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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.

Sunday Morning Invocation

God of glory, by the raising of your Son you have broken the chains of death and hell: fill my spirit, and the spirit of all the people of your universal church, with faith and hope; for a new day has dawned, and the way to life stands open in our Savior Jesus Christ.

by Mason Barge

Lord, Bless My Enemies

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into Thy embrace more than friends have.
Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.
Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Thy tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.
They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.
They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.
They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself.
They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.
Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf.
Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.
Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of Thy garment.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
so that my fleeing to Thee may have no return;
so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs;
so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul;
so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger;
so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven;
ah, so that I may for once be freed from self deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.

Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself.
One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.
It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies.
Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies.
A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand.
But a son blesses them, for he understands. For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Benediction

Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted me as a living member of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have blessed me with the grace of forgiveness through the sacrifice He made for me and for all people. Send me now into the world in peace, and grant me strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord.

(Additional prayers may be found at Prayers for All Occasions.)

God be with you 'til we meet again.

God is Reliable

John 11:20-25 (ESV)

I am the resurrection and the life

When she heard that Jesus was coming, Martha went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house. And Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother [Lazarus] would not have died. And yet I still know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”

Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again,” and Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus then said to her:

“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he die, yet will he live; and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Job 19:25-27 (KJV)

ut as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth:

And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;

Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.

Notes on the Scripture

Job is probably the oldest written book in the Bible. It concerns a man who suffers every kind of torment and expects to die, sick and alone, having lost his wealth, his health, his family, and his position. And yet he echoes something that will not come to fruition for many centuries: after his body is destroyed, “without my flesh I will see God . . . and not as a stranger.”

In days gone by, preachers like Charles Wesley and Haddon Spurgeon all made the point that “Redeemer” is the translation of the Hebrew “goel”; this was not a general term, but a specific person in Hebraic law. When a person died, a close kinsman would become his goel and would have the rights to reclaim his land, receive any restitution, raise his children and, if the man had been murdered, even take up his sword in blood justice.

Job’s final misery is the belief that he will die without his Goel, for he is despised by all. When he says he knows that his Redeemer lives, he anticipates Christ, who will stand up for him even though he has been abandoned by all humanity. Christ will even carry a sword, the sword of righteousness, with which he will pursue and destroy Death on behalf of the most wretched person who dies believing in Him.

Daily Inspiration

“The Stress Trap”

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