Tuesday 7 April 2009<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><!--StartFragment-->
<p class="MsoNormal">DAILY LECTIONARY</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jeremiah 15:10-21</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life* for good, surely I have imposed enemies on you in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.* Can iron and bronze break iron from the north?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, you know;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>remember me and visit me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In your forbearance do not take me away;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>know that on your account I suffer insult.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your words were found, and I ate them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your words became to me a joy</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the delight of my heart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for I am called by your name,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord, God of hosts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor did I rejoice;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">under the weight of your hand I sat alone,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you had filled me with indignation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why is my pain unceasing,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my wound incurable,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>refusing to be healed?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like waters that fail.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore, thus says the Lord:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you turn back, I will take you back,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and you shall stand before me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you shall serve as my mouth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is they who will turn to you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>not you who will turn to them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And I will make you to this people</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a fortified wall of bronze;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they will fight against you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but they shall not prevail over you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for I am with you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to save you and deliver you,</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">says the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Philippians 3:15-21</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Brothers and sisters,* join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship* is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation* so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory,* by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. ******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John 12:20-26</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 6, 12</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 6</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or discipline me in your wrath.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My soul also is struck with terror,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>while you, O Lord—how long?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Turn, O Lord, save my life;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For in death there is no remembrance of you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in Sheol who can give you praise?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I am weary with my moaning;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>every night I flood my bed with tears;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I drench my couch with my weeping.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My eyes waste away because of grief;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they grow weak because of all my foes.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Depart from me, all you workers of evil,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord has heard my supplication;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord accepts my prayer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 12</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the faithful have disappeared from humankind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They utter lies to each other;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the tongue that makes great boasts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">those who say, ‘With our tongues we will prevail;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>our lips are our own—who is our master?’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will now rise up,’ says the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘I will place them in the safety for which they long.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>silver refined in a furnace on the ground,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>purified seven times.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You, O Lord, will protect us;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you will guard us from this generation for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On every side the wicked prowl,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as vileness is exalted among humankind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 94</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 94</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, you God of vengeance,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you God of vengeance, shine forth!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rise up, O judge of the earth;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give to the proud what they deserve!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, how long shall the wicked,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>how long shall the wicked exult?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">They pour out their arrogant words;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the evildoers boast.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They crush your people, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and afflict your heritage.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They kill the widow and the stranger,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they murder the orphan,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and they say, ‘The Lord does not see;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the God of Jacob does not perceive.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Understand, O dullest of the people;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>fools, when will you be wise?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He who planted the ear, does he not hear?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He who formed the eye, does he not see?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He who disciplines the nations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">he who teaches knowledge to humankind,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>does he not chastise?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord knows our thoughts,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that they are but an empty breath.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and whom you teach out of your law,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">giving them respite from days of trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>until a pit is dug for the wicked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the Lord will not forsake his people;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he will not abandon his heritage;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for justice will return to the righteous,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and all the upright in heart will follow it.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who rises up for me against the wicked?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who stands up for me against evildoers?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If the Lord had not been my help,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I thought, ‘My foot is slipping’,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the cares of my heart are many,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your consolations cheer my soul.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Can wicked rulers be allied with you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>those who contrive mischief by statute?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They band together against the life of the righteous,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and condemn the innocent to death.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the Lord has become my stronghold,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my God the rock of my refuge.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will repay them for their iniquity</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and wipe them out for their wickedness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord our God will wipe them out.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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