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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

Blessed are you, Lord God of my salvation, to you be praise and glory for ever. As once you ransomed your people from Egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land, so now you have delivered me from the dominion of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of your risen Son. May I, the fruit of your new creation, rejoice in this new day you have made, and praise you for your mighty acts. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

For Those in the Armed Forces

Almighty God, I commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Benediction

Now unto him that is able to keep me from falling, and to present me faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.

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.

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

Proverbs 13:2

Romans 5:15-17 (ESV)

Adam and Christ [2]

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Notes on the Scripture

As we saw yesterday, Paul compared Adam to Christ. In both cases, the actions of a single man profoundly affected all to follow. Today, Paul draws three contrasts between Christ's "free gift" and Adam's "trespass".

The peace and life that Christ brought is greater than the death that Adam brought, because it is permanent. Christ's gift is permanent, whereas Adam's curse was ended for all those who believe in Christ. Life is greater than death, because Christ triumphed over death and gave the same triumph to all those who would believe in him.

Second, Adam committed a single great sin. But Christ's grace is the absolution for millions upon millions of sins. It is greater than Adam's sin simply in terms of its scope, for in a single sacrifice, purification of every sin that had ever been committed became possible.

And finally, life is greater than death. Once you are dead, death has no further meaning. But if you have life, you have something wonderful every day, every minute. If there is one candle lit in a dark room, which is more important, the darkness or the candle? Which is more remarkable? Before God created the universe, it was dark and formless. It is life we should celebrate, not death we should fear.

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