Today is Ash Wednesday.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and the Psalm.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 12.

As the shoot from Jesse’s stem, as the wisdom of the Spirit coursing through Proverbs, so is this Psalm itself as purified silver set against the rough darkness of the sins of which the psalm speaks.

Once again the number seven occurs—symbol of completion. What would it take you to encounter the Word of the Lord at each of the seven sacred quarter parts of the day? As corks holding up a net, the purifying power of God’s Word cleanses your heart seven times.

Though fire hurts, it burns away the dross, the darkness, the dirt that blemishes the heart before God. As long as your heart is beating and your lungs have breath, your suffering can prepare your heart for purity and joy. Better the fire on this side of the grave than the one on the other!

Psalm 12

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: You, O Lord, my only help v. 1

We read the Psalms in numerical order.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

LIsten to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Proverbs 2:1-15.

The Mounts of Sinai, the Beatitudes, and the Transfiguration invite us to linger in their atmosphere of contact with the divine as we listen to these words. While they are abstract, taste them nonetheless. Consider how wisdom, knowledge, discretion, and understanding are present, or absent, in your life. Let today be a special day of reflection on your life, taking the mountain images as ones of retreat, reflection and reordering of your life’s priorities in keeping with the daily inspirations of God’s holy Word.

Though these four gifts are abstract, they engage all the practical aspects of your life. How are you to live in the light of these gifts? This is the constant question of Proverbs. Reflect … ponder … write.

Proverbs 2

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…
Example: Wisdom coming to my heart v. 10

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Joshua and Proverbs 1—3

 

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Isaiah 11:1-9.

Intended as Hezekiah, the rod from the stem of Jesse reaches forward in time and touches Jesus. The Lord uses Isaiah for more than the immediate circumstance into which he prophesies. The Holy Spirit, referred as such by Isaiah more times than any other prophet, uses this great man of God for announcing the Messiah. With the addition of “piety,” not mentioned in verse 2, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are listed.

This chapter and the next conclude the first of five parts in Isaiah. As a symphony raising its themes in sweeping final movements, so do these chapters lift up the ultimate triumph of God in images of reconciliation. Let the Word of the Lord fill all your days “… as the waters cover the sea.”

Isaiah 11

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Isaiah 1-13.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Knowledge covering the sea v. 9

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.