Contemplative Bible Reading

Philippians 4:8 (New Living Translation) And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. This is not an admonition to “think nice thoughts and the world will be […]

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Philippians 3:3 (New Living Translation) For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,… Notice the second and third sentences of this verse. Perhaps there is a mistake in translation. I […]

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Ephesians 5:1 (New Living Translation) Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. The first two words summarize the Christian life. I also like the wording in the New English Translation: Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children A few years ago there was a big campaign in […]

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Luke 11:52 (New Living Translation) “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” Jesus is speaking in this verse. He condemns the religious leaders—those who should be teaching the people about God. Those […]

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Galatians 6:12 (New Living Translation) Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. This is the theme of Paul’s Galatian letter: The cross of Christ ALONE saves There are no prerequisites, […]

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Galatians 5:24 (New Living Translation) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. I like the wording of this verse in this translation. I used to hate people who were fill-in-the-blank, but I killed that hatred by nailing it to […]

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John 8:12 (New Living Translation) Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” Here and there in the Bible I find one-sentence summaries of the Gospel. […]

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John 7:24 (New Living Translation) Jesus replied,…”Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” Sometimes the words of Jesus are so simple they smash me into a wall. The Bible is full of examples of how people judge on the surface by human and worldly standards. How childish am I? Go past the superficial, […]

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John 7:2-4 (New Living Translation) 2 But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! 4 You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show […]

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