(Psalm 141)
I call to you, Lord; help me now!
Listen to me when I call to you.
Receive my prayer as incense,
my uplifted hands as an evening sacrifice.
Lord, place a guard at my mouth,
a sentry at the door of my lips.
Keep me from wanting to do wrong
and from joining evil men in their wickedness.
May I never take part in their feasts.
A good man may punish me and rebuke me
in kindness,
But I will never accept honor from evil men,
because I am always praying against their evil deeds.
When their rulers are thrown down from rocky cliffs,
the people will admit that my words were true.
Like wood that is split and chopped into bits,
so their bones are scattered at the edge of the grave.
But I keep trusting in you, my Sovereign Lord.
I seek protection; don’t let me die!
Protect me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those evildoers.
May the wicked fall into their own traps
while I go by unharmed.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
23.3 Christ Feed Us For Liberty
(Galatians 5:1-6)
Freedom is what we have – Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.
Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, it means that Christ is of no use to you at all. Once more I warn any man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the whole Law. Those of you who try to be put right with God by obeying the Law have cut yourselves off from Christ. You are outside God’s grace. As for us, our hope is that God will put us right with him; and this is what we wait for by the power of God’s Spirit working through our faith. For when we are in union with Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor the lack of it makes any difference at all; what matters is faith that works through love.
Freedom is what we have – Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.
Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, it means that Christ is of no use to you at all. Once more I warn any man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the whole Law. Those of you who try to be put right with God by obeying the Law have cut yourselves off from Christ. You are outside God’s grace. As for us, our hope is that God will put us right with him; and this is what we wait for by the power of God’s Spirit working through our faith. For when we are in union with Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor the lack of it makes any difference at all; what matters is faith that works through love.
23.2 Freedom Of The Children Of God
(Romans 8:14-17)
Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father” God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory.
Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father” God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory.
23.1 Years of Liberty
(Leviticus 25:8-10)
Count seven times seven years, a total of forty-nine years. Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement, send a man to blow a trumpet throughout the whole land. In this way you shall set the fiftieth year apart and proclaim freedom to all the inhabitants of the land. During this year all property that has been sold shall be restored to the original owner or his descendants, and anyone who has been sold as a slave shall return to his family.
Count seven times seven years, a total of forty-nine years. Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement, send a man to blow a trumpet throughout the whole land. In this way you shall set the fiftieth year apart and proclaim freedom to all the inhabitants of the land. During this year all property that has been sold shall be restored to the original owner or his descendants, and anyone who has been sold as a slave shall return to his family.
Friday, November 13, 2009
22.5 Sincere Prayer
(Psalm 69:30-36)
I will praise God with song;
I will proclaim his greatness by giving him thanks.
This will please the Lord more than offering him cattle,
more than sacrificing a full-grown bull.
When the oppressed see this, they will be glad;
those who worship God will be encouraged.
The Lord listens to those in need
and does not forget his people in prison.
Praise God, O heaven and earth,
seas and all creatures in them.
He will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah.
His people will live there and possess the land;
the descendants of his servants will inherit it
and those who love him will live there.
I will praise God with song;
I will proclaim his greatness by giving him thanks.
This will please the Lord more than offering him cattle,
more than sacrificing a full-grown bull.
When the oppressed see this, they will be glad;
those who worship God will be encouraged.
The Lord listens to those in need
and does not forget his people in prison.
Praise God, O heaven and earth,
seas and all creatures in them.
He will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah.
His people will live there and possess the land;
the descendants of his servants will inherit it
and those who love him will live there.
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