May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.EPH 1:17, 18
HEBREWS 6:10-20
My Soul's Beloved,
It is true that many holy men and women who now decorate the Church's hall of saints lived holy lives surrendered wholly to You and conformed to Your most holy will. They lived for You and they died for You. They followed closely in Your footsteps and having grasped the great and unfathomable love of God that emptied Himself to utterly on the Cross and gave His life for the world, they strove to love You in return, with all the fervor of their entire being. This is the hope that the writer of Hebrews desires us to understand. Our hope in You, Lord, is based on the power of God's love for us and the power of the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God whose blood washes away the shame, the guilt, and the transgressions of the world.
Beloved, I on the other hand am a worm. My flesh is so weak that it holds complete sway over my willing spirit and I find myself incapable of making even the faintest effort to do what I ought. All that is required of me is to make the most infinitesimally tiniest effort but I lack the will to do even that because I prefer ease to discipline.
Take pity on me Lord just as You have taken pity on so many wretched souls and do for me what I find impossible to do for myself. I desire to be all that You desire me to be but lack the will to help myself. I am a member of Your Body, perhaps its weakest, but I know that Your life of grace courses from You to each of its members even its weakest, and in this truth rest my hopes. Every covenant and every oath that God has sworn includes me sinner though I am and I have this confidence O Lord, that Your great mercy will save me because I place all my hope in the power of Your love and the power of Your Sacrifice.
...... when God wanted to make the heirs to the promise thoroughly realise that his purpose was unalterable, he conveyed this by an oath; so that there would be two unalterable things in which it was impossible for God to be lying, and so that we, now we have found safety, should have a strong encouragement to take a firm grip on the hope that is held out to us. Here we have an anchor for our soul, as sure as it is firm, and reaching right through beyond the veil where Jesus has entered before us and on our behalf, to become a high priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.
PSALM 110(111):1-2,4-5,9,10
The Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.
...... when God wanted to make the heirs to the promise thoroughly realise that his purpose was unalterable, he conveyed this by an oath; so that there would be two unalterable things in which it was impossible for God to be lying, and so that we, now we have found safety, should have a strong encouragement to take a firm grip on the hope that is held out to us. Here we have an anchor for our soul, as sure as it is firm, and reaching right through beyond the veil where Jesus has entered before us and on our behalf, to become a high priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.
PSALM 110(111):1-2,4-5,9,10
The Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the meeting of the just and their assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord,
to be pondered by all who love them.
in the meeting of the just and their assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord,
to be pondered by all who love them.
He makes us remember his wonders.
The Lord is compassion and love.
He gives food to those who fear him;
keeps his covenant ever in mind.
He gives food to those who fear him;
keeps his covenant ever in mind.
He has sent deliverance to his people
and established his covenant for ever.
Holy his name, to be feared.
His praise shall last for ever!
Holy his name, to be feared.
His praise shall last for ever!
The Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.
MARK 2:23-28
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
You are our Good Shepherd, our Champion, our Warrior, our Shield, our mighty Savior and Redeemer who will stand by us and protect us to the end from the predators of this world whom the Enemy has beguiled and entrapped and who will not hesitate to destroy us, especially those of us that are weak.
We walk with You as the disciples walked with You that day through the cornfields, unthinkingly they picked the ripe ears of corn and began to eat as they walked through it. Were they hungry or did they do it absent-mindedly forgetting that it was prohibited on the Sabbath? You promptly defended the actions of Your disciples when Your severest critics, the Pharisees, upbraided You and them for their actions, condemning it as unlawful. You will do the same for us who sometimes are unintentionally thoughtless, or not as mindful as we ought to be and thus commit some infraction of the law. You O Lord who know all things, You who know the hearts and minds of all, will come to the defence of Your weak and defenceless sheep and You will save us on the basis of Your merits, Your goodness, Your love for us.
One sabbath day, Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to pick ears of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing something on the sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied, ‘Did you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?’
And he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the Son of Man is master even of the sabbath.’
One sabbath day, Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to pick ears of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing something on the sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied, ‘Did you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?’
And he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the Son of Man is master even of the sabbath.’
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