Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and the Gospel.

Movement and stillness are carefully contrasted in the Christmas Story. First, there is the tedious moving of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a journey by donkey of some seventy miles. Accompany them. Take the reigns of the donkey so that Joseph can tend to Mary without distraction. Kneel with them in the stillness and awesomeness of the birth. Drink in all the power of that silent night.

Energy shifts to the angels announcing and singing before the shepherds. By faith your spirit mounts with theirs. From the stillness of a winter’s night-watch over their sheep, they run in haste to the manger. Their out-of-breath-ness slows to an immense peace, and then energy again as they become the first missionaries of the new presence.

Where does all this leave you? Take your cue from Mary who “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Luke 2:1–20

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Examples: The donkey to Bethlehem v. 4 Laying Him in a manger v. 7
Hosanna in excelsis v. 14 Mary ponders in her heart. v. 19

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Luke 1 2; Matthew 1 7.

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 Philemon 1:4-21.

Briefest of Paul’s letters, here is an invitation to forgiveness. Instead of what could have been harsh treatment and even death for Onesimus, the runaway slave, Paul pleads for reconciliation between him and his master, Philemon.

Meditate before the manger. See Mary, slave and handmaid of the Lord. Joseph is wrapped in the swaddling cloths of silence. Here is the place of forgiving love. Jesus has come, writing with his birth and later with his blood, a letter of intercession for us to the Father. All our wrongs have been charged to Jesus’s “account.” Jesus became a slave so that we might be set free and live with the Father as God’s child.

Is there someone who needs a letter like Paul’s coming from you—something more than a hasty “Seasons Greeting” card?

Philemon

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Examples: Grace to all and peace from God. v. 3
Love giving joy and support. v. 7

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Titus, Philemon, Galatians and Philippians.

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.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and the Psalm.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 4

King David’s anointing for intimacy with the Lord comes through deeply and sweetly in this psalm. Pray it often throughout the day and especially as your night prayer. Commit all or part of it to memory.

Verse 4 deserves special reflection. If you fulfill the second part of the verse first, then you will be less likely to sin. When we yield in a reactive manner to anger, sin occurs. Place a silent buffer zone between the feeling of anger and your response to it.

Whatever might have made David angry, his meditative space has enlarged his awareness. The overwhelming sense of God’s protective presence to him makes the source of his anger a mere speck against the shining light of the Lord’s countenance before him.

Psalm 4

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: You put gladness in my heart. v. 7

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