Shake off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. EZK 18:31
My Soul's Beloved,
Indeed, adversity often brings us to our knees. When faced with trials we implore You to take remove the cup of suffering from us. Often it is our sins that have brought about our punishment. We make ungodly, foolish choices and then whine and complain when the expected outcome of those choices occurs. Our culture must surely draw greater divine outrage than that which destroyed the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because we know better. But God sent You into the world to reveal His love for us and to pay the price of our iniquity.
Beloved, all generations in every age ought to give God unending praise from the rising of the sun to its setting for granting us forgiveness, mercy, and pardon through the power of Your Blood.
Today Your Word invites us to wash ourselves clean in the Blood of the Lamb. To cease doing evil and learn to do good and You will bless us, our families, our nations, and the whole world.
Grant us wisdom O Lord and humility to acknowledge our sins and our need to return to You with all our hearts confident that You will forgive us:
‘Come now, let us talk this over,
says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
‘If you are willing to obey,
you shall eat the good things of the earth.
But if you persist in rebellion,
the sword shall eat you instead.’
you shall eat the good things of the earth.
But if you persist in rebellion,
the sword shall eat you instead.’
PSALM 49(50):8-9,16-17,21,23 ©
‘I find no fault with your sacrifices,
your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms,
nor goats from among your herds.
your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms,
nor goats from among your herds.
‘But how can you recite my commandments
and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law
and throw my words to the winds,
you who despise my law
and throw my words to the winds,
‘You do this, and should I keep silence?
Do you think that I am like you?
A sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me
and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.’
A sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me
and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.’
I will show God’s salvation to the upright.
MATTHEW 23:1-12 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
You warned the people and Your disciples to listen to what the scribes and the Pharisees said because they occupied the chair of Moses however they were not to do as they did. The faithful today are sadly in an even more precarious situation since some of our shepherds often teach erroneously and can lead many astray by their false teachings.
They are not good shepherds but wolves in sheep's clothing since they slyly distort the truth to suit their own sinful inclinations or to appease certain groups so they can be in good standing with them. The power of evil often has a stranglehold on those who struggle to keep the faith, hold on to the truth, and live by it despite the persecutions they face.
We thank You Beloved, for Peter and his successors and for all who heed Your invitation to the priesthood and religious life. Keep them safe from the Enemy just as You promised until You return again in glory. As for us O Lord keep us humble, obedient, teachable, little, and above all faithful.
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