Within the womb of Rebecca, the twins Jacob and Esau struggle in strife—sign of the same evils that will beset future generations of the human family. Within the flow of God’s gracious covenant and the responses on the part of our patriarchs, there are the shadows of selfishness and greed. Witness the tension between instant gratification, and patient waiting to fuller revelation, as described in Esau’s selling his future destiny so that he could have his stomach filled in the present. Find the points of identification with these figures portrayed as so very frail and human, though at the same time touched by God with wondrous plans for the future.

Are there future possibilities you are compromising be being obsessed with some immediate desire that presses on you for satisfaction?

Genesis 25:19—26:22

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Example: Free us, Lord, from fam’ly strife.

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

St. Luke’s Gospel ends as it begins, in the Temple. From the glowing lights of the Holy of Holies and the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah, to the inner glow in the hearts of the disciples waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the glory and presence of God has moved through this year of grace.

Apart from the cycle of Torah readings, today concludes the three-year cycle of readings from the Bible. Each day the Holy Spirit has been doing in your heart what the Spirit did with the first disciples—opening your understanding to receive the Scriptures. As the cycle begins again next week with the flickering of the first Advent Candle, pause today with gratitude as the whole Bible lies open before you. Look through the “zoom lens” of the present moment, which embraces all of God’s Word.

Luke 24:36–53

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: “Touch and see that it is me.” v. 39

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the season of Kingdomtide this year we read Luke 19:28 to 24:53.

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.

 The Bible begins with day and night, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It ends with day only, and the River of Life. Darkness and evil are gone. Only grace flows from the river.

Images of permanent abundance characterize this final chapter of the Bible. While there is no physical temple in space, there is a reference to time in the twelve crops of fruit harvested in each of the twelve months. Time, not space, survives as the link that makes eternity descend into the months and days of our lives.

The final words of the Bible echo deeply in the emptied stillness of the heart. As the clarion cry, “Come Lord Jesus” sounds and fades away, the stillness of Advent is days away. Prepare for an ever more complete coming of the Lord Jesus into your life.

Revelation 22

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Example: Amen.  O Come, Lord Jesus. v. 20

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In the season of Kingdomtide this year we read 2 Timothy and Revelation 12—22.

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