Loading more...
A Boat with No Oars
Collage by Beth A. Richardson It has been a year since our lives were upended by Read More
The Upper Room is here for you in these anxious times. Click Here
Pamela Couture | Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Disciplines is available in a variety of formats: print, digital, and print/digital combo packages. A digital subscription includes access to author bios, the ability to comment, and audio lectio.
Sign Up TodayOur greatest reassurance lies in our faith and confidence in the resurrection of the dead and, specifically, the resurrection of Christ Jesus. Resurrection overpowers all the negativity that weaves through this week’s scriptures—woes, curses, wickedness, perversity, deviousness, sinfulness, scoffing, diseases, unclean spirits—and what I’ve called tragedies, wounds, and the sins...
Thank you, God, for moments of peace and reassurance. May they inspire my relationship with you and humankind. Amen.
God wants us to be rooted firmly in our faith. Jeremiah contrasts those who put their trust in themselves with those who trust in God. The latter are like healthy trees with deep roots and a constant water supply, never in danger of drying up or dying. The psalmist uses the same image to describe those who meditate on God’s teachings. Thus, as you do these daily readings and reflect on them, you are sinking deep roots into fertile soil. Agricultural imagery is continued in Paul’s letter. Paul describes Jesus Christ risen in the flesh as the first fruit, meaning that he is the first of many who will be resurrected. In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, worldly success is not necessarily an indication of God’s blessing.
Read Jeremiah 17:5-10. Examine your heart. Do you place your trust in “mere mortals” or in the Lord?
Read Psalm 1. How do you seek to meditate on God’s word day and night?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-20. How has your understanding of the resurrection of the dead changed your living?
Read Luke 6:17-26. How do you hold together the paradoxes of Jesus’ blessings and woes?
Respond by posting a prayer.
Seeing young people, both men and women, participate in and write their testimonies at The Upper Room daily devotional writers’ workshop in Yangon, 2019, has been a highlight for me. The event and testimonies led to the publication of the first Lenten devotional in the Myanmar language. I truly believe that through The Upper Room ministry, the Lord will continue to equip people in Myanmar to grow and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Make a global impact: Give to the International Editions of The Upper Room.
