July 5th, 2008
Saturday’s Reflection
SURRENDER IS A PREREQUISITE for living a more faith-filled and trusting life, and most of us need to keep surrendering more and more deeply as we grow. It’s as if God says, “Come on. Come on, now. Trust me to take care of things. ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light’ [Matt. 11:30, NIV]. You don’t have to carry such big burdens. Give the control back to me.”
- Tilda Norberg
Gathered Together: Creating Personal Liturgies for Healing and Transformation
From p. 51 of Gathered Together by Tilda Norberg. Copyright © 2007 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Jesus said, “Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest.”
- Matthew 11:29, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for responsible expressions of freedom. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius urged that all be taught the examen, a daily examination of our deepest feelings and desires. Try a daily Examen.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Thomas (July 3).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
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Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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July 4th, 2008
INDEPENDENCE DAY (U.S.)
Friday’s Reflection
GRACIOUS LORD, rest of the weary and gentle guardian of the way: come along side me and ease my burden, for I offer myself to you as the apprentice of your gentle and humble way that I might find repose in you in the course of my days and throughout all eternity. Amen.
- Paul Wesley Chilcote
A Life-Shaping Prayer: 52 Meditations in the Wesleyan Spirit
From p. 56 of A Life-Shaping Prayer by Paul Wesley Chilcote. Copyright © 2008 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.”
- Matthew 11:28, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for responsible expressions of freedom. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius urged that all be taught the examen, a daily examination of our deepest feelings and desires. Try a daily Examen.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Thomas (July 3).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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July 3rd, 2008
Thursday’s Reflection
CHRISTIANS SWIM IN METAPHOR like fish in the sea. Spiritual formation requires some measure of analogical or imaginative ability, since we are, after all, dealing with an invisible God who can’t be humanly grasped. Even God uses metaphors as self-descriptors, knowing that we require buffers between our small selves and God’s own presence. The one exception is Jesus, who — we must never forget — is not a metaphor. … Jesus is himself, the image of the invisible God. Whoever has seen him, he says in John 14:9, has seen the Father. He’s not merely an illustration or metaphor of God’s mercy; he is God’s mercy.
- Sarah Arthur
The God-Hungry Imagination: The Art of Storytelling for Postmodern Youth Ministry
From p. 52 of The God-Hungry Imagination by Sarah Arthur. Copyright © 2007 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Jesus said, “No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
- Matthew 11:27b, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for responsible expressions of freedom. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius urged that all be taught the examen, a daily examination of our deepest feelings and desires. Try a daily Examen.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Thomas (July 3).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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July 2nd, 2008
Wednesday’s Reflection
WE WRESTLE with an invisible God. Praying to a God we cannot see is tremendously difficult. It’s even challenging when we pray and get what we asked for. We still are not given an explanation of how our prayers were answered, and we are left to wonder if the same thing would have happened even if we had not prayed. And worse, when our prayers are not answered as we hoped, we can’t make an appointment with God to find out why. In either case, talking to an invisible God keeps us dwelling in the land of mystery. We do not know how to live well in that land.
- Steve Harper
Talking in the Dark: Praying When Life Doesn’t Make Sense
From p. 24 of Talking in the Dark by Steve Harper. Copyright © 2007 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Jesus said, “My Father has given me all things. No one knows the Son except the Father.”
- Matthew 11:27a, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for responsible expressions of freedom. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius urged that all be taught the examen, a daily examination of our deepest feelings and desires. Try a daily Examen.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Thomas (July 3).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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July 1st, 2008
CANADA DAY
Tuesday’s Reflection
DISCIPLESHIP is apprenticeship to a master, so that one can learn the master’s way of doing things. … We don’t get there by pious aspirations, slavish copying of rules, well-polished public selves, or carefully guarded inner lives. We get there by the messier, slower path of learning step by step and mistake by mistake how to love, cooperate, forgive, trust, work through harsh and dark emotions. Part of the process of salvation, real soul healing and transformation, is in wrestling prayerfully with the rough places in our souls that resist Jesus’ saving invitations. … Over time “fruit” is born — a metaphor surely indicating the slowness of the process.
- Robert C. Morris
“Enlightening Annoyances: Jesus’ Teachings as a Spur to Spiritual Growth”
Weavings Journal
From pp. 40-41 of Weavings Journal, September/October 2001. Copyright © 2001 by The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Paul wrote: What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? Thanks be to God, who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Romans 7:24-25, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for responsible expressions of freedom. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius urged that all be taught the examen, a daily examination of our deepest feelings and desires. Try a daily Examen.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Thomas (July 3).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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June 30th, 2008
Monday’s Reflection
IN ONE WAY or another, many of us struggle with some form of addictive behavior. Think of the various substances on which we can so easily become dependent. These range from the more pleasurable ones like caffeine, chocolate, and sweets, to the more dangerous like diet pills and tranquilizers. Other activities can take over our lives, like gambling, making money, work, helping others, physical exercise, watching pornography, or overeating, to name a few. Some people have become hooked on the Internet and on playing computer games.
- Trevor Hudson
One Day at a Time: Discovering the Freedom of 12-Step Spirituality
From p. 6 of One Day at a Time by Trevor Hudson. Copyright © 2007 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Paul wrote: I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
- Romans 7:15, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for responsible expressions of freedom. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius urged that all be taught the examen, a daily examination of our deepest feelings and desires. Try a daily Examen.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Thomas (July 3).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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June 29th, 2008
Sunday’s Reflection
GRACIOUS LORD, you sang all that exists into being: give me a voice to sing your praise in all that I do, a heart to seek harmony with all your creation, and a spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving to tune my heart to the keynote of my life, my Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
- Paul Wesley Chilcote
A Life-Shaping Prayer: 52 Meditations in the Wesleyan Spirit
From p. 41 of A Life-Shaping Prayer: 52 Meditations in the Wesleyan Spirit by Paul Wesley Chilcote. Copyright © 2008 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
- Psalm 13:6, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for Vacation Bible schools and summer camps. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Lectio Divina, or divine reading, is one of the most central and ancient practices of Christian prayer. Try lectio divina in your meditation time this week. Check it out.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Mary of Oignies (June 23).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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June 28th, 2008
Saturday’s Reflection
THE SYMBOLISM and power of the Eucharist change how we think about food, the breaking of bread, and who is welcome at the table. Once we have broken bread at the Lord’s table, we cannot help but take bread out to those who have no bread at all. At the Lord’s table, there is plenty of elbow room. We find ourselves sitting next to those who would normally be strangers. The hungry find themselves filled. The family of Christ shares fully in their father’s board.
- James C. Howell
Yours Are the Hands of Christ
From Yours Are the Hands of Christ by James C. Howell. Copyright © 1998 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
- Matthew 10:40, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for Vacation Bible schools and summer camps. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Lectio Divina, or divine reading, is one of the most central and ancient practices of Christian prayer. Try lectio divina in your meditation time this week. Check it out.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Mary of Oignies (June 23).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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June 27th, 2008
Friday’s Reflection
UNTIL WE LET GOD release us, we cannot release ourselves or others. We remain in that condition of self-judgment, a judgment of others, that spiritual prison, anxiously counting up those pennies!
God longs to enter these prisons of ours, throw open the doors, bring us into what theologians call “grace” — the realm of free gifting — not to earn love but because we are already loved.
- Flora Slosson Wuellner
Forgiveness, the Passionate Journey
From p. 117 of Forgiveness, the Passionate Journey by Flora Slosson Wuellner. Copyright © 2001 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Sin pays its wage–death; but God’s free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Romans 6:23, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for Vacation Bible schools and summer camps. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Lectio Divina, or divine reading, is one of the most central and ancient practices of Christian prayer. Try lectio divina in your meditation time this week. Check it out.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Mary of Oignies (June 23).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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June 26th, 2008
Thursday’s Reflection
WHEN YOUR SPIRIT
starts to feel weary,
feed yourself with quietness,
with beauty,
and with prayer.
- Helen R. Neinast and Thomas C. Ettinger
What About God? Now That You’re Off to College
From p. 152 of What About God? Now That You’re Off to College by Helen R. Neinast and Thomas C. Ettinger. Copyright © 2000 by the authors. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
The angel said to Abraham, “Now I know that you honor and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him.”
- Genesis 22:12, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for Vacation Bible schools and summer camps. Visit the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Lectio Divina, or divine reading, is one of the most central and ancient practices of Christian prayer. Try lectio divina in your meditation time this week. Check it out.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Mary of Oignies (June 23).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | No Comments »
