Fourth Day Forward: 60 Daily Meditations

By The Upper Room

This booklet was put together by pilgrims for pilgrims. Each of the 60 undated meditations elaborates on one of the 15 themes you heard during your weekend.
As you read, your spirit will be nourished on your Fourth Day. You will be encouraged in your daily discipleship. You will find yourself drawing closer to Christ, participating faithfully in your congregation, and living as a Christian on mission to your community and the rest of the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Upper Room Books
• Release date: Jan 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780835811538

The Upper Room

The Upper Room® is a global ministry dedicated to supporting the spiritual life of Christians seeking to know and experience God more fully. From its beginnings in 1935 as a daily devotional guide, The Upper Room has grown to include publications, programs, prayer support, and other resources to help believers of all ages and denominations move to a deeper level of faith and service.

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Fourth Day Forward: 60 Daily Meditations

Copyright © 2010 by Upper Room Books®

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, write Upper Room Books, 1908 Grand Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37212.

The Upper Room® Web site http://www.upperroom.org

UPPER ROOM®, UPPER ROOM BOOKS® and design logos are trademarks owned by The Upper Room®, a ministry of GBOD®, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Meditations on pages 16–20 and 41 are reprinted from The Upper Room daily devotional guide. Copyright by The Upper Room, Inc., P.O. Box 340004, Nashville, TN 37203-0004. Used by permission. www.upperroom.org All rights reserved.

Cover design: Gore Studio / www.GoreStudio.com

Interior Layout: PerfecType

First printing: 2010

ISBN: 978-0-8358-1102-7

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

Staying Close to the Lord

A New Creation

Is There an App for That?

Jesus and the Children

God Is Always with Us

A Burden Lifted

Special Invitation

A Love Note

Loving-kindness

Life Beacon

Truly Free

Freed by Grace

Answering God’s Call

Moments of Mystery

Spiritual Fitness

Walking with God

God Speaks to Us

I Knew It All

The Treasure of Scripture

Air, Food, and Water

Knowing Scripture—Knowing God

Very, Very True

A Deep Place to Grow

Take My Hand

Experiencing God’s Love

Walking Together in Christ

Flat Tire

Children of God

Back-up Plan

Taking the Love of Christ to the Lonely

A Gift of Healing

Watch for the Blind Spot

Coming Clean

A Friend’s Visit

Receiving the Gift

Proclaiming the Good News

Growing in Our Discipleship

Can You Come?

Simple Acts of Kindness

Open My Ears, Lord

One Bit at a Time

One Solitary Man

The Power of Action

One Body—Different Parts

Ministry to One Another

A Fine, Beautiful, Glorious Thing

Beyond Understanding

New Sight

Getting It Backward

Food for Life

Sustained by God’s Grace

Focusing on the Goal

Momentum

Accepting God’s Care

Up the Spout

Patience Rewarded

Heartburn

Let Go and Let God!

Comforting Company

Hawks and Wrens

Introduction

That same hour they got up and went to Jerusalem . . . to share about their experience.—Luke 24:33

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Now that you have completed your three-day Emmaus experience, it is time for you to move into your Fourth Day. As you continue to practice what you learned about growing closer to Christ by reading scripture, learning about other Christians’ journey, and spending time in prayer, this booklet could be helpful to you. You will read about other pilgrims who, like you, are trying to remain faithful to God every day of their life.

Christ is counting on you! Have an enjoyable journey.

—Rev. Víctor Pérez Silvestry

International Spiritual Director

The Walk to Emmaus and Chrysalis

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit,

fill the hearts of your faithful

and kindle in us the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created.

And you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit

did instruct the hearts of the faithful,

grant that by the same Holy Spirit

we may be truly wise

and ever enjoy your consolations.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Staying Close to the Lord

God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them.—Genesis 1:27-28

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We all have priorities in our lives. Those of us who participated in The Walk to Emmaus made it a priority. We decided to make God an ultimate priority for three days. What a wonderful experience!

When our Walk to Emmaus time comes to an end, how will we keep God a priority in our lives? Some of the ways we can keep the close relationship we experienced with the Lord during our Walk is to make time for God each day. We are all busy fulfilling the obligations we feel strongly committed to, but we need to fulfill one more. Talk with God while driving, doing the laundry, getting ready for work. Make time in your day to read God’s Word. Play Christian music in your home or car. Read a biblical story to your children at bedtime.

When you make God a priority during the day, all your other priorities will fall into place.

—Sheila H. Osterhout, USA

Prayer: Heavenly Father, accompany me