Tag: christianity
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Waiting for Morning, Moving with Strength
Daily Office Readings for September 30, 2026: Psalm 119:145–176; Psalms 128, 129, and 130; Micah 2:1–13; Acts 23:23–35; Luke 7:18–35. Today I am writing about an issue I struggle with, as I believe many of us do: waiting when making decisions and choices. In today’s Daily Office readings, Psalm 130:5–6 connected for me with Isaiah…
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The Next Faithful Step
Daily Office Reflection · September 29, 2026Psalms 120–127; Micah 1:1–19; Acts 23:12–24; Luke 7:1–17 The Songs of Ascents sound like prayers carried along a road. The journey begins with distress: “In my distress I cry to the Lord.” The pilgrim lifts his eyes and asks where help will come from. Soon other voices join him:…
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Unceasing Prayer: Staying Connected to the Source
As I read the conversation about unceasing prayer in The Pilgrim Continues His Way, I wrestled with some of its language. The discussion speaks of discipline, effort, and the human longing for God. I believe prayer matters deeply, and I also believe we are saved by grace through faith—not by our works. As I kept…
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What Is Shaping My Heart?
Daily Office Reflection for Monday, September 28, 2026Psalm 106; Hosea 14:1–9; Acts 22:30–23:11; Luke 6:39–49 Psalm 106 begins with praise and thanksgiving, but it soon becomes a confession: “Both we and our ancestors have sinned;we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.” The psalmist does not stand at a safe distance and condemn previous generations. He…
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The Missing Piece of the Puzzle
Forrest Gump said life is like a box of chocolates. I have discovered that life is more like a crossword puzzle. It gives us clues, and we spend our lives discovering the answers. Sometimes it is like a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle: the pieces look so much alike, but somewhere they fit together to form the…
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Remain Connected to the Source
Pilgrim Series: The Sixth Meeting—Unceasing Prayer and Salvation Source: The Pilgrim Continues His Way, author unknown, translated by Olga Savin, Shambhala, 2001 Over the years, I have heard salvation described in two very different ways. Some speak as though salvation were a single act of God’s grace after which the way we live no longer…
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God Has Not Given Up on Me
Daily Office Readings for Saturday, September 26, 2026Psalms 107, 108, and 33; Hosea 11:1–9; Acts 22:17–29; Luke 6:27–38 Life is filled with challenges. Some arise from choices I have made. Others come from decisions made by people whose lives touch mine. Still others simply happen because illness, loss, disappointment, and uncertainty are part of living…
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Lord Jesus Christ, Heal What Is Wounded—Change Me
Pilgrim Series: Reflections on The Pilgrim Continues His WaySixth Meeting In the Sixth Meeting of The Pilgrim Continues His Way, the Professor, the Pilgrim, and the Skhimnik discuss unceasing prayer as a way of entering more deeply into union with God. The prayer they describe is not an incantation. It is not merely mumbling the…
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Melville B. Cox: Planting an Unfinished Work
Saint for Friday, September 25, 2026Melville Beveridge Cox, MethodistNovember 9, 1799–July 21, 1833 Melville B. Cox knew grief, illness, and interrupted plans. Born near Hallowell, Maine, in 1799, he entered the New England Methodist Conference as an itinerant preacher in 1822. Tuberculosis forced him to stop preaching in 1825. He moved to Baltimore, worked in…
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It Is Time to Seek the Lord
Daily Office Readings for Friday, September 25, 2026Psalm 102; Psalm 107; Hosea 10:1–15; Acts 21:37–22:16; Luke 6:12–26 “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”—Hosea 10:12 When I first read today’s passages, I could…
