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Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Thanks for God’s Mercy

 O Lord, you are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. You have not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is Your lovingkindness toward those who fear You. As far as the east is from the west, so far have You removed our transgressions from us.

All glory, all thanks be to You, wonderful God, who has by Your Son put away our sin, and cleansed us, that we might dwell with You forever.

adapted from Psalm 103

To Sustain Faith from Boredom

Lord, sometimes I feel myself growing weary with my faith, with you, with prayer, with everything good and Godly in life. I feel a pain where before they was joy and hope. I know you do not want us to feel guilty, but how can I not feel guilty, when I admit to myself that my love for you felt stronger yesterday or last week or last year, than it does now.

Come to me, Holy Spirit, and drive away my apathy. Forgive me for the smallness and selfishness of my mind. Take away this sense of tedium with your Word, your love, the wondrous gift of eternal life; fill me with zeal and hope, knowing that your plans for me are glorious, and all that I have or will ever has comes from you.

Mason Barge 6/26/2017

Prayer of Resolve

I  bind myself to you this day, oh Christ, in your truth and in your sacrifice. I give to you my anxiety and my fear, my depression and my doubt, for you have promised to take them if we only ask; and I take upon myself your burden, for it is light and your way is gentle. May I keep this in my heart and mind all this day.

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Genesis 39:6-10 (ESV)

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife [2]

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”

But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

Notes on the Scripture

oor Joseph can’t catch a break! He seems to have walked in upon an episode from The Young and the Restless. After having been attacked by his brothers and sold to passing slave traders, he has finally managed to get back on his feet and has his life going along great, when out of the blue, his employer’s wife starts pressuring him to commit adultery with her. She acts like the stereotypical spoiled rich wife who casts her eye on the pool boy, or Lady Chatterley, with her husband’s gamekeeper.

But Joseph is honorable. He does not want to repay Potiphar’s kindness to him by betraying him, nor does he want to do something wrong in the eyes of God. A woman like this can cause trouble. It seems this cannot turn out well for him, and again, through no fault of his own.

We all hit these moments in our own lives. Without trying, we get stuck in a hard place, and the easy way out is immoral or even illegal. How we respond determines our character and how our entire lives will proceed. Once we develop the mindset of seeking first the kingdom of God, the decision is easy enough even if the consequences are painful. But people who are willing, like Joseph, to take their lumps when they are put in an impossible dilemma — even through no fault of their own — seem to do better in the long run. For, as Walter Scott put it, “What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

An illuminated Bible at Bath Abbey (England). This page has text beginning at Matthew 26:47.

Daily Inspiration

“Binding Fear”

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