Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 1:17 (New Living Translation) He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly. This […]

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Ephesians 3:19 (New Living Translation) May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. The Bible bounces back and forth among the concepts of feeling and knowing. This verse uses “experience” […]

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Revelation 22:2 (New Living Translation) It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. The Tree of Life will grow on each side […]

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1 Timothy 4:8 (New Living Translation) “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” Hate to burst the bubble of the fitness industry in America in the 21st century, but, well, burst that bubble folks. Gold’s Gym? Good for us. Godliness […]

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Luke 1:34 (New Living Translation) Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” This is a familiar verse and a familiar (hi)story. This little phrase summarizes much of our relationship to God. Really, God. You can do that? Yes, God can. Yes, God has, over and over. Yet, we continue […]

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John 10:24 (New Living Translation) The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” The people didn’t know—for sure. The people wanted to know—at least they claimed to want to know. Hey Jesus, hit us with a baseball bat (again, […]

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Genesis 6:11 (New Living Translation) Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. Just before the flood, the earth—the whole place—was in bad shape. God was sorry, some versions say “heart broken,” about His creation. Corrupt is one word used in most translation. That means depraved or immoral. Note […]

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James 5:1 (New Living Translation) Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Boy, I wish I were rich. Uh, well, read the above verse. Terrible troubles haunt rich people. The not-so-rich (loads of money) don’t worry about the stock market, the prime rate, […]

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Mark 2:17 (New Living Translation) When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” There are several (dozen) things I could write about these couple of sentences. Let’s consider the […]

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Mark 2:4 (New Living Translation) They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. In this (hi)story, “they” are friends of a paralyzed man. They have faith that Jesus […]

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