January 31st, 2007
Wednesday’s Reflection
“FOLLOW ME.” One of the most compelling sentences in the Bible. Two words, when spoken by Jesus, create a sense of power and mystery and awe. To follow is to enter into the unknown, to give your life over to another. We rarely want to do this. Yet at the same time it is exactly what we desire: to be led into a better place, a better world, a better life.
- Daniel Wolpert
Leading a Life with God
From page 116 of Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership by Daniel Wolpert. Copyright © 2006 by Daniel Wolpert. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”
- Luke 5:10, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for those serving and living in war-torn areas of the world. May God’s comfort, courage, and peace be present in their lives. (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.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Brigid of Ireland (February 1).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
January 30th, 2007
Tuesday’s Reflection
THIS IS TRULY the work of God that you are doing. This is Love working in you, with you, through you, as the essence of you — filling the world with wisdom and beauty, delight and compassion. …
This work, this “yes” to Love, … is for the life of the world. It is the labor pains in the birthing of the kingdom. It may include generous measures of jesting and pleasure and joy. But it remains the means by which God’s kingdom will come to fruition on earth.
- Jane Marie Thibault
A Deepening Love Affair
From page 96 of A Deepening Love Affair by Jane Marie Thibault. Copyright © 1993 by Jane Marie Thibault. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
- Psalm 138:8, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for those serving and living in war-torn areas of the world. May God’s comfort, courage, and peace be present in their lives. (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.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Brigid of Ireland (February 1).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
January 29th, 2007
Monday’s Reflection
BEING BORN AGAIN is no slight alteration; it implies a radical transformation in life. … What’s often forgotten or downplayed is the fact that such transformation seldom comes easily. We do not wake up on a perfectly fine day and decide to change our lives radically. No, such life-altering change usually follows painful loss, alienation or searching.
The birth metaphor is apt. We do not get to choose the timing or our new birth; we are not in control of the process. It hurts, but thankfully, over time, the memory of the pain fades, leaving only the new life to be lived.
- Heidi Schlumpf
“Transformations”
The Upper Room Disciplines 2006
From page 168 of The Upper Room Disciplines 2006. Copyright © 2005 by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
[Isaiah said,] “Then I heard the LORD say, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘I will go! Send me!’”
- Isaiah 6:8, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for those serving and living in war-torn areas of the world. May God’s comfort, courage, and peace be present in their lives. (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.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Brigid of Ireland (February 1).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
January 28th, 2007
Sunday’s Reflection
IT IS ENOUGH to affirm Jesus’ living presence at work in our lives, to call on the power of the Risen One, to pray in Jesus’ name, to ask the living Jesus to enfold our lives with his transcendent life. It is enough to picture or to think of Jesus looking directly at us and speaking our name as those who are personally loved and loved forever. It is enough to grow in the trust that enables us to tell “him the whole truth.”
- Flora Slosson Wuellner
Feed My Shepherds
From page 22 of Feed My Shepherds: Spiritual Healing and Renewal for Those in Christian Leadership by Flora Slosson Wuellner. Copyright © 1998 by Flora Slosson Wuellner. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
- 1 Corinthians 13:6-7, NIV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Visit the Prayer Wall every day and pray for those who have shared their prayer requests. (Visit the Prayer Wall.)
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons this week.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Corazon Aquino (January 25).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
January 27th, 2007
Saturday’s Reflection
IN THE EXILE of my grief, I have been able to take comfort knowing that I can walk through this “valley of the shadow of death” one step at a time. I can find ways to embrace life in exile. … When you are in exile, there is a way to live. We must choose life.
- Steve West
“The Exile of Grief”
Alive Now
From page 22, “The Exile of Grief” by Steve West inAlive Now magazine, September/October 2004. Copyright © 2004 by The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this magazine.
Today’s Scripture Reading
You keep me going when times are tough — my bedrock, GOD, since my childhood.
- Psalm 71:5, THE MESSAGE
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Visit the Prayer Wall every day and pray for those who have shared their prayer requests. (Visit the Prayer Wall.)
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons this week.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Corazon Aquino (January 25).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
January 26th, 2007
Friday’s Reflection
GOD OF GRACE, help me to accept your love for me when I feel unworthy or unwanted, when I face challenges that seem overwhelming. And in the knowledge of your love, may I be strengthened by your Spirit to love you and others in return. In Jesus Christ. Amen.
- John Indermark
Traveling the Prayer Paths of Jesus
From pages 22-23 of Traveling the Prayer Paths of Jesus by John Indermark. Copyright © 2003 by John Indermark. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Visit the Prayer Wall every day and pray for those who have shared their prayer requests. (Visit the Prayer Wall.)
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons this week.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Corazon Aquino (January 25).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
January 25th, 2007
Thursday’s Reflection
GOD, WHO ENFOLDS our little lives at each end, whose grace sustains us, whose felt presence is so sweet that life without it feels dry as dust, is a God of new beginnings. The God who is at once Alpha and Omega is so not only in the sense of being the source and end of our creation. We experience God’s abundant, exuberant creativity whenever newness breaks through into our dust-drenched days. The in-breaking of freshness is structured into the very fabric of our world. We are invited into its tender promise, its rising hope, its renewed possibility with each dawn.
- Wendy M. Wright
The Time Between
From pages 32-33 of The Time Between by Wendy M. Wright. Copyright © 1999 by Wendy M. Wright. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Jesus said, “A prophet is never welcomed in his hometown.”
- Luke 4:24, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Visit the Prayer Wall every day and pray for those who have shared their prayer requests. (Visit the Prayer Wall.)
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons this week.
- Saints, Inc.:
- Today we remember Corazon Aquino (January 25).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
January 24th, 2007
Wednesday’s Reflection
OUR TIMES CRY OUT for a mass movement of compassion. This urgent need coincides with the goal of the Christ-following life, for unless our faith makes us compassionate, it can hardly be called Christian. Following Jesus means moving out of our privatized, isolated, and self-enclosed worlds into a compassionate engagement with our suffering neighbor. As we open ourselves to the pilgrimage experience, … we journey from self-centeredness to compassion. May you and I become everyday pilgrims whom God can use to bring healing to our broken world.
- Trevor Hudson
A Mile in My Shoes
From page 112 of A Mile in My Shoes by Trevor Hudson. Copyright © 2005 by Trevor Hudson. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
[The LORD said to Jeremiah,] “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.”
- Jeremiah 1:7, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Visit the Prayer Wall every day and pray for those who have shared their prayer requests. (Visit the Prayer Wall.)
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons this week.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Corazon Aquino (January 25).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
January 23rd, 2007
Tuesday’s Reflection
GOD KNOWS US and calls us by name. We are not strangers or aliens to God. We are each and all God’s beloved. We have as our lover the Creator and Master of all that exists. The One who calls us beloved is also the one who know us so intimately and well that even the number of hairs on our head is known.
- Rueben P. Job
A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God
From pages 95-96 of A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God by Norman Sawchuck and Rueben P. Job. Copyright © 2003 by Norman Sawchuck and Rueben P. Job. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
The word of the Lord came to [Jeremiah] saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
- Jeremiah 1:4-5, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Visit the Prayer Wall every day and pray for those who have shared their prayer requests. (Visit the Prayer Wall.)
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons this week.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Corazon Aquino (January 25).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | 1 Comment »
January 22nd, 2007
Monday’s Reflection
WE MUST LISTEN for God day by day. We must keep an ear open to our neighbor, an ear to our hearts, and a third ear to God.
Faith is a journey led by God. We pause, wait, and listen for the Guide who speaks more often than not in a still, small voice that requires careful, patient attention.
- J. Marshall Jenkins
A Wakeful Faith
From page 69 of A Wakeful Faith: Spiritual Practice in the Real World by J. Marshall Jenkins. Copyright © 2000 by J. Marshall Jenkins. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Scripture Reading
[Paul wrote,] “If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:2, NIV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Visit the Prayer Wall every day and pray for those who have shared their prayer requests. (Visit the Prayer Wall.)
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons this week.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Corazon Aquino (January 25).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today
Copyright © 2007 Upper Room Ministries | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
Posted in Daily Reflection | Comments Off
