Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and the Psalm.
TAP HERE for video Meditation on Psalm 82 on YouTube.
[From the original version]
The priorities of the Lord are urged to become our own. True worship increases our love for those who do not worship. These are ones “turned off,” who do not experience justice, perhaps because they have not received hesed, the love, and mercy of the Lord through you.
Keep open. You cannot do it all, but the Lord through you can do all things. Pray this psalm in a personal way, asking the Lord to show you how you are to complete the works of mercy in your own life. Wait. Listen. Believe that the Lord will speak to your heart about the poor ones who are closest to God’s own heart. Jot down notes in your journal; the Lord may become very explicit with you and you will want to remember.
What are Bible Breaths? Learn More Example: The nations belong to You. v. 8
We follow a reading of the Psalms in numerical order.
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 Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” from the version for young people and Proverbs 22:1-12.
[From the version for young people]
Have you ever been in front of someone whose name you think you ought to know, but you just can’t remember? All of a sudden, maybe just before you greet the person, you remember the name. It’s a very nice feeling; something clicks inside you that was stuck before making the connection. It feels like a gentle shock way inside. The sayings from the Book of Proverbs are something like that. When you think about them in a quiet way, some of them will give you that feeling like suddenly remembering someone’s name. There is a sense of the truth in them that may strike you inside and make sense in your heart as well as in your mind. That gentle shock will flow through you as the Holy Spirit makes the truth alive for you. Take the twelve proverbs in each one of these verses and meditate on them one by one. That’s the way to really grasp their meaning. Take verse 6, for example. If you learn the ways of God at an early age, you’ll want to teach them to your children when you become a parent!
Released by Wisdom – from the Original Version
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. v. 6 Memorize this verse if you are a parent—or will be one day. Meditate carefully on it and let the Holy Spirit teach your soul and sober you with the awesome responsibility that is yours.
Pause often as you prayerfully read these proverbs. Repeat them until they touch that place in your soul where they will rest secure. Look for that gentle shock to your spirit that is the sign from the Lord that the Word is hitting home.
What happens when you finally remember someone’s name that you were forgetting, or you recall something that you need to do and finally remember it? There is a release in your whole body that takes place. This is the way Proverbs can touch and release your spirit.
What are Bible Breaths? Learn More… Example: Humility brings honor. v.4
Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history and the Hebrew “Writings.” In this season, Proverbs 22—23; 2 Kings; Ecclesiastes 5—8.
For all the Firestarters in the original version, 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 Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” for young people and Daniel 1:3-16.
From the version for young people
A wonderful hero and saintly person is going to be our model for Mondays during the season of autumn. His name is Daniel, probably a teenager. He is one of the great prophets of God’s people, someone whose whole life, in all he says and does, reflects God’s life. He’s a hero we can love.
Daniel was one of many thousands of Jewish people about six hundred years before Jesus’ birth who were captives living in the land of Babylon. This ancient land was part of the modern country of Iraq. Though there were no places or buildings that reminded him of God, his memories of God’s actions on behalf of God’s people were alive by faith inside Daniel. He knew that God was with him.
In the first episode we find Daniel and three other Hebrew friends selected to become advisors at the royal court of King Nebuchadnezzar. (My goodness, a name with five syllables!) With all the familiar reminders of God taken away, the four friends firmly decided to be aware of God’s presence by refusing to do what God had forbidden. So when it came time to eat food that was not allowed by God’s people, they just said: “No: we won’t do it!”
Look how the fidelity of Daniel and his friends to God’s ways brought them wisdom and favor with the King! You too: the closer you live to the ways that God wants in humility and love, the more God’s grace and wisdom will be given to you.
Here’s an idea. Picture yourself as a fifth person quietly living alongside these four wonderful young men. They are part of what we call the Communion of Saints. In Jesus you are one of those saints too!
The Protection of Fidelity (Original Version)
The year is 605 B.C. The Hebrews are being taken into exile into Babylon, modern day southeast Iraq. The Lord raises up the prophet Daniel in the crisis. This is the account of this one faithful young Hebrew lad, probably a teenager.
Sense the purity of heart in this radiant man, confident in his God, faithful to the details of following the Lord. In a foreign land, these reminders will form sacred boundaries in his heart for adhering to the Lord alone. Recall the fidelity to God of the patriarch Joseph in Egypt. Fidelity and total trust in the Lord brought the Lord’s protection in the favor of the Pharaoh. The same happens for Daniel and the King of Babylon.
What can you do each day to remind you of the divine presence as you live in a world that ignores God?
What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More… Example: Undefiled by the world. v. 8
Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets. In this season we read the prophet Daniel.
For all the Firestarters in the original version, II 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 Bible Through the Seasons 