Thursday 28 August 2008<span style="mso-spacerun:
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<p class="MsoNormal">DAILY LECTIONARY</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Job 8:1-10,20-22</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘How long will you say these things,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the words of your mouth be a great wind?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Does God pervert justice?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Or does the Almighty* pervert the right?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If your children sinned against him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he delivered them into the power of their transgression.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you will seek God</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and make supplication to the Almighty,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">if you are pure and upright,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>surely then he will rouse himself for you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and restore to you your rightful place.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though your beginning was small,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your latter days will be very great.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘For inquire now of bygone generations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and consider what their ancestors have found;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for we are but of yesterday, and we know nothing,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for our days on earth are but a shadow.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Will they not teach you and tell you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and utter words out of their understanding?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘See, God will not reject a blameless person,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor take the hand of evildoers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your lips with shouts of joy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the tent of the wicked will be no more.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Acts 10:17-33</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now while Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen, suddenly the men sent by Cornelius appeared. They were asking for Simon’s house and were standing by the gate. They called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was staying there. While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Look, three* men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them.’ So Peter went down to the men and said, ‘I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for your coming?’ They answered, ‘Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.’ So Peter* invited them in and gave them lodging.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the believers* from Joppa accompanied him. The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. On Peter’s arrival Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshipped him. But Peter made him get up, saying, ‘Stand up; I am only a mortal.’ And as he talked with him, he went in and found that many had assembled; and he said to them, ‘You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Cornelius replied, ‘Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before me. He said, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter; he is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.” Therefore I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John 7:14-36</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Jews were astonished at it, saying, ‘How does this man have such learning,* when he has never been taught?’ Then Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?’ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?’ Jesus answered them, ‘I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?* Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah* comes, no one will know where he is from.’ Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, ‘You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.’ Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, ‘When the Messiah* comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?’*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. Jesus then said, ‘I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.’ The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, “You will search for me and you will not find me” and, “Where I am, you cannot come”?’ ******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 18:1-20</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 18:1-20</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I love you, O Lord, my strength.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so I shall be saved from my enemies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The cords of death encompassed me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the torrents of perdition assailed me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the cords of Sheol entangled me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the snares of death confronted me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In my distress I called upon the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to my God I cried for help.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From his temple he heard my voice,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my cry to him reached his ears.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then the earth reeled and rocked;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the foundations also of the mountains trembled</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and quaked, because he was angry.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Smoke went up from his nostrils,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and devouring fire from his mouth;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>glowing coals flamed forth from him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He bowed the heavens, and came down;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>thick darkness was under his feet.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He rode on a cherub, and flew;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He made darkness his covering around him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>his canopy thick clouds dark with water.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Out of the brightness before him</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>there broke through his clouds</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>hailstones and coals of fire.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord also thundered in the heavens,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the Most High uttered his voice.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then the channels of the sea were seen,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the foundations of the world were laid bare</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">at your rebuke, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He reached down from on high, he took me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he drew me out of mighty waters.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He delivered me from my strong enemy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and from those who hated me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for they were too mighty for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They confronted me in the day of my calamity;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the Lord was my support.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He brought me out into a broad place;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he delivered me, because he delighted in me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 18:21-50</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 18:21-50</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For I have kept the ways of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and have not wickedly departed from my God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For all his ordinances were before me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and his statutes I did not put away from me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was blameless before him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I kept myself from guilt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the loyal you show yourself loyal;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with the blameless you show yourself blameless;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">with the pure you show yourself pure;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For you deliver a humble people,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the haughty eyes you bring down.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is you who light my lamp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By you I can crush a troop,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and by my God I can leap over a wall.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This God—his way is perfect;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the promise of the Lord proves true;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For who is God except the Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And who is a rock besides our God?—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the God who girded me with strength,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and made my way safe.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He made my feet like the feet of a deer,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and set me secure on the heights.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He trains my hands for war,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have given me the shield of your salvation,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your right hand has supported me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your help* has made me great.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You gave me a wide place for my steps under me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my feet did not slip.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I pursued my enemies and overtook them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and did not turn back until they were consumed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I struck them down, so that they were not able to rise;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they fell under my feet.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For you girded me with strength for the battle;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you made my assailants sink under me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You made my enemies turn their backs to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and those who hated me I destroyed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I cast them out like the mire of the streets.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You delivered me from strife with the peoples;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you made me head of the nations;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>people whom I had not known served me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>foreigners came cringing to me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Foreigners lost heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and came trembling out of their strongholds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and exalted be the God of my salvation,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the God who gave me vengeance</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and subdued peoples under me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who delivered me from my enemies;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you delivered me from the violent.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and sing praises to your name.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Great triumphs he gives to his king,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and shows steadfast love to his anointed,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to David and his descendants for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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