Contemplative Bible Reading

Colossians 2:20-23 (New Living Translation) 20 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21 “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? 22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that […]

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Colossians 1:19-20 (New Living Translation) 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Here it is. This is the good news of Jesus […]

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Ephesians 5:14 (New Living Translation) “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” This is a call to me and all of us. Awake, get up. More importantly, get out of the rut that is sin and death. There is no need to muddle about in the darkness. This […]

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Colossians 4:5 (New Living Translation) Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. I follow God and His son Jesus of Nazareth. Most people who live about me do not. They don’t believe. Do I live according to the admonition of this verse? Well, uh, … God, help […]

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Colossians 4:4 (New Living Translation) Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. The writer asks other Christians to pray for him. He wants clarity in his proclamation of the Gospel message. I echo this prayer. Perhaps some day someone will read some of these little blog posts and take a […]

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Ephesians 5:12 (New Living Translation) It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. I am writing this the week of data dumps from the Ashley Madison hack. That was a website that people were using privately with some guarantee of privacy, a.k.a., in secret. What is the Ashley […]

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Romans 4:6-8 (New Living Translation) 6 David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: 7 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. 8 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared […]

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Romans 4:4-5 (New Living Translation) 4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. There is a big difference between a gift and a contract. It is […]

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Romans 2:1-4 (New Living Translation) 4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? This is one of those verses that hits me like a baseball bat (yes, I have […]

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1 Corinthians 14:3 (New Living Translation) But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. Old Testament prophesying meant predicting the future. God told the prophets what was to happen, the prophets told the people, and it happened sometime in the future. There is much discussion and disagreement about what “prophesying” means in […]

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