Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and Matthew 23:25-38.

 Jesus uses the word “hypocrites” to describe his adversaries. The word comes directly from Greek. The prefix hypo means “under” and krites, “to judge”—the same root as yesterday’s word eilikrineia. A hypocrite originally meant an actor—someone who “judges under another character.” Later it came to mean a “pretender” and what we would come to understand as a hypocrite.

It is the sin that Jesus denounces the most. Words speak of holiness, goodness, worship, etc., but the real thinking that flows “under” is pride, arrogance, lying and pretense. Apparently, God is first, but really, the self is number one. Two commandments are violated—idolatry and false witness.

As you read the “woes,” is there any “under” areas of you that are false? As in yesterday’s reading, lift yourself up to God’s light.

Matthew 23

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: “What you see is what you get.” v. 23

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 the reading.

The word “purity” in verse 8 can also be translated as “sincere.” This word in some traditions was thought to come from the Latin sine-cera meaning “without wax.” (Etymologists claim that this is not so.)The word in turn translates the Greek eilikrineia, meaning, “judged by sunlight.” Stay with me—there is soul food here!

In ancient flea markets, unscrupulous merchants would fill wax into the cracks and broken pieces of a work of art to fool the interested into thinking the piece was whole. Careful buyers would take the piece and hold it up to the sunlight to be sure that it was “sincere”—without wax.

Take the sweet urging of Paul that your heart be without bad leaven. As you read, see where there are “cracks” in your spirit. Do not hide them by dishonesty, feigning, pretense, flattery, manipulation, etc. Take your soul and expose it to God’s holy light and let the Lord burn away impurities until you shine as pure gold.

1 Corinthians 5

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: The joy of being humble v. 6

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.

Whatever are the sufferings you are undergoing in your life, this psalm will offer your sweet comfort. As you move through the verses, let the specific sufferings in your life attach themselves to these expressions. You will find yourself delivered from a focus upon the suffering, to a growing and glowing awareness of the presence of God who alone can give meaning to your pain. In addition, something else that expands your spirit: through your fervent praying of this psalm, the outpouring of David becomes a vehicle for the many kinds of sufferings of all God’s people. The psalm touched Paul; he cites verse 22 in Romans 8:36–39.

You may find it helpful to note the areas of your pain, praying along with the millions today and over the centuries who have found peace through this psalm. Those verses that express the brevity of life will sober you.

Psalm 39

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: Human life is but a breath. v. 5

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