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A Different Set of Rules
At this writing, my only son turned five years old last week. He is a handsome, Read More
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James E. Magaw Sr. | Read Jeremiah 1:4-10
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Sign Up TodayA friend of mine once said, “You can pray or you can worry, but you cannot do both at the same time.” We might likewise say, “You can have faith or you can be afraid, but you cannot do both at the same time.” Centuries after Jeremiah’s time, First John...
The whole world is in your hands, O God. Even as your words spoke all things into being, your Word will be the last word. Keep us praying through the darkness until your eternal light prevails. Amen.
The Luke text portrays the healing that Jesus has just performed as a call to decision, a call to “repentance and changed lives.” Hebrews proclaims to the readers that they “have come . . . to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem . . . and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” For Luke, Jesus and his wonderful works signal the accessibility of God’s transforming power and thus signal also the time for repentance. The accessibility of God’s transforming power is evident in the lessons from Jeremiah and the psalm, although Jeremiah has no choice! And amid opposition from the wicked, the psalmist af rms what Jeremiah had been told by God—that his life from its very beginning has belonged to God.
• Read Jeremiah 1:4-10. God offers light to a world covered in darkness. Where do you see God’s light in your life? How can you offer this light to others?
• Read Psalm 71:1-6. When in your life have you turned to God for refuge? How did trust in God help the situation?
• Read Hebrews 12:18-29. We belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. How does that realization help during dif cult times?
• Read Luke 13:10-17. How do the limitations we experience turn us to the power and grace of God?
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...devoid of our regular routine and filled instead with uncertainty and a hum of anxiety, my husband and I have found the practice of joining The Upper Room each day at 11am (CST) via Facebook to pray, listen, and learn in community, including my sister in Houston. This is a much-needed healing balm." Join us on Facebook each day at 11AM Central.
