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

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you

and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.

Be happy about it! Be very glad!

For a great reward awaits you in heaven.”

.

– Matthew 5:11-12a (NLT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Jesus invites everyone to put His teachings into practice.

.

To live the Christian life is no easy matter,

but it is worthwhile, given the reward that Jesus promises.

.

To be a true, loyal and worthy Christian is not easy,

especially in a world where anything goes

and nothing seems to be sacred any more.

.

Principles and values seem to have been thrown out of the window

– to be replaced by a laissez faire and all-accommodating attitude

which, if you dare disagree with especially because of your Christian faith,

you risk being laughed at, shunned, ostracised even.

.

But is being accepted by society, or even by your family,

more important than being pleasing to God?

.

What’s most important to you,

the world’s approval…or God’s?

If it is God’s approval you seek,

then, as Jesus said,

”be happy about it! Be very glad!

For a great reward awaits you in heaven.”

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God?

Or am I trying to please people?

If I were still trying to please people,

I would not be a servant of Christ.”

.

– St. Paul (Gal 1:10)

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord Jesus, You are my life!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“Everyone who does evil hates the light,

and will not come into the light

for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light,

so that it may be seen plainly

that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

.

– John 3:20-21 (NIV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Faith brings us out of darkness into the light,

and sets us on the road to salvation.

.

Jesus also told us,

“I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life." (Jn 8:12)

.

It is clear, however, that

if we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,

we lie and do not live out the truth. (1 Jn 1:6)

.

Do I tend to steer away from the light of Christ?

Do I stay away from opportunities to get closer to the Lord,

because I fear He will make me see what lies deep inside of me,

– things that I would rather not even admit to myself?

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Jesus, Light of the world,

grant me Your heavenly blessing.

Illuminate my heart, fill me with hope,

and brighten my life

with the spirit of faith, love and truth.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Bless the Lord, O my soul;

and all my being, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all His benefits.
.

He pardons all your iniquities,

He heals all your ills.

He redeems your life from destruction,

He crowns you with kindness and compassion.

.

– Psalm 103:1-4

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

…by Pope Francis…

.

“Praying is negotiating with the Lord,

even becoming inappropriate with the Lord.

Praying is praising the Lord in the beautiful things He shares

and telling Him to bestow these beautiful things on us.

And (appealing to Him) who is so merciful, so good, to help us!”

.

Pope Francis urges everyone to spend just five minutes each day praying Psalm 103:

“Pray all of this psalm

and with this we learn the things we must say to the Lord when we request a grace.

‘You who are Merciful and forgiving, grant me this grace…’

just as Abraham did and as Moses did.

We forge ahead in prayer, courageous,

and with these motivations which come right from the heart of God Himself.”

.

– Pope Francis on 1st July 2013

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“Praise the Lord with all that you are yourselves,

for not only your tongue and your voice should praise the Lord,

but also your conscience, your life and your deeds…

If we never stop living a good life,

we are praising the Lord unceasingly.”

.

– St. Augustine

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Bless the Lord, O my soul;

and all my being, bless His holy name!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

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.

.

– Psalm 25:4-5 (NIV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.,

…taken from the same Psalm…

.

Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them His way.

He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

– Psalm 25: 8-9,12b

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.,

…taken from the same Psalm…

.

In You, Lord my God,
I put my trust.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
.

Relieve the troubles of my heart
and free me from my anguish.
Look on my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
.

Guard my life and rescue me;
do not let me be put to shame,
for I take refuge in You.
May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope, Lord, is in You.

.

– Psalm 25:1,16-18,20-21

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

In You, Lord my God, I put my trust.

My hope, Lord, is in You.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

[Lord] teach us to consider our mortality,

so that we might live wisely.

.

– Psalm 90:12 (NET)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Let us direct our mind, heart and soul

to look up to the Lord,

and to seek, from Him, the wisdom and understanding,

which will bring us to consider every day as if it were our last.

.

We cannot boast of tomorrow.

We don’t know whether today, or tonight,

He will be sending for us,

so let us ask Him to teach us

how to seriously meditate upon and consider the shortness of our days.

Let us plead with our Creator

to give us the grace to live every day wisely

and in a manner pleasing to Him.

.

Every day, let us constantly seek Christ

to walk with Him;

to learn from Him;

to become more like Him

that we may be prepared

for the day when we are sent for…to appear before Him.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

O Lord, my God and Saviour,

teach me how to live every day for You.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

If we died with Him,

we will also live with Him;

if we endure,

we will also reign with Him.

.

– 2 Timothy 2:11-12a (NIV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

By holding firm and dying to sin,

we will stay out of the darkness

and bask in the light

– we will have been born into a new life.

.

By holding firm and dying to sin,

we will rise to a life of grace,

and, we will reign forever

with Jesus Christ, our Lord.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord Jesus, help me stop looking selfishly at the now.

Help me endure, live and work

towards everlasting life with You.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Be under obligation to no one

– the only obligation you have is to love one another.

Whoever does this has obeyed the Law.

.

– Romans 13:8 (GNT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Christian love

is all about giving

– to others –

and not quite the other way round.

.

In his beautiful prayer,

St Francis of Assisi, asks the Lord

to grant him that he may not so much seek to be loved

as to love.

He acknowledges that

“it is in giving that we receive".

.

As we give of ourselves,

we are obeying Jesus’ commandment,

and in doing so we receive the peace and blessing of our risen Lord,

and we will be filled to overflowing with His love.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord Jesus, I so want to love like You loved.

Take over my heart, Lord!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Avoid anything in your everyday lives

that would be unworthy

of the gospel of Christ.

.

– Philippians 1:27a (JB)

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Jesus, I entrust myself to You.

Forgive me,

strengthen and protect me,

lead me through life,

be my guide and my way.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

The Lord is near all who cry out to Him,

all who cry out to Him sincerely.

.

– Psalm 145:18 (NET)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

The Lord is near those

who call upon Him in truth

– trustingly and in faith.

.

The false, the skeptical,

the impatient, the selfish and the proud

– these push the Lord away.

.

The Lord responds

with kindness and salvation

to all those who invoke Him

with humility and with love.

.

This can tell us something

about how we should pray.

As St John of the Cross tells us,

“there is no better way

to be granted the petitions

that we hold in our hearts,

than to put all the strength of our prayer

into what is most pleasing to God;

for then, He will not only grant us what we ask – our salvation;

He will also give us what He sees we need

and what would be good for us,

even though we did not petition Him for it.”

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

O most loving Father, have mercy on Your child.

Almighty God, please hear the plea that comes from deep within my heart.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

I do not understand my own actions.

For I do not do what I want,

but I do the very thing I hate.

.

– Romans 7:15 (NRSV)

.

.

.

PRAYER OF THE CONTRITE AND REMORSEFUL SINNER…

.

My Lord Jesus,

my faithful God,

I believe in You,

I love You,

I want to walk with You

and do Your will. Amen.

.

Forgive me, Lord,

for the times when I fail to keep my word.

Lord, You know my heart

– it is not out of falseness that I fall,

but it is my despicable weaknesses

that causes me to sin against You.

.

Lord, I do not understand my own actions.

For I do not do what I want,

but I do the very thing I hate.

.

Heal me, Lord,

and strengthen me,

so that my Amen to You

will be reflected in my determination

to do Your will with joy in my heart

and with You, always by my side.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, forgive me for the times

when I fail to keep my word and do the very thing I hate.

Lord, create in me a clean and steadfast heart.

.