Contemplative Bible Reading

Genesis 22:18 (New Living Translation) And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me. Abraham had just acted faithfully towards God. He had followed God’s command to sacrifice his only son Isaac. As a result of Abraham’s faith, his descendants—one of whom was Jesus of Nazareth—would […]

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Malachi 1:8 (New Living Translation) When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. If you are of a certain age, you […]

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Galatians 1:7b (New Living Translation) You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. The writer chides the Christians in Galatia. They are falling for a twisted version of the truth. So sad. What truth was twisted? The truth about Christ. What was the truth about Christ? See a couple of […]

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Ephesians 2:6-7 (New Living Translation) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward […]

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Ephesians 2:4-5 (New Living Translation) 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) The writer is […]

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2 Peter 1:1 (New Living Translation) This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior. Peter opens his second […]

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1 John 5:21 (New Living Translation) Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. John ends his first letter with a simple bit of advice. Keep away from that stuff. That stuff is anything that might take over our hearts. Well, certainly John could be a bit more specific […]

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1 John 1:4 (New Living Translation) We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. John writes a letter to fellow Christians. Why? Well, to teach, I guess. That is what all these writings in the Bible are about, right? Yes. To some degree, but look at the above sentence. John […]

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Matthew 27:1 (New Living Translation) Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. This verse is from the (hi)story of the crucifixion of Jesus. We look back on those who had Jesus arrested and executed with all sorts of […]

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