Clear, straightforward instructions come from Jesus about the dispositions of the heart when we do good deeds, and how the heart itself is to be transformed by prayer. Jesus’ instruction about prayer is a blend of two inseparable aspects. Each person is encouraged to go alone to the inner, secret place of one’s spirit. There is an inward privacy to prayer. However, as The Lord’s Prayer reminds us, there is always a communal dimension. The prayer is “Our Father,” not “My Father.”

Lent is coming soon. What does the Lord suggest to you about growth in prayer as the dark, secret place of winter yields to the open, expansive light of the coming spring?

Ponder the parting warning of Jesus in verse 16.

Matthew 6:1–15

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Will on earth as in heaven v. 10

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.

Jesus’words from the Mount of the Beatitudes join with those given to Moses on Sinai. Jesus embraces them, but goes deeper than mere external fulfillment of the Torah, the Law. Six times, while referring to the Torah, Jesus says “But I tell you …”

Consider the power of this transference. Jesus is embodies the Torah. He is alive in the Holy Spirit, seeking to go ever deeper into your own heart, there to refine and make perfect, the inner subtleties of Jesus’law of love. The Spirit prompts you to live love from its point of depth-sowing until full fruit-bearing, as we considered in yesterday’s reading from Galatians.

May you find special joy in knowing that the Spirit within you will be constantly suggesting, inclining, inspiring you this very day at every moment, to act, not as the world teaches, but as Jesus does.

Matthew 5:21–48

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: I will go the extra mile v. 41

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.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 10.

The tragic irony of the prosperity of the wicked and the persecution of the innocent haunts the psalmist. The first verse begins with an outright complaint to God about God’s distance in times of trouble. Ten of the next seventeen verses of the psalm cite example after example of injustices that cry to heaven for vengeance.

However negative and complaining is the psalm, at a deeper level, it is driven by intercession. Profound intimacy binds the psalmist to God, no matter what. In fact, in verse 12, the inventory of evil results in an immense shout of intercession with confidence in God’s response. Feel the flow of assurance that completes the psalm. May your prayer today be driven by the inner energy and depth of this psalm.

Psalm 10

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: You hear the wants of the meek. v. 17

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