[From the original version]

Jesus compresses all the laws and ordinances that the Pharisees believed must be kept in order to attain God and reduces them to two—love of God and love of neighbor as oneself. These bring one to the brink of the Kingdom.

Yet what is it that has one enter all the way into the Kingdom? The final movement is from Jesus alone. Believe in the Lord’s sacrificial death for love of you and me; live while being open to die out of love; this completes your entry into the Kingdom. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

With this incident, Jesus’ adversaries question him no more. A Rabbi once said: “Where there is faith, there are no questions; where there is no faith, there are no answers.”

Mark 12:28–34

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Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year B, we read from the Gospel of Mark.

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.

[From the original version]

The final month of God’s year of grace is here. Leaves lie on the ground; days are getting colder and shorter. Autumn, as well as spring, is a prayerful time to ponder the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The plot to kill Jesus, woven beneath the fabric of the Gospel itself, now comes to completion with the cooperation of someone from the inside—Judas. In the Anointing at Bethany, extravagant love for Jesus is literally poured out at the same time as extravagant hatred surges ahead.

Take the alabaster flask of your life and empty it out in love and abandon, as do the very leaves pour themselves from the trees. The anointing is a symbol of resurrection. Go inward and adore your Lord.

Mark 14:1–31

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Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels. This year, we generally read
from the Gospel of Mark, this season, chapters 10 to 16.

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.

[From the original version]

Imagination, fueled by faith, transports us into the divine presence. Clear a space within so that a slow reading of these verses can allow you to paint the picture of the wondrous vision which John shares with us.

These are the final weeks of God’s year of grace. Enjoy five Thursdays that lift us on high, far above the hassles of earth, to spiritual places that will renew your life and fill you with joy. Though there will be visions of intense struggles between good and evil in the heavenly plane, this assurance courses through every verse: God is the ultimate victor.

As flashes of light that brighten the night, come hymns of praise sung in heaven that give an audio dimension to what our eyes see by faith. Four of these refrains are present in today’s’ passage. Pray them aloud over and over, perhaps creating spontaneous tunes.

May all that you see and hear, fill your day with heaven.

Revelation 4—5

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In season of Kingdomtide this year,
we read 1 and 2 Thessalonians; Revelation 4—11.

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.