Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and Matthew 26:1-16.

There are strong contrasts of good and evil in this half chapter. It is the beginning of Jesus’s Passion. Until now, Jesus has been in action against the domains of evil in disease, hypocrisy, and unbelief. Now he allows himself to be acted upon, to be in passion.

There are contrasts in the plot to kill Jesus and the extravagant gesture of the woman who pours costly oil upon Jesus expressing her great love.

In the face of coming death, Jesus gives us the promise of his body’s resurrection in the gift of Communion— even as he faces the evil of Judas’s betrayal and the imminence of Peter’s denial.

The shifts between absolute good and absolute evil will move you. Be shaken, humbled and awed by all the grace this is quietly triumphing.

Matthew 26:1–35

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Pouring out my soul in love v. 7

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the season of Kingdomtide this year we read Matthew 19 to 28.

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 selected verses from the reading.

The passion of Paul to preach the gospel is especially present in chapter 9. He finds the example of running a race as an image to describe this intense focus of his life.

Chapter 10 verse 13 will bring comfort to you in times of trial: “When you are tempted, God will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.” There is nothing too great for you to endure. The Lord God will give you a way out by the light and power of grace.

From verse 14, there is a sacred principle at work: do everything that would have the conscience of another aided in coming to the gospel; do nothing that would hinder this approach. You will find other verses as you read that I suggest you write down in your best handwriting and place near you to engrave in your mind for continual recall in your heart.

1 Corinthians 9—10

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: This is My body for you v. 24

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 1 Corinthians.

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.

Take time for your inner person to become quiet. Be as the deer thirsting for water brooks until you sense the deep longing for God that lies at the base of your being. Every person thirsts for God with great intensity. However, if the pangs of thirst are anesthetized, then life goes on searching for the dry riverbeds of the world— wealth, fame, pride, human respect. It is easy to thirst for these, missing the deeper brook that flows within—the Living Waters of the Spirit in Christ Jesus.

Read the opening verse of this psalm slowly, repeatedly, until your soul awakens to its thirst for God. Then let the rest of the psalm carry you along the “stream” of images that will lead you more and more to the source of your life in God who alone can quench your thirst.

Psalm 42

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: As a deer, I long for You. v. 1

We continue to follow the Psalms in numerical order.

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

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