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

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Hear, O Israel:

The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

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You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all you might.

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Keep these words that I am commanding you today, in your heart.

Recite them to your children

and talk about them when you are at home

and when you are away,

when you lie down and when you rise.

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– Deuteronomy 6:4-7

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REFLECTION…

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Shema Yisrael:

Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad.

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Hear, O Israel:

The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

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With the coming of Christ,

the Shema also expresses the foundation of Christian living.

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Life itself is all about loving God with all of every part of us.

And love for God is best expressed in loving others.

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Jesus obeyed and loved God,

and He loved others…perfectly.

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If we are to be like Jesus,

the desperate desire of our hearts is to do the same.

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Finally, loving God and loving others springs out of

a deep passion for,

intense and constant meditation of,

and commitment to the Word of God.

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PRAYER…

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LORD, You are my God,

You alone.

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Lord, I want to love You with all my heart,

and with all my soul,

and with all my might.

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Lord, let me keep these words in my heart,

let me recite them to my children,

and talk about them when I am at home and when I am away,

when I lie down and when I rise.

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Amen.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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There is no need to worry;

but if there is anything you need, pray for it,

asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving,

and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand,

will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.

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– Philippians 4:6-7

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REFLECTION…

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The message is so clear, for those who want to listen

…and who want to let God lead them through life.

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God is placing His hand on your shoulder – right now.

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PRAYER…

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I close my eyes in Your presence, O Lord,

and I stop…

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My soul craves for You, Lord,

for Your comfort and consolation;

for Your loving reassurance.

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I know that You are listening to my prayer, Lord,

and – suddenly –

I feel understood…

loved…

lifted up…

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My heart beats faster,

Because it senses Your nearness, my Lord,

and Your love.

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All is suddenly tranquil…

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I need no longer worry

– my Lord will carry me through!

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Amen.

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Today’s Word…

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There was a great multitude that no one could count,

from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,

standing before the throne and before the Lamb,

robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.

They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

"Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

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– Revelation 7:9-10

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Reflection…

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It is consoling and encouraging to know

that those who attain heaven constitute such a huge multitude

– so great a crowd “that no one could count”.

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This vision encourages us believers

to imitate those Christians who were like us and who now find themselves in heaven.

Because they let Christ into their lives, they came through victorious.

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Quote…

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"The people dressed in white robes […]are the redeemed,

and they form a ‘great multitude’,

which no one could count

and which is made up of people of the most varied backgrounds.

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[…] After undergoing the trials and being purified in the blood of Christ,

they – the redeemed – are now safe in the Kingdom of God,

whom they praise and bless for ever and ever"

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– Pope John Paul II

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Prayer…

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Almighty God and Father,

I pray with all my mind, my heart, my soul, my strength,

that I will be therewhen my time comes,

as part of that great multitudein Your glorious presence.

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Lord, I want to be there proclaiming joyfully:

"Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

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Amen.
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TODAY’S WORD…

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“Let us go with you,

for we have heard that God is with you.”

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– Zechariah 8:23

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REFLECTION…

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“Let us go with you,

for we have heard that God is with you.”

How wonderful it would be if others said this to us!

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When we are faithful and honest in all our dealings;

When we allow the truths of God to rule in our heads

and let the love and peace of God rule in our hearts;

that, is something very special.

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It will soon become very apparent to others,

– especially against the backdrop of an increasingly Godless world –

that we may have that “something” which they feel is lacking in their lives.

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True Christian example can, sooner or later,

bring others – family, friends, acquaintances –

to take a decision and want to go with us on the same journey

and in the same direction.

You can almost hear them saying,

“Let us go with you,

for we have heard that God is with you.”

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PRAYER…

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Lord Jesus, I want to walk with You,

to stay by Your side,

and to follow Your direction.

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I also, so much, want to share You with others,

because You are the Way, the Truth and the Life!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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An argument arose among them (the disciples) as to which one of them was the greatest.

But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, said to them,

“…the least among all of you is the greatest.”

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– Luke 9:46,47a,48b

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REFLECTION…

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We don’t change, do we?

Misguided ambition and pride are such vicious afflictions,

which can attack us even when we are close to the Lord

– in His actual presence even, like His disciples were!

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Humility, on the other hand, is a blessing which takes over

only when I put Christ at the centre of my life;

when I place my full trust in Him;

when I accept that all that I am and all that I have, comes from God;

when I constantly seek His help to make me meek and humble of heart.

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Indeed it was also Jesus who exclaimed that

“all who exalt themselves will be humbled,

and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” [Lk 14:11]

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THE LITANY OF HUMILITY…

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O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.

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From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me Jesus.

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.Deliver me Jesus…

from the desire of being loved;
from the desire of being extolled;
from the desire of being honored;
from the desire of being praised;
from the desire of being preferred;

from the desire of being consulted;
from the desire of being approved.

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From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me Jesus.

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Deliver me Jesus…

from the fear of being despised;
from the fear of suffering rebukes;

from the fear of being calumniated;
from the fear of being forgotten;
from the fear of being ridiculed;
from the fear of being wronged;
from the fear of being suspected.

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That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

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Jesus, grant me the grace to desire…

that others may be esteemed more than I;

that in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease;
that others may be chosen and I set aside;

that others may be praised and I unnoticed;

that others may become holier than I, provided that I may became as holy as I should.

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Amen
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[from The Litany of Humility, by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930)]

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TODAY’S WORD…

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As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so my soul longs for You, O God.

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My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and behold

the face of God?

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– Psalm 42:1-2

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REFLECTION…

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The longing to see God is no faint desire;

it is a desire as vital as thirst.

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Stop, therefore

…and allow Your soul to yearn for God

– make these heartfelt, beautiful thoughts of the Psalmist, your own.

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PRAYER…

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As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so my soul longs for You, O God.

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My soul thirsts for You, my God,

for You are the Living God.

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When shall I come and behold

Your face, O God?

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My soul, my all yearns for You, O God.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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They will see the Lord face to face,

and His name will be written on their foreheads.

It will never be night again

and they will not need lamplight or sunlight,

because the Lord God will be shining on them.

They will reign for ever and ever.

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– Revelations 22:4-5

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REFLECTION…

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This could be us.

The promise is for us,

and it is up to us to strive towards it.

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If we call upon the Holy Spirit,

He will console us;

He will counsel us;

and He will sanctify us

– placing us firmly on the road to get there.

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QUOTE…

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"When my life work is ended, and I cross the swelling tide,

When the bright and glorious morning I shall see,

I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,

And His smile will be the first to welcome me.

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Thru the gates of the city in a robe of spotless white,

He will lead me where no tears will ever fall;

In the glad song of ages I shall mingle with delight

But I long to meet my Saviour first of all.”

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– From an 18th century hymn written by Fanny Crosby, who was blind but knew that the first person she would ever see would be Jesus Christ.

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PRAYER…

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Lord, my prayer is to be made worthy to see You face to face,

and to reign with You, forever, in Your perpetual glorious light!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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May all the peoples of the earth come to know

that the Lord is God indeed, and that there is no other.

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– 1 Kings 8:60.

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REFLECTION…

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Gladly allow the Holy Spirit to take over and reign from within,

and you will end up encountering the Lord in such a special, intimate and beautiful way,

which will make you feel truly and totally renewed.

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So wonderful is this revelation;

so special and life-changing is this encounter;

so joyfully up-lifting is this recognition of the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life,

that you will wish to tell the world about it.

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Truly finding God

is like finding that very special treasure which you simply cannot keep for yourself.

Truly finding God,

creates within us this deep desire to share Him with everyone.

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Is this how I am?

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May all the peoples of the earth come to know

that the Lord is God indeed, and that there is no other.

…is this my prayer?

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PRAYER…

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Lord, may all the peoples of the earth come to know

that You are God indeed, and that there is no other.

There is none like You, Lord!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Bear with one another

and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other;

just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

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– Colossians 3:13

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QUOTE…

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“…to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life – to keep on forgiving…

How can we do it?

Only, I think, by remembering where we stand,

by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night

"Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us."

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We are offered forgiveness on no other terms.

To refuse it is to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves.

There is no hint of exceptions and God means what He says

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– C. S. Lewis

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PRAYER…

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Lord Jesus,

You have shown me,

by Your own actions,

what it means to truly love and forgive.

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Lord, with You in my heart,

I know that I can obey Your caring commands.

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Come, Lord Jesus, come into my heart!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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He it was who formed the mountains,

created the wind,

reveals His mind to man,

makes both dawn and dark,

and walks on the top of the heights of the world

– the Lord, the God of Hosts, is His name.

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– Amos 4:13

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REFLECTION…

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How great God is!

This is what these few lines celebrate

– the power of God over all creatures;

over those things that man finds most awesome.

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Celebrating the greatness of God is a confession of faith in the Lord,

and this can only be done – in truth – because God reveals Himself to us.

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God reveals himself to us through the awesomeness of nature;

through the natural principles of righteousness embedded in our conscience.

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God reveals himself, in particular, through the direct action of the Holy Spirit,

who guides those who deeply desire to know the truth,

and gradually makes things known to their intellect.

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It is the Spirit who brings Scripture to life, by illuminating our reason,

and causing great floods of truth to flow into our soul through God’s Word.

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How great God is!

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PRAYER…

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How great You are, Lord!

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