Today is Sunday, the 29th of January, 2023, the fourth Sunday of Epiphany.
May the peace of the Lord be with you always.
Day 23,698 (the number of days since I was born)
I have less than 45 minutes to get this done, as I have to be at church by 8:00, this morning, and it is close to a 30 minute drive (probably less, that early on Sunday). So I’m getting right to it, this morning.
Today’s header photo was taken by Paul Militaru. Please visit his site to see more of his photography.
TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalms 119:105 NRSV)
Lord our God, we thank you that every day – through good days and through days that to us seem bad – we know that our lives are guided by your will, what you do and what you want. For this we thank you. We want to love you above everything in the world. Our hearts long for you, for you are our Father. We want to love and honor you with our whole lives. Lord our God, bring your order into the world. Help us at all times to do your will and to fulfill your commandments. Amen.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. (Deuteronomy 6:4-6 NRSV)
Today I am grateful:
- for God’s Word, a lamp to my feet and a light to my path
- for the “Shema;” I pray that I might obey it (those verses directly above this)
- that sometimes, things that seem “bad” to us may not truly be so
- for this day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it
- for opportunities to serve the community of saints with the gifts which God has granted me
Of David. A Psalm. I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to you, O LORD, I will sing. (Psalms 101:1 NRSV)
But I, O LORD, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. (Psalms 88:13 NRSV)
Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore. (Psalms 93:5 NRSV)
Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. (Psalms 119:1 NRSV)
So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
(Matthew 5:23-24 NRSV)
Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalms 118:19-24 NRSV)
Glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, so it is now and so it shall ever be, world without end. Alleluia. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. May Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Yours are the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
"Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." (The Prayer Appointed for the Week - The Divine Hours)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
(Romans 12:2 NRSV)
For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
(Psalms 139:13-14 NRSV)
Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.
(1 Peter 4:10 NRSV)
Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
(Mark 14:23-24 NRSV)
The Word of God . . . a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. What a wonderful verse, a verse that I have had memorized long before I was even able to read. Of course, I had it memorized in King James Version, because that was all we had at Calvary Baptist Church in Mineral Wells. Other versions came out as I made it to adolescence and beyond. But my first couple of Bibles were KJV.
The version isn’t really important. What is important is the precepts and principles taught, therein, and the Gospel message we get from Jesus Christ. The Psalms are replete with verses like Psalm 119:105, that tell us that His Word is the way to know our path, and that He will direct us if we fear/revere Him and His holy name.
So that is the path of my life. I seek to revere the name of the Lord, and walk in the path that He directs me in. One of those directions is found in the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4-6. This is also found to be Jesus’s “greatest commandment.” Love the Lord your God with all of your being, your mind, soul, heart, and strength. We know, then, that he said the second commandment was similar, love your neighbor as yourself. This was not new, either, because that command can be found in Leviticus 19:18.
Time is up. So, let the Word of God be that light and lamp for you, today.
Father, I thank You for Your Word, a light to my path and a lamp to my feet. Help me to follow Your path, today and every day. Help me to love You with all of my being. I can’t do that without You. Then help me to love my neighbor, and to love the saints as Christ has loved us.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Grace and peace, friends.
Spaces of Beauty, Grace, Prayer, and Mercy 