Click for a PDF version Monday 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 We are to “give thanks in all circumstances.” This includes the ordinary things of life which we so easily take for granted. For instance, I had two friends who were in good health who died in their sleep by heart attacks. Now, when I wake...
Click for a PDF version Solitude During the next week, set aside ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes a day for solitude at a time that works for you. It could be morning, over your lunch hour, during quiet moments after dinner or before you go to bed, or you might choose a more extended...
Click for a PDF version Lectio Divina Encountering God in Scripture The practice of Lectio Divina includes a time of preparation, reading the same short passage of Scripture four times, and then taking that Word with us into our everyday lives with a resolve to live it out in concrete ways. Suggested Scriptures Psalm...
Click for a PDF version Morning Prayer (20 minutes) Be still. Find a quiet place. Get seated comfortably. Relax. Take a few deep breaths. Remind yourself: “I am here to meet God. No other appointment competes in importance.” Commit your day to God. Sit with a Psalm. You might read Psalm 95 or Psalm...
Click for a PDF version Monday Matthew 6:16-18; Mark 8:34-37 Why fast, and how? According to Richard Foster, fasting is a Christian discipline. Fasting is not a prerequisite for our salvation. Salvation from our sins is a gift courtesy of Jesus our Savior. And that salvation is so free and full and complete...
Monday James 3:3-8; Matthew 15:11, 18-19; Proverbs 10:19-20 This week’s Ash Wednesday initiates Lent, the 6½-week period of prayer and preparation for Easter. The 40 days of Lent—each Sunday is excluded—correspond to Jesus’ 40-day fast and temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11) preceding His public ministry. This week’s featured Scripture, James 3:3-12, was penned...
Monday James 3:2-10; Acts 26:15-19 The Bible says the tongue is like a rudder. Words steer our lives for good or for ill. Once a grammar school teacher told my father he could not sing, and he almost never did. He did marry my mother who had a beautiful alto voice—good enough to sing in...
Monday 1 Peter 1: 9-17 Our theme this week is “Respect Differences.” As Christians we must treat everyone with honor, especially those who are disrespected and dishonored in the world. We are to live this way because we are different from the world. We are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a...
Monday Ephesians 2:14-18; Exodus 20:8-11; Hebrews 4:1-11 “He Himself is our peace … [having] broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility … [to] reconcile us … to God … thereby killing the hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14, 16 ESV) If you asked the average person, “Are you God’s enemy? Are you antagonistic toward Him?”...
Monday Genesis 9:6; 1 Corinthians 15:42-53; 1 Corinthians 6:19 Bodies Matter: Do Not Devalue Them Despite having understood what it means for humans to be created in the image of God, we often find ourselves confronting people who feel that, since this body is just a temporary vessel until we die and “return to dust,”...
