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About Disciplines

The Upper Room Disciplines provides an opportunity to look more deeply at scripture by offering a week of devotions by a single author on a particular theme.

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Latest Disciplines Devotions

Journeying by Stages - March 12, 2020

March 12, 2020

The Israelites, journeying by stages from the wilderness, seem to have lost sight of the promise of a future with hope. Their most pressing need and cry is for water to...

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Journeying by Stages - March 11, 2020

March 11, 2020

My husband teases me that he is writing a song called, “That’s Not a Question.” I have a terrible habit of asking for what I want instead of stating it directly....

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Journeying by Stages - March 10, 2020

March 10, 2020

Once we commit ourselves to a journey toward liberation as the Israelites did, leaving the wilderness of grief or shame or bondage of any kind, we begin our journey by stages....

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Journeying by Stages - March 9, 2020

March 9, 2020

The week I sat down to write these meditations, a friend told me about Lauren Daigle’s album Look Up Child. I was struck by her soulful voice, profound lyrics, and storytelling...

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A Blessing in God’s World - March 8, 2020

March 8, 2020

I find Nicodemus a fascinating character. John describes him as “a leader of the Jews.” Judging by the three incidents in which he appears, he is a person of considerable influence....

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A Blessing in God’s World - March 7, 2020

March 7, 2020

One summer Sunday morning, the nine-person choir moved to the center of the chancel in our Maine island Methodist chapel, and the piano sounded the opening chords of John Stainer’s “God...

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A Blessing in God’s World - March 6, 2020

March 6, 2020

Almost thirty years ago I stood in Martin Luther’s study room, high in the Wartburg Castle, in the German state of Thuringia. On the wall was the famous ink stain, said...

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A Blessing in God’s World - March 5, 2020

March 5, 2020

One of the highest privileges of my life’s vocation as a minister is that of being present with people at the key moments of their lives. “Hatch, Match, and Dispatch”—an in-joke...

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A Blessing in God’s World - March 4, 2020

March 4, 2020

Now that we are retired, my wife, Mhairi, and I spend the summer months in our log cabin retreat on an island off the Maine coast. The cabin perches high above...

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A Blessing in God’s World - March 3, 2020

March 3, 2020

Immigrants seem to be at the center of attention these days, not only in my country but across the globe. When I read God’s words to Abram, “Go from your country...

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