LECTIO DIVINA
There are lots of ways to read the Bible, this is one way that we like to stop and reflect on scripture.
READ THE SCRIPTURE
what is the text saying?
MEDITATE ON ITS MEANING FOR YOU
what jumps out to me personally?
PRAY, BASED ON YOUR MEDITATION
what do I say to the Lord?
CONTEMPLATE ON THE PRESENCE OF GOD
allow His Spirit to wash over you
WHAT ARE THE STEPS FORWARD?
what action plan do I plan to take?
Jeremiah 11:1-17
1 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
2 “Remind the people of Judah and Jerusalem about the terms of my covenant with them.
3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Cursed is anyone who does not obey the terms of my covenant!
4 For I said to your ancestors when I brought them out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt, “If you obey me and do whatever I command you, then you will be my people, and I will be your God.”
5 I said this so I could keep my promise to your ancestors to give you a land flowing with milk and honey—the land you live in today.’” Then I replied, “Amen, Lord! May it be so.”
6 Then the Lord said, “Broadcast this message in the streets of Jerusalem. Go from town to town throughout the land and say, ‘Remember the ancient covenant, and do everything it requires.
7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, “Obey me!” I have repeated this warning over and over to this day,
8 but your ancestors did not listen or even pay attention. Instead, they stubbornly followed their own evil desires. And because they refused to obey, I brought upon them all the curses described in this covenant.’”
9 Again the Lord spoke to me and said, “I have discovered a conspiracy against me among the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors. They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping other gods. Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.
11 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am going to bring calamity upon them, and they will not escape. Though they beg for mercy, I will not listen to their cries. 12 Then the people of Judah and Jerusalem will pray to their idols and burn incense before them. But the idols will not save them when disaster strikes!
13 Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns. You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.
14 “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress.
15 “What right do my beloved people have to come to my Temple, when they have done so many immoral things? Can their vows and sacrifices prevent their destruction? They actually rejoice in doing evil!
16 I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit. But now I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken.
17 “I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed. For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, arousing my anger by burning incense to Baal.”
Romans 2:12-16
12 When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it.
13 For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.
14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.
15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
16 And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.
Psalm 39:12-13
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cries for help! Don’t ignore my tears. For I am your guest— a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me.
13 Leave me alone so I can smile again before I am gone and exist no more.
Luke 4:16-30
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.
17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. ”
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.
21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’
24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.
25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land.
26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
27 And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”
28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious.
29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff,
30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.
Job 8:1-22
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:
2 “How long will you go on like this? You sound like a blustering wind.
3 Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right?
4 Your children must have sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved.
5 But if you pray to God and seek the favor of the Almighty,
6 and if you are pure and live with integrity, he will surely rise up and restore your happy home.
7 And though you started with little, you will end with much.
8 “Just ask the previous generation. Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors.
9 For we were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.
10 But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you the wisdom of old.
11 “Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh? Can marsh grass flourish without water?
12 While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither more quickly than grass.
13 The same happens to all who forget God. The hopes of the godless evaporate.
14 Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web.
15 They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.
16 The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden.
17 Its roots grow down through a pile of stones; it takes hold on a bed of rocks.
18 But when it is uprooted, it’s as though it never existed!
19 That’s the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it.
20 “But look, God will not reject a person of integrity, nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.
21 He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.”
2 Kings 4:1-7
1 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”
2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.
3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors.
4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”
5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another.
6 Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”
Revelation 19:9-10
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”
10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.”
psalm 53:1-2
1 Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!
2 God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.
Luke 4:31-44
31 Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day.
32 There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority.
33 Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—cried out, shouting,
34 “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.
36 Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!”
37 The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region.
38 After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged.
39 Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them.
40 As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one.
41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak.
42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them.
43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”
44 So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.
Job 9:1-24
1 Then Job spoke again:
2 “Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight?
3 If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times?
4 For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?
5 “Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble.
7 If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine.
8 He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea.
9 He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky.
10 He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.
11 “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go.
12 If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’
13 And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet.
14 “So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him?
15 Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy.
16 And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me.
17 For he attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause.
18 He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.
19 If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one. If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court?
20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it would prove me wicked.
21 “I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me— I despise my life.
22 Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When a plague sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent.
24 The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges.
