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About Disciplines

The Upper Room Disciplines provides an opportunity to look more deeply at scripture by offering a week of devotions by a single author on a particular theme.

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Latest Disciplines Devotions

The Tracks of Our Tears - October 1, 2016

October 1, 2016

The wide-ranging sources of sorrow and human suffering can overwhelm us. We may feel tempted to add tears of self-pity to our long list of tears. Why is life so hard?...

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The Tracks of Our Tears - September 30, 2016

September 30, 2016

Join with me” Paul urges Timothy, “in suffering for the gospel.” “For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher” he writes. “For this reason I...

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The Tracks of Our Tears - September 29, 2016

September 29, 2016

For eight years my wife and I lived in Scotland. Our three oldest children were born there. I remember how my parents would cry when, after a short visit with them...

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The Tracks of Our Tears - September 28, 2016

September 28, 2016

Psalm 137 is, as previously noted, written from the perspective of those carried off into captivity in Babylon. Verses 1-6 give voice to moving and heartrending lament. Weeping grows into rage,...

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The Tracks of Our Tears - September 27, 2016

September 27, 2016

Like Lamentations 1, Psalm 137 is a poem of lament arising from Israel’s captivity in Babylon. Lamentations 1 is written from the perspective of those left behind in Jerusalem. Psalm 137...

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The Tracks of Our Tears - September 26, 2016

September 26, 2016

One of the great Motown hits of the 1960s is the Smokey Robinson song, “The Tracks of My Tears.” Three of the four passages we’ll encounter this week mention weeping in...

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The Responsibility of Promise - September 25, 2016

September 25, 2016

A few years ago, I helped celebrate Holy Communion at an affluent church. We used the liturgy of The Great Thanksgiving for Advent. In the middle of the liturgy, the celebrant...

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The Responsibility of Promise - September 24, 2016

September 24, 2016

Wake up. Go to work. Sit in traffic. Engage with members of your family. Eat. Go to bed. Rinse. Repeat. For many people, this pattern represents a good life (well, minus...

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The Responsibility of Promise - September 23, 2016

September 23, 2016

Newsflash: Christmas is three months away! Do not panic! Rather, consider this an invitation to ponder what it means to be content. Very soon, the “best sales events of the year”...

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The Responsibility of Promise - September 22, 2016

September 22, 2016

Songwriter Diane Warren penned a Grammy award-winning tribute to her father, “Because You Loved Me.” The lyrics of the song proclaim a love that profoundly influences the life of another. In...

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