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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.

Prayer for the Morning (written by Metropolitan Philaret)

Lord, give me the strength to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely on Your holy will. Reveal Your will to me every hour of the day. Bless my dealings with all people. Teach me to treat all people who come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unexpected events, let me not forget that all are sent by you.

Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me the physical strength to bear the labors of this day. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray in me.

To Love Lost Souls

Lord Jesus, I want to love with Your love those souls that are withering or lost. Enable me to remove any prejudices, judgments, and assumptions from my heart so that I may see them as You do: glorious and beloved children of the Father who have the opportunity for eternal life with Him. Remind me that You love them as much as You do me, and that at some point, You used someone to revive me as I withered and to bring me into Your flock when I was lost.

~ Miriam Drennan

Meditation

[Removing assumptions from my heart.]

Benediction

May the Passion of Christ be ever in my heart. May your law and your goodness guide my every thought, O Lord. And may the power of your Holy Spirit flow through my words and my actions today, and always.

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.

Proverbs 15:18 (NKJV)

1 John 3:4-10 (ESV)

Sinners and Righteousness

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Notes on the Scripture

ere, John steers perilously close to a doctrine of righteousness by works; that is, a belief that we can be saved because we act correctly and do not sin. But that is not his intention. John, like Paul, was committed to a doctrine of righteousness by faith, not works.

We cannot be saved by our works, for it is in our nature to sin, and we cannot overcome it. But when we sin, as John said earlier, ”we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins.“

To understand John’s meaning, we must remember that this epistle was motivated by the multitude of false teachers who had sprung up. He was trying to help the readers discern who they should listen to and who they should ignore. He is not preaching, but guiding.

And the advice he gives is as true as it ever was. Who should we listen to, for teaching and guidance in our faith? Adulterers, or angry judgmental preachers, or those who are greedy for money and power? No. We know that no human will be perfect, for ”all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.“ But when it comes to teachers, preachers, ministers and priests, we must choose those whose follow the basic precepts of Christianity in their own lives.

Paul gave similar advice in 1 Timothy and Titus, e.g. ”Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. . . .“ (Timothy 3:8)

This might be seen as an exception to the commandment that we not judge others, but it is only a partial one. We are still not allowed to judge Christian teachers as people, or as Christians. But we must use our judgment to decide who to entrust with our knowledge of God’s word.

Daily Inspiration

“ Awakened In The Night ”

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