October 31st, 2007
Wednesday’s Reflection
THE HEART hears God. The heart offers its longings and has ears to hear in the silence or the wind or the groaning of the earth.
- J. Marshall Jenkins
A Wakeful Faith
From page 108 of A Wakeful Faith by J. Marshall Jenkins. Copyright © 2000 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
O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
- Habakkuk 1:2, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for saints and martyrs. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Why Saints? Observing saints more closely reveals that they were ordinary people just like us. What set them apart was their life purpose. More than anything else, they wanted to know God. So despite their faults and frailties, they have much to teach us. Learn from Saints.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Donald M. Baillie (October 31).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
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Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 30th, 2007
Tuesday’s Reflection
PRESENCE
is a wonder
just begging
to be prayed
into awareness.
- Robert Corin Morris
“The Radiant Silence”
Weavings
From page 7 of Weavings, January/February 2005. Copyright © 2004 by The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this journal.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
- Luke 19:10, NIV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for saints and martyrs. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Why Saints? Observing saints more closely reveals that they were ordinary people just like us. What set them apart was their life purpose. More than anything else, they wanted to know God. So despite their faults and frailties, they have much to teach us. Learn from Saints.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Donald M. Baillie (October 31).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 29th, 2007
Monday’s Reflection
JESUS SAID THAT THE WAY through all difficulties was walking the path of mercy, justice, and humble cooperation with the Source of this world’s life. … If we walk that way, Jesus promises, even now the kingdom can be “at hand,” so close we can taste “the powers of the age to come” (Heb. 6:5), the time of full and complete triumph.
- Robert Corin Morris
Provocative Grace: The Challenge in Jesus’ Words
From page 130 of Provocative Grace: The Challenge in Jesus’ Wordsby Robert Corin Morris. Copyright © 2006 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
How just you are, LORD! How straight and true are your decrees! How just is the instruction you give! It is firm and sure.
- Psalm 119:137-138, REB
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for saints and martyrs. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Why Saints? Observing saints more closely reveals that they were ordinary people just like us. What set them apart was their life purpose. More than anything else, they wanted to know God. So despite their faults and frailties, they have much to teach us. Learn from Saints.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Donald M. Baillie (October 31).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 28th, 2007
Sunday’s Reflection
GOD OF VAST GOODNESS,
forgive me when I take the gifts
of food and drink for granted.
Remind me of those
who have no food for their families
or even clean water to drink.
Amen.
- Alive Now
From page 56 of Alive Now, March/April 2007. Copyright © 2007 by The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this magazine.
Today’s Scripture Reading
God said, “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”
- Joel 2:28, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for bountiful harvests everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Your Sacred Space. Create your own Sacred Space where you can read a daily devotion, create a private online journal, save some pics that inspire you, and most importantly, simply be for a while away from the chaos of everyday life. Create a Sacred Space.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Rosa Parks (October 24).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 27th, 2007
Saturday’s Reflection
GOD IS FAITHFUL and has done everything for us that we need to know and grow in God. Yet we have plenty of impediments to mature faith, including fear, mixed motives, stubbornness, and an inability to see the future. The Bible itself indicates that God can seem silent and distant at times. People faithful to their relationship with God have times of doubt, trouble, and anxiety, as we’ve seen from the Bible psalms and stories — so much more for those of us whose prayer life, fellowship time, charitable giving, Bible reading, and so on are “catch as catch can.” Meaningful spiritual discipline helps us grow and remain open to God’s Spirit.
- Paul E. Stroble
You Gave Me a Wide Place: Holy Places in Our Lives
From pages 142-143 of You Gave Me a Wide Place: Holy Places in Our Lives by Paul E. Stroble. Copyright © 2006 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
What a rich harvest your goodness provides! Wherever you go there is plenty.
- Psalm 65:11, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for bountiful harvests everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Your Sacred Space. Create your own Sacred Space where you can read a daily devotion, create a private online journal, save some pics that inspire you, and most importantly, simply be for a while away from the chaos of everyday life. Create a Sacred Space.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Rosa Parks (October 24).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 26th, 2007
Friday’s Reflection
AS CHRISTIANS we are accustomed to thinking of ourselves as children of God or as sons and daughters of God. Most of us also feel at ease with our identity as servants of God. Nevertheless, we may find it hard to talk about ourselves as friends of God. We sing about our friendship with Jesus, but is it really okay to be on a first-name basis with God, the Almighty?
- Stephanie Ford
Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship
From page 87 of Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship by Stephanie Ford. Copyright © 2006 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
By your might you fix the mountains in place; you are girded with strength; you calm the seas and their raging waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- Psalm 65:6-7, REB
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for bountiful harvests everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Your Sacred Space. Create your own Sacred Space where you can read a daily devotion, create a private online journal, save some pics that inspire you, and most importantly, simply be for a while away from the chaos of everyday life. Create a Sacred Space.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Rosa Parks (October 24).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 25th, 2007
Thursday’s Reflection
WHY “PRACTICE” prayer? People often ask this question. They insist that they pray all the time, not just at some specified hour of the day. People resist putting a set time for prayer in their Day-Timer.
As Paul tells us, prayer without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) is the goal of the spiritual life. … However, given the reality of our human condition, we delude ourselves if we believe we can be aware of God at every moment without any sort of practice. Such a feat would be comparable to competing in the Olympics without ever training or practicing a sport.
- Daniel Wolpert
Creating a Life with God
From pages 17-18 of Creating a Life with God by Daniel Wolpert. Copyright © 2003 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
People of Zion, rejoice, be glad in the LORD your God, who gives you food in due measure by sending you rain, the autumn and spring rains as of old.
- Joel 2:23, REB
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for bountiful harvests everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Your Sacred Space. Create your own Sacred Space where you can read a daily devotion, create a private online journal, save some pics that inspire you, and most importantly, simply be for a while away from the chaos of everyday life. Create a Sacred Space.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Rosa Parks (October 24).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 24th, 2007
Wednesday’s Reflection
KEEPER OF OUR DAYS,
if only we can risk the unknown
and not cling to the familiar,
we will learn of your grace and strength.
Amen.
- Richard Morgan
Settling In: My First Year in a Retirement Community
From page 30 of Settling In: My First Year in a Retirement Community by Richard Morgan. Copyright © 2006 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
Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
- Luke 18:14, NIV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for bountiful harvests everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Your Sacred Space. Create your own Sacred Space where you can read a daily devotion, create a private online journal, save some pics that inspire you, and most importantly, simply be for a while away from the chaos of everyday life. Create a Sacred Space.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Rosa Parks (October 24).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 23rd, 2007
Tuesday’s Reflection
WAIT FOR THE LORD. Set your face toward the East and your heart toward the One who is to come. Wait for the Lord. Anticipate his presence, for he is very near and he is coming to make all things new. Amen.
- Pamela C. Hawkins
Simply Wait: Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent
From page 23 of Simply Wait: Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent by Pamela C. Hawkins. 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.
Prepare for the coming of Advent. Check out more Advent Resources.
Today’s Scripture Reading
O God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion and keep our promises to you, because you answer prayers.
- Psalm 65:1-2, GNT
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for bountiful harvests everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Your Sacred Space. Create your own Sacred Space where you can read a daily devotion, create a private online journal, save some pics that inspire you, and most importantly, simply be for a while away from the chaos of everyday life. Create a Sacred Space.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Rosa Parks (October 24).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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October 22nd, 2007
Monday’s Reflection
WE NEED TIMES of silent waiting, alone, when the busy intellect is not leaping from problem to problem, and from puzzle to puzzle. If we learn the secret of carrying a living silence in the center of our being we can listen on the run. The listening silence can become intertwined with all our inward prayers. A few moments of relaxed silence, alone, every day, are desperately important.
- Thomas Kelly
The Sanctuary of the Soul
From page 47 of The Sanctuary of the Soul: Selected Writings of Thomas Kelly, edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe. Copyright © 1997 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 have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
- 2 Timothy 4:7, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for bountiful harvests everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Your Sacred Space. Create your own Sacred Space where you can read a daily devotion, create a private online journal, save some pics that inspire you, and most importantly, simply be for a while away from the chaos of everyday life. Create a Sacred Space.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Rosa Parks (October 24).
- Lectionary Readings:
-
Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.
Copyright © 2007 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
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