Today’s Reflection
Read Nahum 1:3, 6-7.
Although our God is caring and compassionate, holiness cannot tolerate wrongdoing and evil. They simply cannot coexist. God’s indignation at evil is consuming and complete.
God’s anger with us is assuaged in Christ Jesus, yet we still are asked to be holy because God is holy (see 1 Peter 1:16).
Is there anything in your life, past or present, that cannot dwell alongside God’s holiness? Is there anything for which you need to ask forgiveness?
As an act of confession, list your wrongdoings. Confess them to the Lord who “protects those who take refuge in him.”
Roll up that piece of paper, and throw it away or burn it. Experience the joy that comes from letting God cleanse you from all your sin.
-Meeting God Bible
From page 1233 of The Meeting God Bible (NRSV): Growing in Intimacy with God Through Scripture. Entry points and articles copyright © 1999, 2008 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Published in partnership with HarperCollins Publishers. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question
Reflect on the questions above. Share your thoughts.
Today’s Scripture
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
Psalm 130: 1-2, NRSV
This Week: pray for those with cancer and their families. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section below.
Did You Know?
Church leaders in Zimbabwe struggle to gather and distribute Christian educational materials for their congregations. Pastor Phillip Musharu is leading an effort to grow distribution of The Upper Room daily devotional guide to help meet the need for resources. Read more about Musharu here or visit www.upperroom.org/gift to donate to the Africa Initiative.
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember Florence Nightingale (August 13).
Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good grief yes. Daily I generate (and sometimes venerate) such a list. I have found a personal method, a variation on burning.
I have been known to make the list and then drop the page(s!) into a shredder.
There is something deeply comforting about watching the shreds drop from the teeth of the shredder and into the wastebasket. And uike simply throwing it away– it would take a lot of effort to reclaim my dirt.
Oh, P. S. I don’t physically generate a daily list on paper. Just in my thoughtless words and deeds.
I need Jesus every day. I’m human. While I have made a physical list in the past, these days its my memory of what I’ve thought, said, and done.
I am very thankful that cancer, still a very dreaded disease, is more curable these days thanks to the wisdom God has given healthcare professionals. At the same time, those with cancer, and the families of cancer patients certainly need prayer. Lord be with them, grant them your peace, and most importantly thy will be done. In Jesus name I pray. Amen
I do do daily and have done so many things that cannot exist next to God’s holiness that there’s not enough paper for me to write them all down. Thank God I am forgiven.
I would physically hand tear up my lists. This act carries an emotional and psychological impact with it.
My biggest trouble is that when I’ve ripped up the current sheet of paper I find a deeper level of the sin takes it’s place. It’s like peeling an onion.