Images abound expressing the constant infidelity of the people to their God. They are as faithless as their idolatrous neighbors after whom their lust burns with a heat as constant as a baker’s oven. Recall Samson, who lost his power and anointing from the Lord and did not know it. Likewise does Ephraim, as an example of all the people, think that it still has power as deceptive alliances are made with powerful Egypt and Assyria.

Make these chapters in Hosea personal to you. Are there inner echoes in these verses? Where do you place your confidence in life? Is it in banks, works, contracts, plans, relationships—the Lord on the sideline of your life? Repent from being only with God now and then, instead of always.

Hosea 7

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Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In this season we read Hosea; in the 9th week, we read Lamentations 3.

For the next several weeks, the Firestarters will be from the original version of this program. For these 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 was human; his rejection by his own family must have been painful for him. With the special love he felt for them, Jesus would have wanted them to be healed among the first. However, he could not do it! Think of it: Jesus is powerless where there is no faith. Where there is faith, Jesus’presence celebrates the healing that takes place. “Your faith has made you whole.”

Right after the rejection of his family of blood, Jesus becomes one with his family in the Spirit—the first disciples. They are commissioned to go out just as he has done, bringing the healing presence of God.

The power that Jesus has, he gives away. He wants to give it to you, for your own healing, and to have you become an agent for the healing of others. May the Holy Spirit move you to profound faith in the healing power of God

Mark 6:1–13

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Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year B, we read from the Gospel of Mark

For the next several weeks, the Firestarters will be from the original version of this program. For these 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.

The generation of those who rebelled against the Lord in the desert has died. A new generation is prepared; they had no experience of Egypt, since they were born during the Exodus.

The Bible’s first instance of women’s rights is in the account of the five daughters of Zelophehad. This man had no sons; the daughters came to Moses requesting justice for them, so that they could have the inheritance of the family, which usually passed along by the sons alone. They present a delicate balance between assertiveness and yielding to the final decisions left in the hands of the Lord through his servant Moses.

Joshua is selected as the one to lead the people into the Promised Land. 27:14 recalls how the Lord denied entry to Moses, because he complained. Reflect on yourself in this regard.

Numbers 26:52—28:15

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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 the next several weeks, the Firestarters will be from the original version of this program. For these 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.