Monday’s Reflection

I GRADUALLY CAME TO SEE that I was being invited to love myself as God loved me, cognizant of the wholeness of who I am — both gifted and wounded, blessed and broken. I was being invited to forgive myself little by little for all I found unacceptable and wearisome in myself. After a time, I came to see that I was forgiving myself for simply being human.

- Wendy M. Wright
The Rising

From page 48 of The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost by Wendy M. Wright. Copyright © 1994 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

The voice spoke again from the heaven, “Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean.”

- Acts 11:9, GNT

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for church committees, conferences, councils. Visit the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Centering Prayer is a type of prayer that goes deeper than verbal communication. Try a Centering Prayer exercise.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember James the Less (May 3).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 11:1-18
• Psalm 148
• Revelation 21:1-6
• John 13:31-35

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Sunday’s Reflection

ETERNAL ONE, revealed in waves and in the waiting stillness, teach me to rest, content in your love. Let my life be a poem that tells of your care, always ready to rise up on trusting wings and risk the wind. Amen.

- Elizabeth J. Canham
Heart Whispers

From page 70 of Heart Whispers: Benedictine Wisdom for Today by Elizabeth J. Canham. Copyright © 1999 by Elizabeth J. Canham. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Jesus said, “My Father who has given [Jesus' own sheep] to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s care. The Father and I are one.”

- John 10:29-30, REB

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for healing of all creation. 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 Mark the Evangelist (April 25).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Saturday’s Reflection

ON THIS DAY, if you and I will only listen to this amazing God, we will discover God’ s great care for us. We are the flock of God’s own keeping. We are the creation of God’s own hand. Come quietly into God’s presence. Envision the natural world through which we journey. Offer to God your own unique echo of the music of the seas and the weather; join in the celebration of the birds and the fields. Raise your sights to the stars and the galaxies. Just beneath the surface of our daily routine runs the living water of an everlasting spring. Strike it in faith. Drink deeply. Draw strength for today.

- Diane Luton Blum
The Upper Room Disciplines, 1999

From page 73 of The Upper Room Disciplines, 1999. Copyright © 1998 by The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase the current Upper Room Disciplines.

Today’s Scripture Reading

The Lamb … will guide [those who have come out of the great ordeal] to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

- Revelation 7:17, NRSV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for healing of all creation. 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 Mark the Evangelist (April 25).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Friday’s Reflection

GOD, WE ARE a strange bunch. Immersed in our communication technology, we thirst for quiet; and in our silence we hunger for noise. Forgive us for the incessant droning of our TVs, that racket of a mechanical presence to which we rarely listen — for in our loneliness, we may simply be craving your nearness. Amen.

- W. Paul Jones
An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful

From page 246 of An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful by W. Paul Jones. Copyright © 2006 by W. Paul Jones. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Jesus said, “My own sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

- John 10:27, REB

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for healing of all creation. 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 Mark the Evangelist (April 25).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Thursday’s Reflection

EVEN THOUGH CHRIST reveals to us that we are God’s beloved, many of us struggle to believe this good news. We may know it in our heads but not in our hearts. We may have heard other voices throughout our lives telling us we are no good, that we’ll never amount to much. Those words sometimes silence any other voices of affirmation. Some of us have been abused. Some of us have been through unspeakable moments of failure, rejection, and suffering. Some of us have been so deeply scarred that we wonder whether anyone really cares about us.

- Trevor Hudson and Stephen D. Bryant
The Way of Transforming Discipleship

From pages 22-23 of The Way of Transforming Discipleship by Trevor Hudson and Stephen D. Bryant. Copyright © 2005 by The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Never again will [those who come out of the great tribulation] hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.

- Revelation 7:16, NIV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for healing of all creation. 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 Mark the Evangelist (April 25).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Wednesday’s Reflection

ULTIMATELY, lamentation leads to a greater, healing closeness in the divine-human bond. The cause of sorrow may not recede. The trial that evoked the cry may not end. The cry itself may yield no pathway of escape from harsh reality, nor should it be expected to. Lamentations come always from the lips of those who face the harshness, not from those trying to turn away. Still, as the cry pours forth, it opens wide the spirit of the one who issues it. And in this opening the greater closeness grows.

- Stephen Doughty
To Walk in Integrity

From pages 89-90 of To Walk in Integrity by Stephen Doughty. Copyright © 2004 by Stephen Doughty. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

[Peter] turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes.

- Acts 9:40, NRSV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for healing of all creation. 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.:

Today we remember Mark the Evangelist (April 25).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Tuesday’s Reflection

TRUE SHEPHERD OF OUR SOULS,
who calls his own by name,
help us this hour to hear
and to heed your voice.
We know no other voice,
and no other voice will we follow.
Amen.

- Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck
A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People

From page 165 of A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck. Copyright © 1990 by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

- Psalm 23:1-2, KJV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for healing of all creation. 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 Mark the Evangelist (April 25).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Monday’s Reflection

WE ARE CONVERTED one aspect of the self at a time. That phenomenon explains why some parts of us can be approaching holiness while others remain locked in resistance and rebellion. Because different parts of our soul proceed at different rates, the invitation to love with our “whole heart” is the work of a lifetime and beyond.

- Robert Corin Morris
Provocative Grace

From page 109 of Provocative Grace: The Challenge in Jesus’ Words by Robert Corin Morris. Copyright © 2006 by Robert Corin Morris. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

A great multitude … from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, … cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

- Revelation 7:9-10, NRSV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for healing of all creation. 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 Mark the Evangelist (April 25).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

Sunday’s Reflection

THE RISEN CHRIST is with us and therefore we need not fear the events of this day or any day that lies in our future. We know that each day will be lived in companionship with the only One who is able to rescue, redeem, save, keep, and companion us through every experience of this life and the next.

This realization does not take away the pain or uncertainty that life holds. But it does give us strength, wisdom, guidance, and most of all, a Companion to travel through each of these experiences with us.

- Rueben P. Job
A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God

From page 172 of A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God by Norman Shawchuck and Rueben P. Job. Copyright © 2003 by Norman Shawchuck 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

Jesus said to Simon Peter, “When you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, … someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”

- John 21:18, NRSV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for victims — and perpetrators — of violence. Add your prayers to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Personalizing Scripture: Sometimes we can personalize a passage of scripture by placing our own name in it. Some passages lend themselves to becoming personal prayers as we make ourselves the recipients of God’s Word.Try Personalizing Scripture.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Anselm (April 21).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:1-20
• Psalm 30
• Revelation 5:11-14
• John 21:1-19

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Saturday’s Reflection

GIVE US, O Lord, a vision of your presence;
help us to know you are near at hand,
you are not far off
and you are ready to hear our prayer.
May we become aware of your protection;
May we know that you rescue us from darkness
and guide us into the way of light and peace;
For you are a loving and redeeming God, mighty in Power.
Amen.

- David Adam
Forward to Freedom

From page 116 of Forward to Freedom by David Adam. Copyright © 2001 by David Adam. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Scripture Reading

I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, … singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory …!”

- Revelation 5:13, NIV

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for victims — and perpetrators — of violence. Add your prayers to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Personalizing Scripture: Sometimes we can personalize a passage of scripture by placing our own name in it. Some passages lend themselves to becoming personal prayers as we make ourselves the recipients of God’s Word.Try Personalizing Scripture.

Saints, Inc.:

Today we remember Anselm (April 21).

Lectionary Readings:

• Acts 9:1-20
• Psalm 30
• Revelation 5:11-14
• John 21:1-19

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA