Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and Isaiah 49:14-18.

 Every artisan has a favorite tool. The instrument fits snugly into his or her hand and perfectly responds to what the artist wants to do with it. This is the image behind a teaching of Ignatius of Loyola offered to me in the early years of spiritual formation: “Be an instrument closely fitted to God’s hand.”

There is delight and intimacy as Isaiah describes the Servant of the Lord in this second of four “Servant Songs.” The Lord has a preferential love for his Servant who would lead God’s people out of exile. The Servant is a type of Christ.

Make the Servant Song personal to you. God has formed you in your mother’s womb to be an instrument God can use for the salvation of others. God has inscribed you in the palm of God’s hand. The Lord delights in you. Is your delight in the Lord alone?

Isaiah 49

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the Winder Season of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Isaiah 40 – 55.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: You’re finding delight in me.

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 triumph of the Holy Spirit over Satan is a central theme for Mark that courses through his Gospel. The Spirit at work in Jesus defeats all the dark and evil spirits keeping the human family in bondage. Whether it is an unclean spirit as here, the spirit of antagonism against Jesus in the religious authorities, or the resistance of the very disciples to the power of Jesus, it is the same: Jesus triumphs over Satan.

As you ponder this passage, get in touch with the wonder of the crowd as the fame of Jesus spreads all about. Your spirit breathes as the power of Jesus expands to cover all the areas of spiritual bondage in your life. This is true spiritual power—not the power plays of guilt and shame. Jesus is present with all the power of his love for you.

Mark 1:21–28

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Unclean spirits: out from me! v. 25

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
During the Winter Season of Advent to Epiphany this year, we read the Gospel of Mark, chapters 1-2.

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 Exodus 19:1-11.

There is a pause in the journey through the desert of our Jewish ancestors. The horizon of the Promised Land is still distant, but right in front of them is wondrous Mount Sinai. God will be face to face with Moses. A cloud covers the base of the mount as the Glory of the Lord settles in.

Lose yourself at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Stone tablets of the law are coming. But another stone is coming too— the one in front of Jesus’s tomb. Then the two stone tablets will become one law of flesh upon our hearts when the resurrection-stone is rolled away. The other two stones of law yield to the one commandment that we love one another as Jesus has loved us.

How God loves his people! In the wilderness, God shares the wonders of relating to him.

Exodus 19

This is the second of three parts of the Torah Portion Yithro (Jethro) 
Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations read only this part this year,
as also in this Bible plan.
Here is the entire portion in all three parts.
Exodus 18:1—20:26

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Bearing me on eagles’ wings v. 4

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 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