Luke 8:40-56

For Reading and Meditation:     Luke 8:40-56

We continue meditating on Christ's first prescription for happiness: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Over the past few days we have seen that the phrase "poor in spirit" refers not to material poverty, but spiritual poverty - a willingness to throw away our own self-sufficiency and...

For Reading and Meditation:     Mark 10:13-31

Today we ask ourselves: If happiness is not something we can create but something we receive, how do we go about receiving it? Listen again to the words of Jesus: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." What does it mean to be "poor in spirit"? There are those who tell us that the words...

Jesus is passing through the throng to the house of Jairus, to raise the ruler's dead daughter; but he is so profuse in goodness that he works another miracle while upon the road. While yet this rod of Aaron bears the blossom of an unaccomplished wonder, it yields the ripe almonds of a perfect work of mercy. It is enough for us, if we have some one purpose, straightway to go and accomplish it; it were imprudent to expend our energies by the way. Hastening to the rescue of a drowning friend,...

One of the most touching and teaching of the Saviour's miracles is before us to-night. The woman was very ignorant. She imagined that virtue came out of Christ by a law of necessity, without his knowledge or direct will. Moreover, she was a stranger to the generosity of Jesus' character, or she would not have gone behind to steal the cure which he was so ready to bestow. Misery should always place itself right in the face of mercy. Had she known the love of Jesus' heart, she would have...