Resource type: Devotionals
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Preparing to Seek God
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Bible Passage I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. – Psalm 121:1-2 Reflection Working in universities means I spend much of my working time in cities. On an ordinary morning I have to go through Manchester to get into…
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The Beatitudes: Blessed Are The Merciful
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Bible Passage Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. Matthew 5:7 Reflection I write this in the wake of the terrible shooting at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Such a devastating attack in what should always be a safe and sacred space for worshippers feels like an assault on our religious…
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The Beatitudes: Blessed Are The Meek
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Bible Passage Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 Reflection What is meekness? For some, meekness is associated with passivity, weakness, and timidity. It is characterised as a failure in opposition to winner takes it all, survival of the fittest, work hard play hard capitalistic culture. But what if meekness…
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The Beatitudes: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
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Bible Passage Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4 Reflection While wandering around the internet pondering the beatitudes, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” in particular, I found a number of books on the topic, including The Be Happy Attitudes. The second beatitude could be read…
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The Beatitudes: Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit
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Bible Passage Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Matthew 5:3 Reflection Throughout Jesus’ ministry we’re shown a way of living that flips the world upside down; the last come first; the marginalised are included; the invisible are seen. And the beatitudes are definitely some of Jesus’ teachings that…
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Fake News
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Bible Passage To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 Reflection When the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize for literature, Kazuo Ishiguro, heard of his success from the media, he…
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The Kingdom of God
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Bible Passage The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news. Mark 1:15 Reflection In my experience, when Christians share the ‘good news’ they almost never talk about the Kingdom. We ignore the first part of Christ’s message at the start of Mark’s gospel, which…
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Advice
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Bible Passage For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives… Colossians 1:9-14 Reflection I’m sure most of us can picture a time when we were questioning…
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Welcoming the Excluded
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Bible Passage A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Jesus sent him away at once with…
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Waiting on God’s faithfulness
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Bible Passage “Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14: 35-36 Reflection I’m not fond of waiting. This is probably not unusual in our…