Friday 12 November 2010<span style="mso-spacerun:
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<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">Joel 2:28-3:8<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then afterwards</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your old men shall dream dreams,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your young men shall see visions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even on the male and female slaves,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in those days, I will pour out my spirit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">*For then, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgement with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations. They have divided my land, and cast lots for my people, and traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it down.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads swiftly and speedily. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.* You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. But now I will rouse them to leave the places to which you have sold them, and I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away; for the Lord has spoken.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">James 1:16-27</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Do not be deceived, my beloved.*</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.* In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You must understand this, my beloved:* let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves* in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Luke 16:1-9</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Then Jesus* said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth* so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 88</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 88</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, God of my salvation,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when, at night, I cry out in your presence,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">let my prayer come before you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>incline your ear to my cry.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For my soul is full of troubles,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my life draws near to Sheol.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am like those who have no help,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">like those forsaken among the dead,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like the slain that lie in the grave,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">like those whom you remember no more,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for they are cut off from your hand.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have put me in the depths of the Pit,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the regions dark and deep.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your wrath lies heavy upon me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and you overwhelm me with all your waves.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have caused my companions to shun me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have made me a thing of horror to them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am shut in so that I cannot escape;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my eye grows dim through sorrow.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Every day I call on you, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I spread out my hands to you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do you work wonders for the dead?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Do the shades rise up to praise you?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or your faithfulness in Abaddon?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Are your wonders known in the darkness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I, O Lord, cry out to you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the morning my prayer comes before you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, why do you cast me off?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Why do you hide your face from me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wretched and close to death from my youth up,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your wrath has swept over me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your dread assaults destroy me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They surround me like a flood all day long;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from all sides they close in on me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have caused friend and neighbour to shun me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my companions are in darkness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 91, 92</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 91</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You who live in the shelter of the Most High,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my God, in whom I trust.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and from the deadly pestilence;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">he will cover you with his pinions,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and under his wings you will find refuge;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will not fear the terror of the night,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or the arrow that flies by day,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or the destruction that wastes at noonday.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A thousand may fall at your side,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>ten thousand at your right hand,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but it will not come near you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will only look with your eyes</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and see the punishment of the wicked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because you have made the Lord your refuge,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Most High your dwelling-place,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">no evil shall befall you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>no scourge come near your tent.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For he will command his angels concerning you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to guard you in all your ways.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On their hands they will bear you up,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will tread on the lion and the adder,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who love me, I will deliver;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will protect those who know my name.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When they call to me, I will answer them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will be with them in trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will rescue them and honour them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With long life I will satisfy them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and show them my salvation.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 92</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">It is good to give thanks to the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to sing praises to your name, O Most High;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to declare your steadfast love in the morning,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your faithfulness by night,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to the music of the lute and the harp,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to the melody of the lyre.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>at the works of your hands I sing for joy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How great are your works, O Lord!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Your thoughts are very deep!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The dullard cannot know,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the stupid cannot understand this:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">though the wicked sprout like grass</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and all evildoers flourish,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they are doomed to destruction for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but you, O Lord, are on high for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For your enemies, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for your enemies shall perish;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all evildoers shall be scattered.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have poured over me* fresh oil.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The righteous flourish like the palm tree,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They are planted in the house of the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they flourish in the courts of our God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In old age they still produce fruit;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are always green and full of sap,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">showing that the Lord is upright;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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