The Wise and Foolish Virgins (detail), Hieronymous Francken, the Younger ca. 1616. These five foolish virgins appear to have had quite a party! (See Full Painting.)
Prayers
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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.
Amen.
Evening Prayer of George Washington
Almighty God, and most merciful father, who commanded the children of Israel to offer a daily sacrifice to thee, that thereby they might glorify and praise thee for thy protection both night and day, receive, O Lord, my daily sacrifice which I now offer up to thee; I yield thee humble and hearty thanks that thou has preserved me from the danger of the day past, and brought me to the tender night, and the comforts thereof, an evening consecrated to thine own service and for thine own honor.
Let my heart, therefore, Gracious God, be so affected with the glory and majesty of it, that I may not do my own works, but wait on thee, and discharge those weighty duties thou require of me.
And since thou art a God of pure eyes, and will be sanctified in all who draw near unto thee, who does not regard the sacrifice of fools, nor hear sinners who tread in thy courts; pardon, I beseech thee, my sins, remove them from thy presence, as far as the east is from the west, and accept of me for the merits of thy son Jesus Christ, that when I come into thy temple, and compass thine altar, my prayers may come before thee as incense.
And as thou would hear me calling upon thee in my prayers, so give me grace to hear thee calling on me in thy word, that it may be wisdom, righteousness, reconciliation and peace to the saving of the soul in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Grant that I may hear it with reverence, receive it with meekness, mingle it with faith, and that it may accomplish in me, Gracious God, the good work for which thou has sent it. Bless my family, kindred, friends and country, be our God & guide this day and for ever for his sake, who lay down in the Grave and arose again for us, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.
based on the Journal of George Washington
For Those in Pain
Holy Lord God, bless and uphold all who are sick and suffering this day. Console them with your Holy Spirit, and if it is your will, bring their suffering to a quick conclusion. In Christ’s name I pray,
Amen.
Mason Barge 7/10/2014
Dedication
Oh Heavenly Father, in whom I live and move and have my being, I humbly pray you so to guide and govern me by your Holy Spirit, that in all the joys, occupations, and cares of this day I may never forget you, but remember that I am ever walking in your sight. In Christ’s name, I pray,
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” saith the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
'Romans 12:16[b] (ESV)
The Conceit of Our Thoughts
Never be wise in your own sight.
Notes on the Scripture
ere is a message we can readily understand, because we see it so often in other people! The King James translation adds a dimension to it: “Be not wise in your own conceits.” And The Message really gets to the point: “Don’t think that you’re so smart.”
The sin of pride is embedded in human nature. We think that whatever is in our mind is true, no matter how it got there. If others think something different, they are wrong. If somebody tries to teach us something that we don’t want to be true, we refuse to listen to them. We are all, in a word, closed-minded.
And unfortunately, nowhere is this phenomenon more pronounced than in reading the Bible. To paraphrase an old joke, most people use the Bible like a drunk uses a lamppost: For support, rather than illumination. But God knows what is true and what isn’t; and if we apply our closed-mindedness to the Bible, we sin.
And it is not just us laymen. No church that I know of is free from this problem. Every church either ignores, or “interprets” beyond recognition, the plain meaning of some part of the Bible, and most often will omit embarrassing passages from worship services.
People will interpret the Bible to say what they want it to say, rather than what it actually says. Therefore, we must read it for ourselves. And we should not read it seeking to justify our preconceptions, but with an open mind. Our purpose, first and foremost, is to learn where we are wrong or ignorant. We should study most closely, not the parts that we agree with, but the parts that we find most difficult to accept.
This is what Christ meant when he said “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew 19:14]. We must remember, always, the first words of the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew 5:3] We must strive to be like children, our minds emptied of preconceptions and eager to be taught, for this is the opposite of being “wise in our own sight.”
“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8.)
Psalm 145:3: Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.
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Daily Quiz
Top score(s) on the Daily Quiz for Feb 18, 2019 were:
Sylvia Banda (12) Norman Daniels (12) Linda Lyonl (11) randall martin (11)
Top score(s) on Match-a-Verse:
Pam Carpenter (9 out of 9) Kathryn Halfman (9 out of 9) Vavachan Joseph (9 out of 9) Sylvia Banda (9 out of 9) Greg Flippin (9 out of 9) Norman Daniels (9 out of 9) randall martin (9 out of 9) Allison King (9 out of 9)
