1 May 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)1 Corinthians 8:1-13: Love Builds UpNow about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “we all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is (...)
1 April 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 3:13-17: A Lasting JoyJesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well (...)
1 March 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Isaiah 49:8-12: Good News to Exiles8 This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, 9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. The one who has (...)
1 February 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Romans 12:1-2: Life as SacrificeI urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)
Sacrifice does not have a good name in today’s world. For our contemporaries, “to make a sacrifice” means basically not to do something one would (...)
1 January 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 15:21-28: Welcoming EverybodyJesus went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the (...)
1 December 2022
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 10:46-52: Learning to ReceiveThey came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling (...)
1 November 2022
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Genesis 11:1-9: Unity and DiversityNow the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the (...)
1 October 2022
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 6:5-6: Praying in SecretJesus said: When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:5-6)
Jesus’ teachings on prayer are often surprisingly direct. We find such a teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, at the (...)
1 September 2022
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 5:38-48: Love Your EnemiesJesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ (...)
1 August 2022
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Psalm 6 : A Prayer in Distress1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. 3 My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? 4 Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. 5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? 6 I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. 7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail (...)