A spiritual wilderness of emptiness and loneliness is the perfect place for the Lord to comfort you with the Word. Note the shift that takes place half way through this chapter, moving from the pain and grief of God as of a husband of an outrageously unfaithful wife, to the luring, seductive words of the husband calling the wife to true love and fidelity.

If you have been seeking other “spouses” for your soul, there will come a time when nothing will satisfy you and you will know it. This is wilderness. Only here can you come to know the joy of the oasis of God’s presence. You will experience for yourself the words of Augustine: “You have made us for Yourself, O God: and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

Hosea 2

We’re using The Message translation of the Scriptures.
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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.

No one likes a complainer; neither does the Lord. If you have the Lord in charge of your life and you have surrendered to God, is it not a kind of blasphemy to complain the way things are going?

The Lord is hard on the desert complainers. This was usually the beginning of disobedience, rebellion, and idolatry. God becomes angry with the people, and talks about destroying them, making a new nation with new people. What power in the intercessory prayer of Moses! God listens to his chosen one and does not complete the plans of his rage.

Intercessory prayer is powerful. Jesus was the one who interceded for you and for me, and turned back the eternal consequence of our sins. Praise Him!

Numbers 14:8—15:7

We’re using The Message translation of the Scriptures.
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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.

 Picture you soul as soil. What kind is it? Is it hard and stony with no place for roots to go deep? If the Lord promised in the prophets that God would turn stony hearts to hearts of flesh, how much more will he soften yours through his Spirit! The hardness and harshness of your soul becomes as soft as sifted soil. The finger of God pushes the seed of the Word into your heart.

Firestarters are as “Fire Seeds.” Open yourself to receive God’s Word be planted in you. Be alert throughout the course of your day to what God is speaking to you. Keep a journal of fresh notes that reveal how the Word meets you. Just as soil embraces seed, your soul embraces the Word.

Mark 4:1–25

We’re using The Message translation of the Scriptures.
Learn about this. unique translation

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels. This year, we generally read
from the Gospel of Mark, this season, chapters 4 to 9.

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.