Contemplative This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. ––Joshua 1:8, NKJV kän-təm-ˈplā-shən 1 a: concentration on spiritual things as a form of private devotion b: a state of mystical […]
On the Road with the Wounded A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by […]
What Is the Anointing? The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. […]
Why Silence? Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ––1 […]
Struggling for Silence Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. –Luke 5:15-16 Every day our brains consume about 100,000 words’ worth of data. That’s about the length of […]
Ashamed of Nothing? What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person. ––Mark 7:20-23 Lately as I’ve engaged with […]
Carrying the Load Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. ––Matthew 11:29-30 In our last reading we discussed the need to drop the baggage we carry around that is holding us back […]
Traveling Light Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. […]
Empowered When Jesus heard this, he said to [the wealthy ruler], “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it […]
Missionaries Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ––Mark 16:15-16 Did you have any friends growing up who were hesitant to accept Jesus because they were afraid He would tell them to go […]
