A LAMP TO MY FEET. A LIGHT FOR MY PATH.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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But our citizenship is in Heaven,

and it is from there

that we are expecting a Saviour,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

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– Philippians 3:20 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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All of us have a right to Heavenly citizenship,

but in order to claim that right

we must make continuous efforts

to live in a manner worthy of citizens of Heaven;

to live a life that is joyful and full of hope, as befits children of God.

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Christ fills us with hope

and gives us encouragement in our everyday struggles

as we seek, in love and faith, to be like Him

in both joy and suffering,

in both life and death.

"If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him;

if we endure, we shall also reign with Him." (2 Tim 2:12)

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord Jesus, thank You for the hope You bring.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,

nor His ear too dull to hear.

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– Isaiah 59:1 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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The arm of the Lord is not too short to save

and the grace of God will always be available to us.

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We must respond to temptations with faith,

knowing that God will help us overcome.

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His ear is not too dull to hear

and we must always pray with confidence and faith,

knowing that God hears us.

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We must entrust all our situations and circumstances to God,

who will send His Spirit to console, counsel and strengthen us;

to set us in the right direction;

and to fill us with hope, trust, and determination

as we seek to become more like Jesus,

and to overcome all through the joy of knowing the Truth!.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, my Saviour, hold me close to You

and fill my heart with hope.

I trust in You, Lord.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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The night is almost over, it will be daylight soon

– let us give up all the things we prefer to do under cover of the dark;

let us arm ourselves and appear in the light.

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– Romans 13:12 (JB)

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REFLECTION…

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Let us prepare for the coming of the Lord.

Christ came into the world by His Incarnation;

He also comes to souls through grace;

and at the end of time He will come as Judge.

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Rising like the sun,

He dispelled the darkness when He came into the world,

and when we let Him into our hearts

and allow Him to work in us,

He will dispel whatever darkness remains in our souls.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Come, Lord Jesus, You are welcome in my heart.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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For as the soil makes the young plant come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.

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– Isaiah 61:11 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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What wonderful news for mankind!

How reassuring for all men and women of good will

as we gladly and with great expectation

look forward to the fulfilment of our hope!

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Hope is founded on the God’s love of justice

which overthrows all forms of oppression

and brings wholeness, joy and praise.

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Our hope ultimately falls back onto the One in whom we have hope.

It is the Lord who is our hope;

the very ground of that hope;

the end of it

– and our faith is grounded in that divine conviction.

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The Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.

Just as seeds grow into plants which can be seen,

so God will cause people to be joined with Him;

to grow in Him;

to praise Him;

thus bearing witness to His glory.

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QUOTE…

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“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord,

you must continue to follow Him.

Let your roots grow down into Him,

and let your lives be built on Him.

Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught,

and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

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– St. Paul (Col 2:6-7)

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, You are my hope, You are my life,

and I will praise You for evermore!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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I myself will tend my sheep

and give them a place to lie down in peace,

says the Sovereign Lord.

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I will search for my lost ones who strayed away,

and I will bring them safely home again.

I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak.

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But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful.

I will feed them, yes – feed them justice!

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– Ezekiel 34:15-16 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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God makes Himself a shepherd for His people;

He always looks out for them, neglecting none.

But He is also just,

and so, not only is there divine love and mercy,

but also condemnation of the wicked.

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Jesus, in His role as Messiah and Saviour,

becomes the Shepherd who assembles all mankind to lead it to salvation.

At the multiplication of the loaves,

He gathers those who have followed Him "like sheep without a shepherd"

and nourishes them with bread and with the word of His teaching.

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QUOTE…

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“He stands guard over us when we are awake and while we sleep.

If an earthly flock is safe in the vigilant care of a human shepherd,

how much more secure are we, who have God as our Shepherd,

not only because He desires to teach and help us,

but because He is our Creator.”

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– St. Augustine

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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The Lord is my Shepherd – I shall not want!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Show me Your ways, Lord,
teach me Your paths.
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in You all day long.

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– Psalm 25:4-5 (NIV)

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A SONG…

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…to lift up in prayer to the Lord our God

and to ask Him to show us His ways

and to guide us through life…

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Please click here >>>

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QUOTE…

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“The ways of the Lord are not comfortable,

but we were not created for comfort, but for greatness, for good..”

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– Pope Benedict XVI.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, show me Your ways,

guide me in Your truth and teach me.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Always be joyful.

Never stop praying.

Be thankful in all circumstances,

for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

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– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Always be joyful.

We must not allow sadness and anger to overwhelm us.

We must remember that God loves us

and that He is with us always.

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Whenever we find yourself slipping into sadness

or filling up with anger,

let’s not let things fester inside of us

but instead, quickly call upon the One who is always right there by our side,

and He will counsel us

and show us how we can regain our inner peace.

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Never stop praying and seeking God’s help.

However, we must have a humble heart

and be ready to recognise and acknowledge our weaknesses,

and submit ourselves to the Lord’s guidance,

and trust in Him always…as we let His will be done.

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Be thankful in all circumstances

and always count your blessings.

So many blessings that we have received

and that we so easily forget whenever something or other goes wrong in our life.

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Be thankful in all circumstances,

for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

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We want things to be perfect, always,

but we must recognise that life isn’t like that.

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As Christians, we should simply be ever-thankful that we have God with us.

We need to recognise when we are being self-centred

so that, rather than looking inwardly,

we will place our focus on the Lord.

Only then will we realise how blessed we are to have Him

to guide us through life’s ups and downs.

Only then will we realise haw thankful we should be to the Lord, our Saviour!

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QUOTES…

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"There is no one who, if he just thinks about it a little,

cannot find very good reasons to express his gratitude to God"

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– St. Bernard

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"If things go well, let us rejoice,

blessing God who makes them prosper.

And if they go badly? Let us rejoice,

blessing God who allows us to share in the sweetness of His Cross"

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– St. Josemaria Escriva

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Come, sweet Jesus, come give me Your peace

and fill my heart with joy and thanksgiving!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
the stock that Your right hand planted.
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But let your hand be upon the One at Your right hand,
the One whom You made strong for Yourself.
Then we will never turn back from You;
give us life, and we will call on Your name.

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Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let Your face shine, that we may be saved.

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– Psalm 80:14-15,17-19 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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These verses, when recited as a prayer, become our own appeal to the Lord,

to come back and defend us against all evil that exists;

to break His apparent silence:

“Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine.”

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Indeed, to defend His beloved vine

God sent His One and only Son

to teach and encourage all those with goodwill in their hearts,

and to lead them to true everlasting freedom.

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As we pray that the face of the Lord will once again shine upon us,

we must be restored through renewed trust

and through faithful prayer to God our Saviour.

We, His people, must return to Him in fidelity.

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If we turn away from sin,

the Lord will restore us

and He will let His face shine, that we may be saved.

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With this conviction in our hearts as we pray,

our hearts are filled with never-ending hope

and with the knowledge that the Lord keeps His promise.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Let Your face shine on me, Lord Jesus, and give me life!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“To what can I compare this generation?

It is like children playing a game in the public square.

They complain to their friends,

‘We played wedding songs,
and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
and you didn’t mourn.’”

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– Matthew 11:16-17 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Making reference to a popular song or a child’s game of His time,

Jesus reproaches those who offer groundless excuses for not recognising Him;

for not accepting Him as Lord

in spite of all His efforts to help man see truth and salvation in Him.

He still does so till this very day.

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Jesus reproach, like everything else He said and taught,

is appropriate for all generations, not least ours.

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Jesus cries for us, saddened by those of us who have been brought up un the faith

but have walked away from it;

by those of us who claim to still be followers of Christ

but have bent and twisted the Lord’s commandments to suit themselves.

by those of us who are “Christian” by name alone,

leading mostly worldly lives

and, aside from a token trip to Church on Sunday,

exist apart from God for the rest of the week.

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From the beginning of human history

the Lord has striven to attract all mankind to Himself,

and yet, because of man’s self-centeredness and short-sightedness,

He has so regularly been rejected or put aside:

"What more could I have done for my vineyard
that I have not already done?
When I expected sweet grapes,
why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?" (Isa 5:4)

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God loved us to the extent of even sending His one and only Son to save us,

and yet…

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So, what about me?

How am I responding to God’s great love for me?

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord Jesus, You are the Truth.

Thank You for loving me – You are my salvation!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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…the Lord Himself will give you a sign:

the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,

and will call Him Immanuel.

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– Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…IN SONG…

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Immanuel – ‘God is with us’.

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A sign shall be given a virgin will conceive
a human baby bearing undiminished deity
– the glory of the nations a light for all to see;
that hope for all who will embrace His warm reality.
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Immanuel – our God is with us
and if God is with us, who could stand against us!

Our God is with us – Immanuel!

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For all those who live in the shadow of death,
a glorious light has dawned;
for all those who stumble in the darkness,
behold your light has come.
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Immanuel – our God is with us
and if God is with us, who could stand against us!

Our God is with us – Immanuel!

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So what will be your answer?

Will you hear the call?
Of Him who did not spare His son but gave Him for us all,
on earth there is no power there is no depth or height
that could ever separate us from the love of God in Christ.

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Immanuel – our God is with us
and if God is with us, who could stand against us!

Our God is with us – Immanuel!

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[The lyrics of the song of praise “Immanuel”, help us reflect on today’s short yet, for the believer, so meaningful verse. To listen to the song, please click here >>> ]