Shavuot was originally a spring harvest in Israel. The first wheat was ripe about fifty days after the first barley harvest. The crop of barley was brought to the Temple the day after Passover began. The people were then instructed to count fifty days or seven weeks from one harvest to the other.

As time passed, the festival became one to celebrate the revelation of God on Sinai, the true harvest of God’s life to the human family. The very meaning of the word Torah is to rain or flow down. The Torah Reading is the giving of the Ten Commandments found in Portion 17 B and C, God’s revelation and teaching flowing down the mountain.

There is a tradition of taking a long nap the afternoon before the beginning of Shavuot, which begins at sundown. This is to be ready to participate in an all night vigil that many Jewish communities observe. One mystical work praises those who stay up all night in expectation of receiving the Torah.

The Christian expression of this revelation is the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the first disciples—the flowing down of God’s Spirit upon us.

Exodus 19:1—20:26

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Speak to me: I will listen. 20:18

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

Jesus meets persistent resistance in the Jewish leaders. They choose to argue Jesus out of their lives. Arguments have no place with faith. Mental battles keep energy in the head, blocking that faith which comes from the heart. We are called to pass from death to life in Jesus.

Belief is a vigorous, total surrender to the Lord. Surrender in faith and rest secure in the hands of Jesus. The Lord Jesus is with you; no one can snatch you away from his hands.

Tell whatever or whomever else pushes for prominence to back off. All that matters is the presence of the Lord in whom you live, move, and have your being.

John 10:22–42

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: You know me; I follow You. v. 27

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the seasons of 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.

Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles this year ends with the conversion of St. Paul. Then he was Saul, with one driving compulsion—to persecute those who follow Jesus. Jesus shakes his very being. Enter the scene. Experience the profound shift in Paul to a fire that burns for love and joy, no longer for death.

Are you also ready to be shocked and astonished by the call of God on your life? As you pray, you are bathed in the same light that threw Paul to the ground, rising as a new creature. You might physically prostrate yourself in prayer. Welcome the gifts for ministry that the Spirit pours into you.

Acts 9

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: An instrument in Your hand v. 15

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In the season of Easter this year we read Acts 1—9.

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.