The Upper Room Daily Reflections from the United Methodist Church in Nashville Tennessee United States for Monday 29 January 2018 "Christian Spiritual Disciplines"

The Upper Room Daily Reflections from the United Methodist Church in Nashville Tennessee United States for Monday 29 January 2018 "Christian Spiritual Disciplines"

Today’s Reflection:

A LIVELY SET of spiritual practices is also crucial to becoming better friends with God. Spiritual teachers in the East and West point out the benefits of a steady diet of practice as the way to open up the soul to the Other. It’s hard to develop a friendship if you rarely spend time with your friend! Christian spiritual disciplines like lectio divina, examen, Bible study, spiritual reading, worship, and contemplative prayer afford us space to listen to our first and best Friend. Conversational prayer throughout the day, as well as breath prayers and the repetition of the Jesus Prayer, increases our connection to a gracious God who is invisibly near. We remember Brother Lawrence, who turned to God throughout the day even in the most mundane of tasks. At first he had to bring conscious effort to an ongoing awareness of God’s presence, but over time it became a habit — the natural outgrowth of regular practice. (Stephanie Ford, Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship)
From pages 89-90 of Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship by Stephanie Ford. Copyright © 2006 by Stephanie Ford. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: Do you practice a spiritual discipline? What would you tell a friend about it?
Today’s Scripture: It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. (Isaiah 40:22-23, NRSV)
This Week: Pray for those suffering from natural disasters.
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"Help Me See Others" for Tuesday, 30 January 2018
Today’s Reflection:
HELP ME, dear God,
to see my brother with the eyes of Christ,
to hear my sister with the ears of Christ,
to taste my neighbor’s hunger with the mouth of Christ,
to smell creation’s beauty with the nose of Christ,
to touch the world’s pain with the hands of Christ
and to love life, each life, every life,
with the heart of Christ. (Sam Hamilton-Poore, Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation)
From page 79 of Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation by Sam Hamilton-Poore. Copyright © 2008 by Sam Hamilton-Poore. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: Pray today’s prayer. HELP ME, dear God,
to see my brother with the eyes of Christ,
to hear my sister with the ears of Christ,
to taste my neighbor’s hunger with the mouth of Christ,
to smell creation’s beauty with the nose of Christ,
to touch the world’s pain with the hands of Christ
and to love life, each life, every life,
with the heart of Christ. Amen.
Today’s Scripture: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28, NRSV)
This Week: Pray for those suffering from natural disasters.

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“Follow Me” for Wednesday 31 January 2018
Today’s Reflection:
“FOLLOW ME.” One of the most compelling sentences in the Bible. Two words, when spoken by Jesus, create a sense of power and mystery and awe. To follow is to enter into the unknown, to give your life over to another. We rarely want to do this. Yet at the same time it is exactly what we desire: to be led into a better place, a better world, a better life. (Daniel Wolpert, Leading a Life with God)
From page 116 of Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership by Daniel Wolpert. Copyright © 2006 by Daniel Wolpert. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: In your prayer time, meditate on Jesus’ invitation to follow him.
Today’s Scripture: Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31, NRSV)
This Week: Pray for those suffering from natural disasters.
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"Unconditional Love" for Thursday, 1 February 2018
Today’s Reflection:
WHY IS IT so hard for us to believe that God’s love really is unconditional and that we should imitate God’s love not only for others, but also for ourselves?
Perhaps we have regarded self-centered behavior too harshly. We are unwilling or unable to give ourselves the same gentle grace that God offers us and that we believe should be offered to others. Leap from doubt to belief and remember that God loves you, delights in you, and yearns for your response. (Rueben P. Job, A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God)
From pages 389-390 of A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God by Norman Shawchuck and Rueben P. Job. Copyright © 2003 by Norman Shawchuck and Rueben P. Job. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: As you pray, address these words to God: “You love me, you delight in me, you yearn for my response.”
Today’s Scripture: Praise the LORD! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. (Psalm 147:1, NRSV)
This Week: Pray for those suffering from natural disasters.
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"Do Not Live Afraid" for Friday 2 February 2018
Today’s Reflection:
WITH REMARKABLE FREQUENCY, the first word God speaks to individuals and groups poised at the edge of momentous decision or holy encounter is this: “Do not be afraid. Do not fear.” What is intended goes beyond an attitude adjustment on our part. What is intended are lives empowered by that decisive word, so that “do not be afraid” finds its fullest expression when we do not live afraid. Faith does not call us merely to live without fear inside the sanctuary. Discipleship calls us to confront appeals to fear in the world around us and to live our lives and bear our witness accordingly. (John Indermark, Do Not Live Afraid)
From page 11 of Do Not Live Afraid: Faith in a Fearful World by John Indermark. Copyright © 2009 by John Indermark. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: How do you confront appeals to fear and live as a witness to your faith?
Today’s Scripture: Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre. (Psalm 147:7, NRSV)
This Week: Pray for those suffering from natural disasters.
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“I Will Not Leave You” for Saturday 3 February 2018
Today’s Reflection:
WHEN FEAR BEGINS to overwhelm us, we can think of the living Christ, whose heart and voice are God’s heart and voice, speaking to us inwardly:
“I am here. I will not leave you. Hold onto me. You are safe with me. Breathe slowly. Breathe deeply. My healing breath of life is flowing into you. Take my peace into your body. Take my peace into your heart.” (Flora Slosson Wuellner, Miracle: When Christ Touches Our Deepest Need)
From p. 34 of Miracle by Flora Slosson Wuellner. Copyright © 2008 by the author. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: When you are upset of afraid, remember the words above.
Today’s Scripture: What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:18, NRSV)
This Week: Pray for those suffering from natural disasters.
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"Listening Lovingly" for Sunday, 4 February 2018
Today’s Reflection:
AS A PASTOR, I learned the hard way that weeping people need a quiet friend, a person who will simply stand by and listen. One day I was called to the hospital. A middle-aged woman in our church had died suddenly and unexpectedly. Her husband was in the hospital room, angry, upset, weeping.
“How could this have happened? She was getting better. I was preparing to take her home!”
I put my arm on his shoulder and listened. Then we sat down, and between sobs, he told me what a wonderful wife she was. I just sat and listened as he recalled the years of their lives together. It lasted a couple of hours.
Later, at the funeral, the man seemed calm. Soon he became a faithful leader in the church. Then he thrilled my pastoral heart when, one day, he said to me, “You were a great help to me when she passed away. Thank you for listening.”
Thank God for loving friends who simply, lovingly, stand by and listen. That helps us move through grief, through the “valley of the sahdow.” Thank the Lord for listening lovingly. (Richard B. Wilke, Disciplines 2012)
From the reading for February 7, 2012 by Richard B. Wilke in The Upper Room Disciplines 2012: A Book of Daily Devotions. Copyright © 2011 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by permission. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: When has someone been a comfort to you by listening?
Today’s Scripture: And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. (Mark 1:34, NRSV)
This Week: Pray for those suffering from natural disasters.
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Did You Know?
In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.
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This week we remember: Brigid of Ireland (February 1).

Brigid of Ireland
February 01
Brigid was born in the middle of the fifth century in eastern Ireland. Saint Patrick himself baptized her and after becoming Christian, she established a monastery at Kildare which housed both women and men, and was known for its hospitality. As abbess, Brigid was a strong leader; there is some evidence that she became powerful enough that she was ordained bishop.
Brigid is known for her generous and compassionate spirit. Many stories about her tell how she gave away whatever she had, and performed miracles that produced an abundance of food that she shared with the hungry. It was said she wanted most "to satisfy the poor, to banish every hardship, and to save every sorrowful man." This remarkable woman died in 525.
Legend has it that Saint Brigid wove a cross from rushes. Today, "Brigid's crosses" of rush are symbols of Celtic spirituality.
Brigid is the patron saint of Irish women, poets, healers, dairy workers, midwives, and newborn babies.
If Brigid of Ireland had taken the Spiritual Types Test, she probably would have been a Prophet. Brigid of Ireland is remembered on February 1.
Image from window in St.Joseph Catholic Church in Macon, Georgia.

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The Lectionary Readings for Sunday 4 February 2018
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Isaiah 40:21-31
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39

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Scripture Text: 

Isaiah 40:21-31 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

21 Don’t you know? Don’t you hear?

Haven’t you been told from the start?

Don’t you understand how the earth is set up?

22 He who sits above the circle of the earth —

for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers —

stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He reduces princes to nothing,

the rulers of the earth to emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely their stem taken root in the ground,

when he blows on them, they dry up,

and the whirlwind carries them off like straw.

25 “With whom, then, will you compare me?

With whom am I equal?” asks the Holy One.

26 Turn your eyes to the heavens!

See who created these?

He brings out the army of them in sequence,

summoning each by name.

Through his great might and his massive strength,

not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you complain, Ya‘akov;

why do you say, Isra’el,

“My way is hidden from Adonai,

my rights are ignored by my God”?

28 Haven’t you known, haven’t you heard

that the everlasting God, Adonai,

the Creator of the ends of the earth,

does not grow tired or weary?

His understanding cannot be fathomed.

29 He invigorates the exhausted,

he gives strength to the powerless.

30 Young men may grow tired and weary,

even the fittest may stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength,

they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings;

when they are running they won’t grow weary,

when they are walking they won’t get tired.

Psalm 147:1 How good it is to sing praises to our God!

How sweet, how fitting to praise him!

2 Adonai is rebuilding Yerushalayim,

gathering the dispersed of Isra’el.

3 He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

4 He determines how many stars there are

and calls them all by name.

5 Our Lord is great, his power is vast,

his wisdom beyond all telling.

6 Adonai sustains the humble

but brings the wicked down to the ground.

7 Sing to Adonai with thanks,

sing praises on the lyre to our God.

8 He veils the sky with clouds;

he provides the earth with rain;

he makes grass grow on the hills;

9 he gives food to the animals,

even to the young ravens when they cry.

10 He takes no delight in the strength of a horse,

no pleasure in a runner’s speed.

11 Adonai takes pleasure in those who fear him,

in those who wait for his grace.

20 He has not done this for other nations;

they do not know his rulings.

Halleluyah!

1 Corinthians 9:16 For I can’t boast merely because I proclaim the Good News — this I do from inner compulsion: woe is me if I don’t proclaim the Good News! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if I do it unwillingly, I still do it, simply because I’ve been entrusted with a job. 18 So then, what is my reward? Just this: that in proclaiming the Good News I can make it available free of charge, without making use of the rights to which it entitles me.

19 For although I am a free man, not bound to do anyone’s bidding, I have made myself a slave to all in order to win as many people as possible. 20 That is, with Jews, what I did was put myself in the position of a Jew, in order to win Jews. With people in subjection to a legalistic perversion of the Torah, I put myself in the position of someone under such legalism, in order to win those under this legalism, even though I myself am not in subjection to a legalistic perversion of the Torah. 21 With those who live outside the framework of Torah, I put myself in the position of someone outside the Torah in order to win those outside the Torah — although I myself am not outside the framework of God’s Torah but within the framework of Torah as upheld by the Messiah. 22 With the “weak” I became “weak,” in order to win the “weak.” With all kinds of people I have become all kinds of things, so that in all kinds of circumstances I might save at least some of them.

23 But I do it all because of the rewards promised by the Good News, so that I may share in them along with the others who come to trust.

Mark 1:29 They left the synagogue and went with Ya‘akov and Yochanan to the home of Shim‘on and Andrew. 30 Shim‘on’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever, and they told Yeshua about her. 31 He came, took her by the hand and lifted her onto her feet. The fever left her, and she began helping them.

32 That evening after sundown, they brought to Yeshua all who were ill or held in the power of demons, 33 and the whole town came crowding around the door. 34 He healed many who were ill with various diseases and expelled many demons, but he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Yeshua got up, left, went away to a lonely spot and stayed there praying. 36 But Shim‘on and those with him went after him; 37 and when they found him, they said, “Everybody is looking for you.” 38 He answered, “Let’s go somewhere else — to the other villages around here. I have to proclaim the message there too — in fact this is why I came out.” 39 So he traveled all through the Galil, preaching in their synagogues and expelling demons. (Complete Jewish Bible)

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John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes: Isaiah 40:21-31
Verse 21
[21] Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Known — God to be the only true God, the maker and governor of the world.
Verse 22
[22] It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Sitteth — Far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers. As here we have the circle of the earth, so elsewhere we read of the circle of heaven, Job 22:14, and of the circle of the deep, or sea, Proverbs 8:27, because the form of the heaven, and earth and sea is circular.
Spreadeth — For the benefit of the earth and of mankind, that all parts might partake of its comfortable influences.
Verse 24
[24] Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
Sown — They shall take no root, for planting and sowing are in order to taking root. They shall not continue and flourish, as they have vainly imagined, but shall be rooted up and perish.
Verse 26
[26] Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
Bringeth — That at first brought them out of nothing, and from day to day brings them forth, making them to rise and set in their appointed times.
Faileth — Either to appear when he calls them; or to do the work to which he sends them.
Verse 27
[27] Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
What — Why dost thou give way to such jealousies concerning thy God, of whose infinite power and wisdom, and goodness, there are such evident demonstrations.
Is hid — He takes no notice of my prayers and tears, and sufferings, but suffers mine enemies to abuse me at their pleasure. This complaint is uttered in the name of the people, being prophetically supposed to be in captivity.
Judgment — My cause. God has neglected to plead my cause, and to give judgment for me against mine enemies.
Verse 30
[30] Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
The youths — The youngest and strongest men, left to themselves.
Verse 31
[31] But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Wait — That rely upon him.
Renew — Shall grow stronger and stronger.

Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
Verse 4
[4] He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
Calleth them — He exactly knows them as we do those whom we can call by name.
Verse 9
[9] He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
Ravens — Which he mentions because they were most contemptible, especially to the Jews, to whom they were unclean: and because they are not only neglected by men, but also forsaken by their dams as soon as ever they can fly, and so are wholly left to the care of Divine providence.
Verse 10
[10] He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
Delighteth not — As if he needed either the one or the other for the accomplishment of his designs.

1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Verse 17
[17] For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
Willingly — He seems to mean, without receiving anything. St. Paul here speaks in a manner peculiar to himself. Another might have preached willingly, and yet have received a maintenance from the Corinthians. But if he had received anything from them, he would have termed it preaching unwillingly. And so, in the next verse, another might have used that power without abusing it. But his own using it at all, he would have termed abusing it.
A dispensation is intrusted to me — Therefore I dare not refrain.
Verse 18
[18] What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
What then is my reward — That circumstance in my conduct for which I expect a peculiar reward from my great Master? That I abuse not - Make not an unseasonable use of my power which I have in preaching the gospel.
Verse 19
[19] For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
I made myself the servant of all — I acted with as self-denying a regard to their interest, and as much caution not to offend them, as if I had been literally their servant or slave. Where is the preacher of the gospel who treads in the same steps?
Verse 20
[20] And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
To the Jews I became as a Jew — Conforming myself in all things to their manner of thinking and living, so far as; I could with innocence.
To them that are under the law — Who apprehend themselves to be still bound by the Mosaic law.
As under the law — Observing it myself, while I am among them. Not that he declared this to be necessary, or refused to converse with those who did not observe it. This was the very thing which he condemned in St. Peter, Galatians 2:14.
Verse 21
[21] To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
To them that are without the law — The heathens.
As without the law — Neglecting its ceremonies.
Being not without the law to God — But as much as ever under its moral precepts.
Under the law to Christ — And in this sense all Christians will be under the law for ever.
Verse 22
[22] To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
I became as weak — As if I had been scrupulous too.
I became all things to all men — Accommodating myself to all, so far as I could consistent with truth and sincerity.

Mark 1:29-39
Verse 29
[29] And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
Matthew 8:14; Luke 4:38.
Verse 32
[32] And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
When the sun was set — And, consequently, the Sabbath was ended, which they reckoned from sunset to sunset.
Verse 33
[33] And all the city was gathered together at the door.
And the whole city was gathered together at the door — O what a fair prospect was here! Who could then have imagined that all these blossoms would die away without fruit?
Verse 34
[34] And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
He suffered not the devils to say that they knew him — That is, according to Dr. Mead's hypothesis, (that the Scriptural demoniacs were only diseased persons,) He suffered not the diseases to say that they knew him!
Verse 35
[35] And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Rising a great while before day — So did he labour for us, both day and night. Luke 4:42.

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