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?
isaiah 54:1-8
1 “Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense!
3 For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities.
4 “Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood.
5 For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth.
6 For the Lord has called you back from your grief— as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,” says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back.
8 In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while.
1 corinthians 1:3-17
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.
5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge.
6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.
7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters.
12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”
13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!
14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name.
16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.)
17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
psalm 145:8-18
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.
10 All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power.
12 They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign.
13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.
14 The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads.
15 The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it.
16 When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.
18 The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.
luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,
27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.
33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.
37 For the word of God will never fail.”
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
job 2:1-10
1 One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.
2 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”
3 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”
4 Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.
5 But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”
6 “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.”
7 So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.
8 Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”
10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.
