The Lord is My Strength and Shield
1 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. 3 Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. 4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert. 5 Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. 6 Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. 8 The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. 9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever. Psalm 28 (KJV)
The Morning Exhortation
The body is not a like a car that wears out with use. Quite the contrary. The body wears away from non-use. Both exercise and non-use can cause the body pain. The difference is that one strengthens and the other weakens. Some days will be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Other days will be hard like trying to take a lamb chop out of the mouth of a hungry lion. Kiss the baby, or fight the lion, whichever way it comes. That’s life. Learn to flow with it. Be determined to always fight the good fight of the faith. Refuse to return to the old ways of thinking, living, and existing in the flesh like a young one who doesn’t know the Lord. Walk in the light of understanding your new life in Christ. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, depend on the living water within, and let the Cross finish the endless self-powered striving to overcome sin. Accept the truth that your sinful nature has been crucified with Christ, and your spirit resurrected with Him by faith. Now you are reborn a new creation dead to sin and alive to God forever more. This is the glorious promise of the gospel. Trust in God with all your heart and the truth shall set you free.
Today’s Bible Reading
2 Samuel 15
2 Corinthians 8
Ezekiel 22
Psalm 69
The Prayer Appointed for This Week from the Book of Common Prayer
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule my heart; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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