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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

Today's Reflection

WE ARE CALLED to live into our belovedness with courage. At times we will be called to take risks and make sacrifices. We will be called to be vulnerable and lean into uncertainty and even fear. We will be called to do what is necessary to glorify God. It may be scary, and it will require a great deal of courage. But it will be possible because we will be living out our true story with our whole heart. And it will be possible because Jesus sends his Spirit so that we too might live this life of belovedness.

—Kristen E. Vincent, We Are Beloved: A Lenten Journey with Protestant Prayer Beads (Upper Room Books, 2019)

Today's Question

In what ways are we called to glorify God?  

Today's Scripture

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
—John 14:26 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

I love you, Lord.
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Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

Sponsored by The Upper Room. Copyright © 2019 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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Today's Reflection

WE ARE CREATED in God’s image. Just as the Jews invest a great deal of time, thought, and resources into building the Temple, God invests a great deal—God’s own image—into the creation of our physical bodies, which serve as the vessels for our spirits. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Don’t you know that you have the Holy Spirit from God, and you don’t belong to yourselves? You have been bought and paid for, so honor God with your body” (CEB). Seeing our bodies as holy may not come easily to us. Even in Jesus’ time, there are many rules—particularly for women—that can make it sound as if physical bodies are dirty or defiled. In our time, cultural messages about weight and ability and sexuality and color make it even more difficult to love our bodies. But when we question the holiness of our physical bodies, we need only remember that God becomes human in the form of Jesus and then declares Jesus to be God’s Beloved. Part of being beloved is recognizing the sacred value of our bodies and honoring them as such.

—Kristen E. Vincent, We Are Beloved: A Lenten Journey with Protestant Prayer Beads (Upper Room Books, 2019)

Today's Question

Does knowing “your body is a temple” affect your view of the human body?

Today's Scripture

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
—1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

I love you, Lord.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room or share it in the comment section.

Something More

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Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

Sponsored by The Upper Room. Copyright © 2019 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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Today's Reflection

FOR MOST OF my life, I thought that God loved me. The key word is thought. Intellectually, I knew that God loved me, but my heart didn’t believe it. Not really. I didn’t feel God’s love. I didn’t trust it. I didn’t feel worthy of it. My pain and childhood trauma led me to believe that God must not care much about me. I know I’m not alone. Many of us who talk a good game when it comes to God’s love for us don’t believe at our core that we are God’s beloved. I think doubting God’s love is part of the human condition; so many feel unworthy of it. Still, whether we believe it or not, we are God’s beloved. Deep within us, down deep in our soul, we know this truth. But time, experience, culture, trauma, and other factors slowly cause us to disconnect from this truth and forget who we are. The further we get from our core truth, the more we live as people who are unloved, succumbing to addiction, self-loathing, suicide, prejudice, bullying, gun violence, war, ecological destruction, and so on. That’s why this journey is so critical. Our world is desperate to know it is beloved, but that will happen only one person at a time. In other words, this journey begins with us. Once we know we are beloved, we can help others recognize their belovedness.

—Kristen E. Vincent, We Are Beloved: A Lenten Journey with Protestant Prayer Beads (Upper Room Books, 2019)

Today's Question

Have you ever found it difficult to feel beloved by God?  

Today's Scripture

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.”
—1 John 3:1a (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

I love you, Lord.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room or share it in the comment section.

Something More

Join The Upper Room Facebook community. Click here.

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

Sponsored by The Upper Room. Copyright © 2019 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

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