SO OFTEN WE GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS in our spiritual lives. We sing, we pray, we worship, we give the impression that we know that we are God’s beloved. But often in the deep places of our hearts, the assurance is not there; and we know it. We need to come home and let the Spirit of God whisper, “You are God’s beloved.”

- Trevor Hudson and Stephen Bryant
The Way of Transforming Discipleship

From p. 24 of The Way of Transforming Discipleship by Trevor Hudson and Stephen D. Bryant. Copyright© 2005 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Do you ever find yourself going through the motions in your spiritual life? Share your reflections.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

- Colossians 3:2-3, nrsv

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for peacemakers everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Ignatius of Loyola (July 31).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 11:1-11
• Psalm 107:1-9
• Colossians 3:1-11
• Luke 12:13-21

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

LIVING IN TERMS OF ABUNDANCE is the result of perceiving our connectedness to God, loved ones, and the wider community, regardless of inner or outer conditions of poverty or wealth. Faith awakens us to a deeper reality of God’s lively and energetic presence in our lives through relationships that sustain and empower us. Faith in God as our loving companion enables us to risk giving to others generously, knowing that God will always supply our deepest needs. God’s wellspring of insight and energy constantly replenishes our lives, especially when we awaken to the abundance that is our birthright [as children of God].

- Bruce G. Epperly
Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living

From p. 95 of Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living. Copyright © 2008 by Bruce G. Epperly. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

What does “living in terms of abundance” mean to you? Share your reflections.

Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal!

- Psalm 107:1, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for peacemakers everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Ignatius of Loyola (July 31).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 11:1-11
• Psalm 107:1-9
• Colossians 3:1-11
• Luke 12:13-21

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

EACH OF OUR ACTIONS has consequences that radiate out into the universe, shaping the lives of persons we will never meet. A simple word of gratitude can transform another person’s life and create a chain reaction that will positively transform many others. A word of welcome to a stranger can awaken a sense of value and purpose that is passed on from generation to generation. Often unbeknownst to us, our prayers shape the world to come and transform the lives of others.

- Bruce G. Epperly
Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living

From p. 91 of Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living. Copyright © 2008 by Bruce G. Epperly. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Pray for the transformation of the word. Share your reflections.

When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

- Colossians 3:4, nrsv

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for peacemakers everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Ignatius of Loyola (July 31).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 11:1-11
• Psalm 107:1-9
• Colossians 3:1-11
• Luke 12:13-21

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

GOD OF GRACE, help me to accept your love for me
when I feel unworthy or unwanted,
when I face challenges that seem overwhelming.
And in the knowledge of your love,
may I be strengthened by your Spirit to love you and others in return.
In Jesus Christ. Amen.

- John Indermark
Traveling the Prayer Paths of Jesus

From p. 23 of Traveling the Prayer Paths of Jesus . Copyright © 2003 by John Indermark. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

How does God’s love your you help you face the challenges of this day? Share your reflections.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him and called him out of Egypt as my son.”

- Hosea 11:1, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for peacemakers everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Ignatius of Loyola (July 31).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 11:1-11
• Psalm 107:1-9
• Colossians 3:1-11
• Luke 12:13-21

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

THE FUNDAMENTAL WORD AND EXPRESSION of God’s grace comes in the assurance that we are loved by God. … The knowledge of God’s love for us helps us realize that we need not strive to earn or buy or seize God’s love. It is already there, a gift, a part of who we are . . . for we belong to God.

- John Indermark
Traveling the Prayer Paths of Jesus

From pp. 22-23 of Traveling the Prayer Paths of Jesus . Copyright © 2003 by John Indermark. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Give thanks for God’s love for you. Share your reflections.

“Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.”

- Luke 12:15, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for peacemakers everywhere. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Praying with Eyes Open. Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Try praying with icons.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Ignatius of Loyola (July 31).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 11:1-11
• Psalm 107:1-9
• Colossians 3:1-11
• Luke 12:13-21

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

JESUS LIVED A SIMPLE LIFE and called his followers to do the same. This world runs after empty concepts such as social status and perceived wealth. When you die, you won’t be able to take these into eternity with you. Therefore, … don’t chase after things God does not value. Instead seek God’s will for your life, and pursue it with simplicity and love.

- Wessel Bentley
Facing Financial Struggle: 28 Days of Prayer

From p. 56 of Facing Financial Struggle: 28 Days of Prayer. Copyright © 2010 by Wessel Bentley. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

What are the things God values? Share your reflections.

Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with him. Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith.

- Colossians 2:6-7, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for those who do not have enough. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Looking for clarity? Learn the Quaker way of the Clearness Committee to help with making tough decisions. Try it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Mary Magdalene (July 22).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 1:2-10
• Psalm 85
• Colossians 2:6-15
• Luke 11:1-13

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

THINK ABOUT YOUR FINANCES from the perspective that God has called you to serve as a steward over what God has entrusted into your care. Planning in the form of creating a budget is not a luxury but an expression of our faith. It declares to God and those around us that we take seriously our calling to be stewards of the resources entrusted to us.

- Wessel Bentley
Facing Financial Struggle: 28 Days of Prayer

From p. 22 of Facing Financial Struggle: 28 Days of Prayer. Copyright © 2010 by Wessel Bentley. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

In what was to you see stewardship of your resources acts of faith? Share your reflections.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.

- Psalm 85:8, nrsv

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for those who do not have enough. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Looking for clarity? Learn the Quaker way of the Clearness Committee to help with making tough decisions. Try it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Mary Magdalene (July 22).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 1:2-10
• Psalm 85
• Colossians 2:6-15
• Luke 11:1-13

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

KEEPING STRUGGLES TO YOURSELF eats away at your spirit. It is amazing what a change in feelings happens when you dare to share your struggles with a spouse, a loved one, or a special friend. Pouring out your soul, being able to say to someone, “I trust and love you enough to share my problems with you,” is a liberating experience. You may be surprised by their response. Loving relationships will make you feel accepted and supported.

- Wessel Bentley
Facing Financial Struggle: 28 Days of Prayer

From p. 14 of Facing Financial Struggle: 28 Days of Prayer. Copyright © 2010 by Wessel Bentley. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Share your struggles with someone else today, perhaps even here on the Daily Reflection forum. Share your reflections.

Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need…. Don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?”

- Luke 11:10, 13, the message

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for those who do not have enough. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Looking for clarity? Learn the Quaker way of the Clearness Committee to help with making tough decisions. Try it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Mary Magdalene (July 22).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 1:2-10
• Psalm 85
• Colossians 2:6-15
• Luke 11:1-13

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

JESUS TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES more than just how to pray. Each sentence of the Lord’s Prayer is filled with teaching. I would like us to focus on one phrase today: “Give us each day our daily bread.” There is a distinct difference between the things we want and the things we need. This part of the Lord’s prayer concerns the nature of our requests. It speaks about being aware of the things we need, trusting that God will make provision for these. … The challenge in our prayer is therefore to differentiate between what we truly need and what is an unnecessary luxury.

- Wessel Bentley

Facing Financial Struggle: 28 Days of Prayer

From p. 36 of Facing Financial Struggle: 28 Days of Prayer. Copyright © 2010 by Wessel Bentley. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Spend time in prayer discerning with God your needs. Share your reflections.

Show us your constant love, O Lord, and give us your saving help.

- Psalm 85:7, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for those who do not have enough. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Looking for clarity? Learn the Quaker way of the Clearness Committee to help with making tough decisions. Try it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Mary Magdalene (July 22).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 1:2-10
• Psalm 85
• Colossians 2:6-15
• Luke 11:1-13

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

GOD HAS ENCOUNTERED YOU many times, in many ways and places; and though you did not always recognize the Divine Presence, God has certainly been present in your life. Every breath, every step, and every relationship is imbued with the Spirit of God whether you recognize it or not. Your connection with God goes two ways: you reach out to God, only to discover that God has been reaching out to you for a much longer time.

- Ben Campbell Johnson and Paul H. Lang
Time Away: A Guide for Personal Retreat

From p. 30 of Time Away: A Guide for Personal Retreat. Copyright © 2010 by Ben C. Johnson and Paul H. Lang. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Think of a time when God has been particularly near. Share your reflections.

“Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”

- Luke 11:9, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for those who do not have enough. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Looking for clarity? Learn the Quaker way of the Clearness Committee to help with making tough decisions. Try it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Mary Magdalene (July 22).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 1:2-10
• Psalm 85
• Colossians 2:6-15
• Luke 11:1-13

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

PERHAPS YOU NEED TO CONSIDER a retreat because you were made for both engagement and withdrawal–engagement with the world and life and withdrawal to be renewed and re-created. In the Creation story, this profound truth is modeled in the action of God who labored for six days and rested on the seventh. What kind of Superman or Wonder Woman would it take to say, “God may need withdrawal and rest, but I don’t!”

- Ben Campbell Johnson and Paul H. Lang
Time Away: A Guide for Personal Retreat

From p. 28 of Time Away: A Guide for Personal Retreat. Copyright &copy 2010 by Ben C. Johnson and Paul H. Lang. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

How do you find moments for renewal? Share your reflections.

The number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered.

- Hosea 1:10, nrsv

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for those who do not have enough. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Looking for clarity? Learn the Quaker way of the Clearness Committee to help with making tough decisions. Try it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Mary Magdalene (July 22).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 1:2-10
• Psalm 85
• Colossians 2:6-15
• Luke 11:1-13

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

NOISE FILLS YOUR DAY. Find ways to limit it: turn off the radio sometimes when you are traveling; fast from television for an hour or an evening; escape from family and friends for a few minutes; be with others without talking (listen); occasionally stop by a church and sit quietly in a pew remembering God and the worship that occurs in that place; and occasionally get up early or stay up late simply to embrace a bit of silence.

- Ben Campbell Johnson and Paul H. Lang
Time Away: A Guide for Personal Retreat

From p. 102 of Time Away: A Guide for Personal Retreat. Copyright © 2010 by Ben C. Johnson and Paul H. Lang. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

How important is silence your devotional practice? Share your reflections.

Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. Will you be angry with us forever?

- Psalm 85:4-5, niv

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for those who do not have enough. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Looking for clarity? Learn the Quaker way of the Clearness Committee to help with making tough decisions. Try it out.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Mary Magdalene (July 22).

Lectionary Readings:

• Hosea 1:2-10
• Psalm 85
• Colossians 2:6-15
• Luke 11:1-13

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

YOU FACE MANY DEMANDS and feel the conflicting pulls of family, vocation, church, and social responsibilities. Sometimes daily life keeps you too busy to stop and look for movements of the Spirit. Retreats give space to look back and sort out your identity and God’s callings in the midst of life. They allow you to draw a deep breath and remember who and whose you are. Recall a retreat you have attended, and if possible, schedule a retreat for this summer.

- Larry James Peacock
Openings: A Daybook of Saints, Psalms, and Prayer

From p. 179, Openings: A Daybook of Saints, Psalms, and Prayer. Copyright & copy 2003 by Larry James Peacock. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Can you plan a retreat this season? Share your reflections.

I will always thank you, God, for what you have done; in the presence of your people I will proclaim that you are good.

- Psalm 52:9, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all who travel and all who provide hospitality. 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 Camillus de Lellis (July 14).

Lectionary Readings:

• Amos 8:1-12
• Psalm 52
• Colossians 1:15-28
• Luke 10:38-42

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

THEOLOGY–or thinking about the nature of God–may not always be given the attention it deserves in discussions of the spiritual life. … If, for example, I perceive God as a judgmental parent who is waiting for me to shape up, I will have trouble relaxing and being myself in God’s presence. If I think that God is interested only in the “big stuff”–like international conflict and global warming–my own personal longings, hopes, and fears may feel unimportant. Or if becoming better friends with God might mean that I will be called to do something I hate, I may prefer a distant, once-a-week approach to the Divine. Theology is to be found every time we relate to God. In fact, it is good to think consciously about our theology in order to deepen our relationship with God.

- Stephanie Ford
Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship

From pp. 92-93, Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship. Copyright © 2006 by Stephanie Ford. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

How do you describe the nature of God? Share your reflections.

Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things.

- Colossians 1:15, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all who travel and all who provide hospitality. 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 Camillus de Lellis (July 14).

Lectionary Readings:

• Amos 8:1-12
• Psalm 52
• Colossians 1:15-28
• Luke 10:38-42

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

A LIVELY SET of spiritual practices is also crucial to becoming better friends with God. Spiritual teachers in the East and West point out the benefits of a steady diet of practice as the way to open up the soul to the Other. It’s hard to develop a friendship if you rarely spend time with your friend! Christian spiritual disciplines like lectio divina, examen, Bible study, spiritual reading, worship, and contemplative prayer afford us space to listen to our first and best Friend. Conversational prayer throughout the day, as well as breath prayers and the repetition of the Jesus Prayer, increases our connection to a gracious God who is invisibly near. We remember Brother Lawrence, who turned to God throughout the day even in the most mundane of tasks. At first he had to bring conscious effort to an ongoing awareness of God’s presence, but over time it became a habit — the natural outgrowth of regular practice.

- Stephanie Ford
Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship

From pp. 89-90, Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship. Copyright © 2006 by Stephanie Ford. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Is there a spiritual practice you could begin that would bring you closer to God? Share your reflections.

“The time is coming when I will send famine on the land. People will be hungry, but not for bread…. They will hunger and thirst for a message from the Lord.”

- Amos 8:11, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all who travel and all who provide hospitality. 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 Camillus de Lellis (July 14).

Lectionary Readings:

• Amos 8:1-12
• Psalm 52
• Colossians 1:15-28
• Luke 10:38-42

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

BEING TRULY PRESENT to the person before us is also a discipline, a spiritual practice. Often we are tired, in a hurry, worried about meeting a deadline at work, or perhaps distracted by the coffee stain on the white sweater we just bought. Yet we can hear Jesus’ words to Martha, anxious about food preparation and her sister sitting at Jesus’ feet as a disciple: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing” (Luke 10:41-42).

- Stephanie Ford

Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship

From p. 76, Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship. Copyright © 2006 by Stephanie Ford. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

What distracts you from being present for others? Share your reflections.

[Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

- Colossians 1:17, niv

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all who travel and all who provide hospitality. 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 Camillus de Lellis (July 14).

Lectionary Readings:

• Amos 8:1-12
• Psalm 52
• Colossians 1:15-28
• Luke 10:38-42

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

GOD IS GENTLE with our resistances. Resistances are not just obstacles to be broken down. We need to respect, look at, and listen to our resistances because we will learn a lot about ourselves, our fears, wounds, powers, and our sleeping gifts. Sometimes a resistance signifies a need for healing. Sometimes it represents a power we fear and a need for gentle encouragement. Sometimes resistance is a warning from God that a choice is wrong for us.

- Flora Slosson Wuellner

Enter by the Gate: Jesus’ 7 Guidelines When Making Hard Choices

From p. 41, Enter by the Gate: Jesus’ 7 Guidelines When Making Hard Choices, Copyright © 2004 by Flora Slosson Wuellner. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Where are you experiencing resistance? How might God be speaking to you? Share your reflections.

You must, of course, continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation, and must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel.

- Colossians 1:23, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all who travel and all who provide hospitality. 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 Camillus de Lellis (July 14).

Lectionary Readings:

• Amos 8:1-12
• Psalm 52
• Colossians 1:15-28
• Luke 10:38-42

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

GOD KNOWS EACH OF US personally: our special gifts, needs, hurts, and problems. Significantly, in the Gospels, Jesus never gives the same specific guidance for everybody. We read that no matter what he is doing, when a person comes to him with a need or question (often an unspoken need or question), Jesus gives full attention to that person. He shapes his guidance to the specific problem and special need of that person.

- Flora Slosson Wuellner
Enter by the Gate: Jesus’ 7 Guidelines When Making Hard Choices

From p.38, Enter by the Gate: Jesus’ 7 Guidelines When Making Hard Choices, Copyright © 2004 by Flora Slosson Wuellner. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Spend time today in God’s full attention directed upon you. Share your reflections.

The Lord, the God of Israel, has sworn, “I will never forget their evil deeds. And so the earth will quake, and everyone in the land will be in distress.”

- Amos 8:7-8, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all who travel and all who provide hospitality. 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 Camillus de Lellis (July 14).

Lectionary Readings:

• Amos 8:1-12
• Psalm 52
• Colossians 1:15-28
• Luke 10:38-42

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

THE FIRST DIMENSION OF PRAYER is God’s love for us. Before we utter a word, the Spirit puts in our hearts a desire to communicate with the Source of our being. God has given us life and love. In prayer we gratefully receive these gifts. We begin prayer with listening, receiving the word expressed most eloquently in Jesus Christ.

- J. David Muyskens
Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God

From p. 20, Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God:The Practice of Centering Prayer, Copyright © 2006 by J. David Muyskens. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

Begin your prayer time today with listening. Share your reflections.

“Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her.”

- Luke 10:41-42, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for all who travel and all who provide hospitality. 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 Camillus de Lellis (July 14).

Lectionary Readings:

• Amos 8:1-12
• Psalm 52
• Colossians 1:15-28
• Luke 10:38-42

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

Copyright © 2010 The Upper Room | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

AS DISCIPLES OF JESUS we are called to live as he would if he were in our place. Whatever else this may mean, it involves learning how to become a more caring and compassionate person. Compassionate caring, as Paul’s magnificent thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians points out, is the distinguishing mark of faithful discipleship. Compassionate caring creatively balances the inward-outward dynamic so characteristic of Jesus’ life, saves us from falling prey to the latest fad in the spiritual supermarket, and catapults our lives into a deeper engagement with the brokenness of our world.

- Trevor Hudson
A Mile in My Shoes

From p. 24, A Mile in My Shoes: Cultivating Compassion by Trevor Hudson. Copyright © 2005 by Trevor Hudson. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.

In what ways are you called to care compassionately? Share your reflections.

May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from [God’s] glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience.

- Colossians 1:11-12, gnt

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for farmers, migrant workers, truckers and grocers . Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius urged that all be taught the examen, a daily examination of our deepest feelings and desires. Try a daily Examen.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Alice Paul (July 09).

Lectionary Readings:

• Amos 7:7-17
• Psalm 82
• Colossians 1:1-14
• Luke 10:25-37

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