In God’s Hands

Wednesday’s Reflection

PAIN AND SORROW are never wasted when given into God’s hands, and their transformation is far beyond our imaginings. But in this life, we will experience a poignancy, a regret that harm was done when our actions could have been different. This poignancy is a valid, healthy part of our journey of release. The deepest comfort in our mourning is to know that God not only has compassion but actually feels our suffering with us. Jesus tells us that not even a tiny sparrow will fall to the ground “apart from your Father” (Matthew 10:29). To me this means that God’s heart so enfolds and unites with the sparrow (and with us) that the suffering of the tiny creature is shared, felt by that supreme heart. The creature’s suffering resounds through God’s whole being.

- Flora Slosson Wuellner
Forgiveness, the Passionate Journey

From pages 46-47 of FORGIVENESS, THE PASSIONATE JOURNEY by Flora Slosson Wuellner. Copyright (c) 2001 by Flora Slosson Wuellner. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

Pray for someone suffering loss this day. Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Genesis 37:1-4

This Week: pray for the chronically ill and their caretakers. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Struggling with Pain? Learning to live with disease or distress can be a challenge. Read Meditation for Distress, Disease, or Pain.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember Basil the Blessed (August 2).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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Discernment

Tuesday’s Reflection

THE LATIN ROOT of the word discernment has to do with sifting and separating. … The work of discerning one direction or choice from among many may require that we separate ourselves, that we go into a desert: a figurative one, if not actual. Removing ourselves from at least some of our usual routines, for moments or for months, can shift the way that we view our life. …

So here I am, come to ask you: What’s discernment like for you? When you have a choice to make, when something needs sorting and sifting, what do you do? Is there a place, a person, a practice that helps you see what you need to see? … How are you keeping your eyes open for the sustenance that comes even in the deepest wilderness?

BLESSING
In every desert, let clarity come.
Let discernment drench you.
Let angels attend you.
Let them give to your hunger
their sweetest delights.

- In the Sanctuary of Women

From pages 140-142 of In the Sanctuary of Women: A Companion for Reflection & Prayer by Jan L. Richardson. Copyright © 2010 by Jan L. Richardson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

How can removing yourself from a routine help you discern God’s will for you? Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Romans 10:14-15

This Week: pray for the chronically ill and their caretakers. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Struggling with Pain? Learning to live with disease or distress can be a challenge. Read Meditation for Distress, Disease, or Pain.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember Basil the Blessed (August 2).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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Questions

Monday’s Reflection

What is my calling?
Is there something specific I’ve been called to do?

Which path do I take?
There are so many choices.
Which one do I choose?

Is there really One who can guide me,
help me make the right choice?
If God is really out there calling me,
why can’t I hear that voice?

When will I be given a sign?
How do I know when to take a chance?
Can that serenity be mine?
When do I let go, let my heart dance?
— Courtney Thompson, age 20

Prayer: God, there are so many choices in front of me and so many decisions to make! May I feel assurance that you are with me and will guide my path. Amen.

- Stepping Out on Your Own

From page 44 of Stepping Out on Your Own: Devotions for High School Graduates, introduced and compiled by Kara Lassen Oliver. Copyright © 2010 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

What advice would you give to someone who is trying to discern his or her calling? Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Romans 10:5-13

This Week: pray for the chronically ill and their caretakers. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Struggling with Pain? Learning to live with disease or distress can be a challenge. Read Meditation for Distress, Disease, or Pain.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember Basil the Blessed (August 2).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Filed Under: Daily Devotions Tagged With: , ,

Questions

Monday’s Reflection

What is my calling?
Is there something specific I’ve been called to do?

Which path do I take?
There are so many choices.
Which one do I choose?

Is there really One who can guide me,
help me make the right choice?
If God is really out there calling me,
why can’t I hear that voice?

When will I be given a sign?
How do I know when to take a chance?
Can that serenity be mine?
When do I let go, let my heart dance?
— Courtney Thompson, age 20

Prayer: God, there are so many choices in front of me and so many decisions to make! May I feel assurance that you are with me and will guide my path. Amen.

- Stepping Out on Your Own

From page 44 of Stepping Out on Your Own: Devotions for High School Graduates, introduced and compiled by Kara Lassen Oliver. Copyright © 2010 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

What advice would you give to someone who is trying to discern his or her calling? Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Romans 10:5-13

This Week: pray for the chronically ill and their caretakers. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Struggling with Pain? Learning to live with disease or distress can be a challenge. Read Meditation for Distress, Disease, or Pain.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember Basil the Blessed (August 2).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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Remembering God’s Bounty

Sunday’s Reflection

WHEN THE PRESENT IS DIFFICULT, we too easily forget past experience of God’s bounty, the tables spread with blessing when we were most conscious of our poverty and need. If we choose to remember the grace of God toward us in the past, the present is transformed by hope, and dry places become rich with the soul food for which we long. The gift of memory keeps us on the path. The wilderness of silence and solitude beckons us to discover once again that God loves and yearns for us. We are lured again and again by the Lover of our souls, whose unconditional love always waits to take us back, to forgive all our unfaithfulness.

- Canham
A Table of Delight

From page 17-18 of A Table of Delight: Feasting with God in the Wilderness, by Elizabeth J. Canham. Copyright © 2005 by Elizabeth J. Canham. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

What helps you remember God’s grace during difficult times? Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Romans 9:1-5

This Week: pray for people who need shelter. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Wanting to go deeper into the spiritual life? Read How to Have a Daily Devotional Time.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember James the Great (July 25).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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Suggestions for a Half-Day Retreat

Saturday’s Reflection

  • Start with prayer. Ask God for the grace to enter into this special time with an open mind and an open heart.
  • Create a sacred space in a quiet corner, near a window if possible. Let that be the place where you pray. Find a cloth for the table. Assemble objects that feel sacred — an icon, candle, Bible, photograph, a book of poems, roses, stones. Take your time, and ask God’s help in gathering what you need. Don’t settle until the space feels right.
  • Find music you love that lifts you, whether from Taizé, John Michael Talbot, Anonymous 4, drums and flutes — whatever. Music is a wonderful way to enter into prayer. Put a portable CD player within easy reach of the prayer space.
  • Devise a simple rhythm for the day, with the understanding that it can be adjusted in keeping with God’s lead. I chose to opray the Liturgy of the Hours for morning and midday. … this rhythm joins me through Psalms and other scriptures with praying Christians all over the world. …
  • Take time after your prayer period for journaling. Record what came to you from your readings, what stirred you during the silence. You might also want to record your dreams. The psalmists tell us that God speaks to the beloved in sleep.
  • Take a midmorning walk — rain or shine. Notice things: the sound of birds, the smell of earth. Spend time with a flower. Let yourself be awed by the wonders of the world.
  • When you feel hungry, enjoy a light lunch, then take a nap or rock yourself to rest, or do some spiritual reading.
  • Make time for midday prayer. Return to the Psalms or dip into a favorite prayer book. Let God lead you. Practice lectio divina with scripture. Read a passage slowly and notice what draws you. Ask God to guide you as you ponder its meaning for your life.

- Johnson & Lang
Time Away: A Guide for Personal Retreat

From page 46, Time Away: A Guide for Personal Retreat by Ben Campbell Johnson and Paul H. Lang. Copyright © 2010 by Ben C. Johnson and Paul H. Lang. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

Which element of the half-day retreat described above appeals most to you? Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Genesis 32:27-31

This Week: pray for people who need shelter. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Wanting to go deeper into the spiritual life? Read How to Have a Daily Devotional Time.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember James the Great (July 25).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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God’s Guidance

Friday’s Reflection

GOD’S GUIDANCE COMES TO US not only in prayer and through practices such as lectio divina [meditative reading of scripture and reflecting on what God might be saying to us through the passage], but also in the activism of tending the wounds and needs of others. While we are serving others, God’s persistent, nudging voice whispers: What would it look like to love this person standing in front of you? So instead of telling someone off, we might grin. Or rather than nursing our hurts, we could reach out to wounded ones.

- Jan Johnson
Weavings, vol. 25, number 3

From “Finding Guidance inthe Rhythm of Contemplation and Action” by Jan Johnson, page 38 in Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life, July/August/September 2010. Copyright © 2010 by The Upper Room. All rights reserved. Used by permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

Reach out to someone who is wounded. Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Matthew 14:13-21

This Week: pray for people who need shelter. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Wanting to go deeper into the spiritual life? Read How to Have a Daily Devotional Time.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember James the Great (July 25).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Filed Under: Daily Devotions Tagged With: , ,

Unexpected Grace

Today’s Reflection

GRACE OFTEN COMES in unexpected ways and unexpected places. However it comes, it is always unmerited, pure gift. We cannot earn it, purchase it, or even destroy it. The writer of Ephesians makes this clear in the second chapter: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (vv. 8-9).

Why would God choose to gift us so lavishly when all of us have been disobedient — sometimes willfully and sometimes unknowingly? As the letter explains, it is simply “so that in the ages to come [God] might show the immeasurable reaches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:7). It is God’s nature to love with overflowing kindness.

- Rueben P. Job
Embracing the Journey Participant’s Book, vol. 1, Companions in Christ [#9830]

From pages 27-28 of Embracing the Journey: The Way of Christ, Participant’s Book, vol. 1 in “Companions in Christ” Series. Copyright © 2006 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

How do you define the word “grace?” Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Romans 9:1-5

This Week: pray for people who need shelter. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Wanting to go deeper into the spiritual life? Read How to Have a Daily Devotional Time.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember James the Great (July 25).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Filed Under: Daily Devotions Tagged With: , ,

Unexpected Grace

Today’s Reflection

GRACE OFTEN COMES in unexpected ways and unexpected places. However it comes, it is always unmerited, pure gift. We cannot earn it, purchase it, or even destroy it. The writer of Ephesians makes this clear in the second chapter: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (vv. 8-9).

Why would God choose to gift us so lavishly when all of us have been disobedient — sometimes willfully and sometimes unknowingly? As the letter explains, it is simply “so that in the ages to come [God] might show the immeasurable reaches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:7). It is God’s nature to love with overflowing kindness.

- Rueben P. Job
Embracing the Journey Participant’s Book, vol. 1, Companions in Christ [#9830]

From pages 27-28 of Embracing the Journey: The Way of Christ, Participant’s Book, vol. 1 in “Companions in Christ” Series. Copyright © 2006 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

How do you define the word “grace?” Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Romans 9:1-5

This Week: pray for people who need shelter. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Wanting to go deeper into the spiritual life? Read How to Have a Daily Devotional Time.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember James the Great (July 25).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Filed Under: Daily Devotions Tagged With: , ,

God’s Love for Us

Wednesday’s Reflection

HOW COULD A GOD so amazing and perfect love me? God’s thoughts are constantly on us. God loves us, and the power of that love is more than enough to help us weed out the troubles in our lives.

How can we love God? We can start by embracing God’s love and making God part of our daily lives. We can wake up to the truth that we are important because God made us, loves us, protects us, and preserves us.
— Breana Coppess, age 19

- devozine, July/Aug 2011

From “More Than We Know” by Breana Coppess, in devozine, the devotional lifestyle magazine for teens. Copyright © 2011 by The Upper Room. All rights reserved. Used by permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

How do you experience the love of God? Who do you show you love for God? Share your reflections.

Today’s Scripture Reading

Matthew 14:13-21

This Week: pray for people who need shelter. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
Tips for Your Spirit:
Wanting to go deeper into the spiritual life? Read How to Have a Daily Devotional Time.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember James the Great (July 25).
Lectionary Readings:

Sponsored by The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Subscribe Today.

Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

Filed Under: Daily Devotions Tagged With: , ,
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