Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and the reading.

Very soon into the Gospel, the question arises about who Jesus is. In the incident of the healing of the paralytic, there is opposition on the part of the Jewish leaders. They refuse to accept Jesus walking about and healing. Now Jesus tells the man that his sins are forgiven. This presses the opposition to the ultimate; they accuse Jesus of blasphemy. They cannot wait to get their hands on Jesus, instead of begging Jesus to get his hands on them so that they too can be healed.

Jesus does not evade the issue. He confronts it even before they do, because he reads their minds and hearts. The physical healing is the sign that Jesus’s power extends to the depths of the soul where there is a longing to be freed from sin and forgiven. God has power over every dimension of life.

Are you willing to let Jesus pass through the barrier, the “roof” of your heart?

Mark 2:1–12

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Asking in line with Your will v. 4

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the Winter Season of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Luke 1-2; Mark 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 Nick read the Firestarter and the reading.

Do you remember the famous poster used in World War I of Uncle Sam? An elderly, bearded, stern man looks out, his finger pointing right at you, saying, “Uncle Sam wants YOU.” We can be tempted to see God’s will that way—stern, unrelenting, lacking the warmth and loving feelings that we associate with the Lord in other contexts.

I remember a dear friend saying to me many years ago: “You are the will of God for yourself!” Now this “you” is the deepest aspect of your self. It is what you really do want in the depths of your soul, but which perhaps you do not fully acknowledge.

The will of God is the key to today’s reading. “If we ask anything according to God’s will, God hears us.” When you agree with the Lord in wanting what God wants, then a pathway of prayer opens between your heart and God’s. You both listen to each other, as it were, and the prayer simply flows.

1 John 5:13–21

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Asking in line with Your will v. 4

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In the Winter Season of Advent to Epiphany this year we read the Letters of John and Jude.

For all the Firestarters 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.

Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and the Psalm.

For a video meditation on today’s Psalm created three years ago, Tap here.

This psalm is attributed to David while in the back corner of a cave, escaping the wrath of jealous King Saul out to kill him. Instead of focusing on the fear in his circumstances, David does what he does best: he prays. His awareness is not limited to the dark walls of the cold cave. His spirit flies to heaven where the darkness becomes the shadow of the Lord’s wings. Prayer changes the meaning of David’s circumstances. He finds joy in the Lord, exalted above the heavens—certainly beyond the walls of that cave!

Your life will be totally different when you pray with the same spontaneity, intensity and intimacy as David. Each new day he makes, as it were, the dawn more joyous with his song.

Find the song in your heart, which comes to you along with the sun that gives light to the day, though the sun may be hiding behind those wings of God we call clouds.

Psalm 57

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: In the shadow of Your wings v. 1

We continue to follow 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