle that we need in our life is just one person or one place away. I believe that to be true, as it is exactly what happened to me.

In the spring of 2011, my vision was rapidly failing, and I was in danger of becoming blind. On the Saturday before Easter, I was at church decorating with lilies as I had done for many years, but my crew of helpers was a new crew. After we finished decorating, one of the helpers said to me, "I saw the eye doctor yesterday, and he said that there is a new surgery for people suffering from the eye disease that you and I have, but I don't need the surgery just yet." I asked her, "What surgery and what doctor?" I knew nothing of this new treatment, but within two weeks' time, I was being examined by the physician recommended to me. He said the most beautiful words that I have ever heard: "I can help you." Then he told me that it was a good thing that I had come when I did, because if I had waited any longer, the surgery wouldn't have helped.

My vision was restored in November after I had had four eye surgeries over a period of six months that year. Each November, I re-read today's Scriptures, thinking of Jesus healing the blind man so many years ago, and I praise God for the miracle of restored vision.

How was my eyesight saved? Donor tissue was placed on my eyes (the substance of man on the substance of man – tissue on tissue).

For me, the restoration of my eyesight is both a modern medical miracle and a reflection of the way that Jesus healed the blind man. I know that God led me to this doctor so that the surgeries could be done on my eyes at just the right time to restore my vision.

Perhaps the miracle that you need in your life is just one person or one place away.

Prayer: We thank You, Father, for our gifted physicians, for the miracles of modern medicine, and for Your miracles of healing. It is in the holy name of Jesus, the Great Physician, that we pray. Amen.

My friend, Anne, has the reputation of being an excellent story teller. She tells her stories at the museum where she volunteers and at various group meetings. She is also on the schedule to give the children's sermons several times a year at the church where she is a member.

Even though Anne and I no longer live in the same city, we have remained friends and have kept in touch via email. Frequently, she asks me to co-author her children's sermons. Last summer when her pastor asked her to teach the children The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19), she asked me to help. Because Anne knows that I like to read about the plants of the Bible, she asked me if I knew and could write something about the mustard seed that is unique and would help the children to remember the parable. I told her that I did, and that I would write it as a "secret message".

A few weeks before it was time to tell her story, Anne planted some mustard seeds in small containers. They grew about eight inches tall by the time that she was scheduled to give her children's sermon.

After she read The Parable of the Mustard Seed and explained its meaning to the children, she gave a plant to each child. Then she asked the children if they knew that there was a secret message hidden in the mustard plant. She encouraged them to water and nurture their plants so that the plants would bloom. Then, she taught them a new word: "cruciferous". The mustard plant is a member of the cruciferous vegetable plant family. "Cruciferous" means "cross-bearing". Anne told them that when their plants bloom, they would learn the secret message, because the blossom of the mustard plant has two long petals and two short petals that form the shape of a cross. The cross is the symbol of our faith that reminds us of the unselfish love that our Saviour has for us.

Perhaps the next time when you eat cauliflower or broccoli or any of the other cruciferous vegetables, or maybe when you spread mustard on your favourite sandwich, you'll think of The Parable of the Mustard Seed, and remember its secret message.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You show us in so many ways how much Your Son, Jesus, loved us when He died on the cross to save us from our sins. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear so that we might understand Your messages. In Jesus' holy name, we pray. Amen.

It was in the early evening hours of the second Monday in May this year when the emergency alert system sirens began blaring. The radio announcer warned everyone to take cover. A severe hail storm was moving fast toward us and a tornado had been sighted.

The sheltering time seemed interminable as the storm stalled overhead and pummelled our city with golf-ball-sized hail. When the all clear was sounded, I thanked God that I still had a home in which to live. I felt blessed because I had seen on the televised news this spring that many people around the globe had lost their homes to floods, fires, and various kinds of severe weather.

In the light of the next day, I discovered, as did many of my neighbours, that the exterior of our homes had received quite a bit of damage. The roof and siding on my home would have to be replaced. There was also water damage to the interior of the lowest level of my home. I am embarrassed to say that my prayers that night took on a totally different tone. Out of anger and despair, I questioned God, asking the usual "Why me, Lord?" followed by "How could anything good possibly come from this?"

After making arrangements for the exterior damage to be repaired, I needed to address the interior damage. In order to facilitate the interior repairs, I would have to remove everything from my downstairs storage room. In all honesty, that room had needed my attention for some time. I had just been procrastinating. Because clearing that room would require multiple trips up and down the stairs, I knew that I needed help. So, on the recommendation of a friend, I hired a young single mom named Kathy, who helps my friend with cleaning chores.

We started our project by sorting things into three categories: (1) things to put in the trash, (2) things to give to charity, and (3) things to keep. During this sorting process, I opened a plastic container filled with blankets and bed linens. Since I had not used any of them for quite some time, I made the decision to give them to charity. As I did so, Kathy softly commented that she knew some little children who didn't have blankets or linens for their beds. "Let's put them in a plastic bag so that you can give them to the children," I said. Before we finished, we found other items that Kathy could use which we loaded into her car when she was ready to leave.

That night as I said my bedtime prayers, I prayed with a contrite heart, I'm sorry for doubting You, God, and I asked for forgiveness. Then, I thanked Him for providing this opportunity to help others who were in need.

As I climbed into bed and pulled up the covers, a smile came to my face. I was thinking about those little children who would no longer sleep on bare mattresses. Now they would feel safe and warm in their beds knowing the comfort of being covered while they slept. Then just as I was drifting off to sleep, an old adage came to my mind, "Those who haven't questioned God haven't encountered God."

Is there a storm of some kind raging in your life, making you doubt and question God's plan for you? If so, perhaps it is time for you, too, to ask God your questions.

Prayer: We praise You, Father, for always listening to our prayers, even when our human frailties cause us to express our anger and despair. Please forgive us. Thank You for showing us that all things really do work together for good and that there is healing in helping others whose need is greater than our own. In Jesus' holy name, we pray. Amen.

For the past five years, I have been attending a Bible study with a friend, in the church where she is a member. Although I am an "outsider" in the group, I continue to enjoy this class because its members are warm and welcoming. The teacher constantly amazes me with the depth of her knowledge of not only the Bible but also of ancient history. Her method of teaching helps us to put things in perspective on a timeline. The class discussions are lively, as most of the class members grew up in churches of denominations different than the one to which this church belongs, which they now attend as seniors. We hear many differing viewpoints.

My favourite unit of study this past year was entitled "A Faith Living Will". It was basically a comparison of the farewell addresses of Moses, Joshua, and Jesus.

Each time we meet, we have a check-in question to answer. It is one of our teacher's unique ways of helping us to see how the lesson for the day relates to our own lives. The check-in question on the first day of that particular unit of study was "What one thing do you want your family and friends to remember about you that was important to you in your lifetime?"

The answers were surprising to all of us. For example, a retired educator said that he wanted to be remembered for helping young people to reach their life's goals. A musician and choir director said that she wanted to be remembered for helping people to find joy in their faith through music. A stay-at-home mom, now a grandma, said that she wanted to be remembered for keeping little hands warm in the winter. (She knits dozens of pairs of mittens for charity each year.)

Not one person in our class said anything about fame, fortune, or accomplishment. All of them said that they wanted to be remembered for the way in which they carried out their faith while serving our Lord.

Deuteronomy 7:6 – For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. (NIV)

If you, the readers of PresbyCan Daily, were to write a faith living will, what one thing in your life would you want your family and friends to remember about you?

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for all the blessings that You have bestowed on Your treasured people throughout all the generations. Help us, we pray, to serve You in our own unique ways, using the talents that You have so freely given. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.