Listen to Nick read the Firestarter and Matthew 25:31-46.

This is the last chapter in Matthew’s Gospel before the Passion of Jesus. It consists of two parables and the description of the final judgment. They are as three murals that fill the wall of a great hall. Your imagination will creatively continue the stories and the images before you.

If there is one word that gives unity to the three scenes, it is responsibility. Take the word in the sense of “being responsive.” The wise virgins, the persons with five and three talents, and those at the final judgment who were compassionate to the needy—each of these were responsive to the demands and the details of the presence of Jesus as Bridegroom, Master, and Son of Man. 

Meditate on where you find yourself in each of these stories, noting the changes needed in your responsiveness—before it is too late.

Matthew 25

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Done for th’ least, doing for You v. 45

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 1 Corinthians 7:12-16.

Paul seeks to reorient the Corinthians according to moral principles, especially about sexuality. His understanding rests on the power of the Christian life to make holy a marriage with an unbeliever. Greater is the power of holiness than the power of unbelief. This holy fidelity can result in the conversion of the unbeliever. Both faith and love can move mountains.

There is strength, yet gentleness in the teaching of Paul. Perhaps you have come to a place in your life and are sharing it with someone, without having previously adhered to these standards. Live the standard now, by the grace of the Lord. Renew your repentance for past sin, asking the Lord to let holiness of life flow through you to all those who depend upon the commitment of your love.

1 Corinthians 7—8

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Love lifting to holiness

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 Psalm 41.

Pray this psalm aware of David and Jesus. The “friend” in verse 9 was perhaps Ahithopel, a close associate of David’s (2 Sam. 17:23). For Jesus, this friend was, of course, Judas.

If you have ever experienced betrayal in some form or other, turn this special suffering over to the Lord Jesus who has been with you in the most painful of betrayals. You are not alone in anything that you suffer. There is simply no pain that you or I can ever experience that was not first lived by Jesus.

Consider this in some detail. What are those sufferings that tend to consume your spirit’s energies? Look in the Gospels, and you will find some connection with the essence of that suffering with Jesus’s own. This will be prayer. Be bonded to the Lord in deeper communion with him. What awaited Jesus at the end of his suffering, awaits you—the resurrection and the life.

Psalm 41

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: Joy in all that You promise v. 21

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