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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.
Prayer for the Morning
Compassionate Lord, Your mercies have brought me to the dawn of another day. Vain will be its gift unless I grow in grace, increase in knowledge; ripen for spiritual harvest. Let me this day know You as You are, love You supremely, serve You completely, admire You fully.
Through grace let my will respond to You, knowing that power to obey is not in me, but that Your free love alone enables me to serve You. Here then is my empty heart, overflow it with Your choice gifts; here is my blind understanding, chase away its mists of ignorance.
Amen.
from a Puritan prayer, 18th century New England.
To Withstand the World
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, do not permit vanity, self-love, sensuality, carelessness, nor anger to rule over me and steal me from your love, O my Lord and Creator, all my hope! Do not leave me without a portion of the blessed eternity. Grant also that I may follow your Holy example, that I may submit to the authorities placed over me. Grant me the clean soul, the simplicity of heart that makes us worthy of your love.
Amen.
Prayer of Praise (from Isaiah 45)
You are the Lord, and there is no other; apart from You there is no God. From the rising to the setting of the sun, I know there is none besides You. You formed the earth; You made the earth to be inhabited, and you created me in your image to dwell upon it. All praise to the great Creator: You are the Lord, and there is no other.
Amen.
(Isaiah 45:5-6) Mason Barge 5/9/2014
Benediction
If you are with me, O God, who can be against me? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord.
Amen.
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.
Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.
Lyrics to “The Prayer of the Children”
The Prayer of the Children
Can you hear the prayer of the children
On bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room?
Empty eyes, with no more tears to cry,
Turning heavenward, toward the light.
Crying, “Jesus, help me
To see the morning light of one more day;
But if I should die before I wake
I pray my soul to take.”
Can you feel the heart of the children
Aching for home, for something of their very own?
Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to
But hope for a better day, a better day.
Crying, “Jesus, help me
To feel the love again in my own land;
But if unknown roads lead away from home,
Give me loving arms, away from harm.”
Can you hear the voice of the children
Softly pleading for silence in a shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
Blood of the innocent on their hands.
Crying, “Jesus, help me
To feel the sun again upon my face;
For when darkness clears I know you're near
Bringing peace again.”
Music and Lyrics by Kurt Bestor
Scripture
The Sum of a Christian
The person who bears and suffers evils with meekness and silence, is the sum of a Christian man.
~ John Wesley (1763)
Matthew 5:5 (ESV)
lessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Notes on the Scripture
The Beatitudes [3]
All of the beatitudes have more than one level of meaning. But always, the most important meaning is also the most obvious one; for Jesus did not make Christianity difficult. The Beatitudes, and the entire Sermon on the Mount, could be summed up in a single short sentence: Jesus said, “Be like me.”
To say that the meaning is obvious and clear is not to say that it is ordinary, or simple to implement. The idea here is astonishing. The received wisdom of modern life is that self-assertiveness is the key to success. Dozens of experts will be glad to sell you a book explaining how to become self-activated, aggressive, ambitious; how to make others look up to you, how to rise to the top of the heap, how to run first in the rat race. For women, there is a special, gender-specific body of self-help work, that begins by teaching them shame at “being a doormat.” Meekness is failure. Attend a Leadership Conference!
Once again, Jesus turns our knowledge topsy-turvy. He tells us that the kitchen maid will some day own the manor house. Preposterous. Yet, his credibility is bolstered by his rare ability to say, “Do as I do, not just as I say,” for Christ was the ultimate servant. And as such, he scored the greatest victory in history: triumph over death.
Merriam-Webster tells us that meek means, not simply gentle and submissive, but specifically “enduring injury with patience and without resentment.” Christ is called the “Lamb of God” for a number of reason, and here is yet another; for a lamb is the meekest of God’s creatures.
Judaism adds a level of understanding to inheritance. The passage can be translated, “they shall inherit the land.” To a Jew, the land is Israel. And up until now, one could hardly call the Hebrew method of acquiring the land “meek”. The covenant of Moses was a covenant of violence against the heathen tribes of Canaan. So in essence, Jesus is repudiating a central tenet of the Old Testament. Jewish listeners would have been astounded, hearing this for the first time.
But unlike the Jews who first heard this, we already follow Christ. We trust his word implicitly; thus, meekness is our goal. And you know what? It works out rather well in terms of living our lives on earth. When we manage to control our anger and self-righteousness, we profit by it. Feeling entitled breeds resentment, from which proceeds all kinds of unhappiness.
But being meek is not easy! Nor can we expect perfection. But by prayer and meditation, and using the power of the Spirit, we can wrestle our pride into a small corner; and our lives will know a peace that we might not have thought possible.
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Today in Daily Prayer
Memory Verse
Matthew 10:37: He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me . . . . And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Mason: You are so right. When we are saved, we do become so aware of the evil in the world. And more than that, we become cognizant of what our sinful life did to Jesus. I try to remember that every day and thank God every day for His mercy and compassion and forgiveness, since I need them all every day.
I loved so many parts of todays devotion! Started with the song, made me smile and cry. Studied Ruth and Miriam, beautiful picture and message. The information on the commandments is wonderful, such a great way to read them, one by one with Mason's commentary! I'm seeing them in such a deeper light. Finished with Jenny's inspiration. Wow. Wonderful summary of Gods love for us! And that family picture just made me smile!! I've moved from anxious to relaxed in God's wonder and love. Cheryl FL
