Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Jeremiah 9:1-3.

Chapter 9 verse 1 gave Jeremiah the name: “The Weeping Prophet.” He grieves over the people’s lost condition, so much of which has to do with leaders lying to the people.

What is your experience of crying? Do you weep easily, or is it hard for you to pour out the sin and sadness in your life through tears? Shame often enters to gridlock the emotion of pain that needs the loosening release of sobs. The tears of others often help to free this “liquid prayer.”

Read slowly, carefully, reflectively. You might take a chapter for each of the three hours in the quarter parts of the day. Let your heart be touched; your head may flow with tears. Listen for the tears of Jeremiah until you hear your own. Pray for what spiritual writers call “The Gift of Tears,” a gift from God for intercessory prayer.

Jeremiah 7—9

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the season of Lent we read Jeremiah 1—17.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Weeping for those who suffer 9:1

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 the Gospel.

Once again, a dialogue takes place between Jesus and another with whom you can identify. This time it is a woman, who encounters Jesus at noontime, contrasting with the midnight visit of righteous Nicodemus.

Jesus dares to do what no Jewish man would ever do—talk to a woman, a Samaritan as well. As is typical in John’s Gospel, the conversation is on two dimensions—a literal, earthly one on the part of the woman, a sacred, heavenly one on the part of Jesus.

Listen carefully as the Lord loosens your heart. Jesus addresses you face-to-face and heart-to-heart in her. Yield to the Lord. Let the plumb line image help you to descend straight down into the depths of your inner well. Receive the living waters that spring forth.

John 4:5–42

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Your water: spring gushing forth v. 14

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the seasons Lent and Easter we read the Gospel of John.

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 Exodus 30:22-33.

God told Moses to have the people bring money as a response to having their lives ransomed in the Exodus. However, the priceless blood of Jesus has truly redeemed us and ransomed us from death.

The barrenness of the desert surroundings are set in marked contrast with the materials that are to become the sacred articles of the wilderness tabernacle. Three of them are the gifts of the Magi to Jesus. As sense of the sacred is heightened by having the ingredients for anointing oil and incense be used for these purposes only. The sense of smell, the most powerful sense that links us to memory, reminds the people of the sacred presence of God.

What are the articles in your life that you employ only for the service and worship of God? Do you keep Sabbath time?

Exodus 30:11—31:17

This is the first of three parts of the Torah Portion Ki Tissa (Take a Census) 
Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations read only this part this year,
as also in this Bible plan.
Here is the entire portion in all three parts.

Exodus 30:11—34:35

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Incense rising from my heart 30:34

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

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