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

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“I have come to call

not those who think they are righteous,

but those who know they are sinners.”

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– Matthew 9:13 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Jesus is indicating that “those who think they are righteous”,

in other words the proud and self-justified,

do not even notice His call.

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They are so engrossed in their own self

that they even convince themselves into believing that they are truly righteous.

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They have ears…but they will not listen to the whispering of the Spirit.

They have ears…but they only listen to themselves!

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On the other hand, “those who know they are sinners”,

and who humbly acknowledge their weakness to the Lord,

they readily listen out for Him,

humbly admit their faults and failings with a contrite heart,

and faithfully seek to be forgiven and healed by Him.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, my Lord, thank You for never giving up on me.

Thank You, Lord God. Forgive me, Lord God. Heal me, Lord God.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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You are my God, and I give You thanks;

I will proclaim Your greatness.

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– Psalm 118:28 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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When believers entrust themselves fully to God,

they will experience His great love and mercy,

and they will not just thank Him in their hearts,

but will seek every opportunity

to publicly share His greatness with others.

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Once you have truly tasted how good God is,

You will be unable to keep Him to yourself!

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Lord and my God, I give You thanks and I proclaim Your greatness.

For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever. Amen.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Love is patient and kind;

it is not jealous

or boastful

or proud

or rude.

It does not demand its own way.

It is not irritable,

and it keeps no record of being wronged.

It does not rejoice about injustice

but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

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Love never gives up,

never loses faith,

is always hopeful,

and endures through every circumstance.

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– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT)

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PRAYER…

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Dear Lord,

help me truly love.

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Help me remember Your endless patience with me;

help me to look deep into myself and to remove what is not from You;

help my words and actions be gentle and thoughtful;

help me be humble and see the good in all others;

help me speak words that are easy on the ear and on the heart;

help me forgive others as You forgive me;

help me always stand up for what is right and good;

help me always be a welcoming refuge for those around me;

help my heart continually beat with pure love…for You…and for others.

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Amen.

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[inspiration for today’s prayer: from www.marriagemissions.com – a site well worth visiting!]

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord Jesus, help me be more like You;

help me love like You want me to love!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“If you love Me, you will obey My commandments.”

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– John 14:15 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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Jesus wants us to understand that love of God, if it is to be authentic,

must be reflected in a life of generous and faithful self-giving

obedient to the Will of God.

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It is they who accept God’s commandments and obey them,

who truly love Him.

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QUOTE…

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"This indeed is love:

obeying and believing in the Loved One"

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– St. John Chrysostom

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PRAYER…

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My Lord and my God,

I want to obey Your commands;

give me new life, for You are righteous.

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Enable me to speak the truth at all times,

because my hope is in Your judgments.

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I will always obey Your law,

forever and ever.

I will live in perfect freedom,

because I try to obey Your teachings.

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I find pleasure in obeying Your commands,

because I love them.

I respect and love Your commandments;

I will meditate on Your instructions.

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Remember Your promise to me, Your servant;

it has given me hope.

Even in my suffering I was comforted

because Your promise gave me life.

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I find my happiness in obeying Your commands.

You are all I want, O Lord;

I promise to obey Your laws.

Amen.

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[Today’s prayer is from Psalm 119 verses 40, 43-45, 47-50, 56-57 (GNT)]

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Your commandments give me life, O Lord, and they give me hope.

I promise to obey them, because I love You, my God.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“Lord…I am not worthy to have You come under my roof.”

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– Luke 7:6 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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Am I ever worthy to receive Jesus; to have Him inside my heart?

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Whenever I humbly call out to Him in faith and in truth,

He is always so willing to rush into my heart

because He loves me beyond my understanding.

It is only through His divine mercy that He comes gladly to me

to fill me with true love, peace and hope.

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“Lord…I am not worthy to have You come under my roof.”

These are the sentiments, which we prayerfully express in truth just before receiving Holy Communion.

These words should truly reflect our interior disposition of faith and humility,

when we call upon the Lord to enter our heart and have mercy on our soul.

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QUOTE…

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“Yes, we are not worthy that Jesus should stay at our house or dwell under our roof,

but this is what He desires.

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He wants us to abide in Him so that he can abide in us and grant us a share in His eternal life.

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He wants to give us the fruit of the tree of life,

place the crown of life on our heads,

feed us with the hidden manna on our New Exodus,

give us a share in His kingly power,

write our names in the Book of Life,

make us a pillar in the New Temple of God,

and have us sit beside Him on God’s throne.”

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– Fr. Jason Mitchell LC

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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I am not worthy, Lord,

but please come inside my heart…and take over.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Have mercy on me, O God,
according to Your unfailing love;
according to Your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
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Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
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Against You, You only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight;
so You are right in Your verdict
and justified when You judge.

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Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

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– Psalm 51:1-4;10-12 (NIV)

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QUOTE…

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“We also [like Jesus] must learn to listen more to our conscience.

Be careful, however:

this does not mean we ought to follow our ego,

do whatever interests us,

whatever suits us,

whatever pleases us.

That is not conscience.

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Conscience is the interior space

in which we can listen to and hear the truth,

the good,

the voice of God.

It is the inner place of our relationship with Him, who speaks to our heart and helps us to discern,

to understand the path we ought to take,

and once the decision is made, to move forward, to remain faithful.”

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– Pope Francis

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PRAYER…

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Forgive me Father, for so often letting You down.

Forgive my weaknesses and my self-centeredness.

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Heal me, O God, and restore me

and help me to correctly discern the freedom You gave me

and to faithfully persevere in walking the right path that You have laid out before me.

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Amen.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Restore me, Lord, and sustain me.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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My dear friends, flee from idolatry.

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– 1 Corinthians 10:14 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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Idolatry is among the most serious of sins.

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Unfortunately,

so many of us today prostrate ourselves before anything that gives comfort and enjoyment,

and which appears to satisfy our human desires and earthly wants;

our ambitions and passions;

and, of course, our so-called “rights”!

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These are “idols” that play up to our self-centeredness with the promise of instant gratification,

and end up distracting us completely from our beliefs

because they remove our focus from God.

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It is so sad

that so many of us appear to gladly throw ourselves into these filthy areas

of physical, mental and spiritual pollution,

and, so often, end up being caught in a downward spiral,

losing our human dignity…and our soul…in the process.

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QUOTES…

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"…the growth of prostitution and pornography in the name of adult choice,

the acceptance of abortion in the name of women’s rights,

the approval of same sex unions in the name of homosexual rights. […].

False secularistic forms of humanism,

which exalt the individual in such a manner that they become a veritable idolatry,

can be countered only by the rediscovery of the genuine inviolable dignity of every person"

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– Pope John Paul II

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“Everything is according to habit.

Life is like that: We live in this way, without thinking about the end of this way of living.

This too is an idolatry: to be attached to our habits, without thinking that this will come to an end.”

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– Pope Francis

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“Sex has become one of the most discussed subjects of modern times. The Victorians pretended it did not exist;

the moderns pretend that nothing else exists."

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– Archbishop Fulton Sheen

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“Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. […]

Idolatry consists in making divine what is not God.

Man commits idolatry whenever he honours and reveres a creature in place of God,

whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism),

power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. […]

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Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God;

it is therefore incompatible with communion with God.”

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– Catechism of the Catholic Church – CCC 2113

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, save me from myself, from my habits and vices,

and fill me with a yearning for You alone, my God.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“For God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son,

so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish

but may have eternal life.”

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– John 3:16 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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“For God so loved the world…”

What Grace!

What Great Love!

What a Great God!

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“that He gave His only Son…”

What Great Kindness!

What a Great Sacrifice!

What a Great Son!

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“so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish…”

What a Great Revelation!

What Great Mercy!

What a Great Opportunity!

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“but may have eternal life.”

What Glory!

What Great Benevolence!

What a Great Future!

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God created us,

He redeemed us,

He loves us with an amazing love!

He waits for us – every day –

as eagerly as the father of the prodigal son did.

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He wants us with Him.

He wants us to respond to Him with all our love.

How precious we must be to Him!

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But He made us free

…and the choice is ours alone.

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QUOTES…

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“For a small reward, a man will hurry away on a long journey;

while for eternal life, many will hardly take a single step.”

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– Thomas a Kempis

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“Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever?”

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– C. S. Lewis

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“Jesus is the door of our life

– and not only of eternal life, but also of our daily lives.”

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– Pope Francis

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, my Lord, You are the door to eternal life.

I love You. Forgive me. Heal me.

Help me make the right choices.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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O search me, God, and know my heart.

O test me and know my thoughts.

See that I follow not the wrong path

and lead me in the path of life eternal.

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– Psalm 139:23-24 (Grail)

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QUOTE…

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"You do not need wings to go in search of Him,

you only need to be on your own

and to find Him within yourself;

try not to make a stranger of so good a guest;

with great humility, speak to Him as you would to your father,

petition Him as you would your father,

tell Him all of your doings,

ask Him for His help to do good,

knowing that you are not worthy to be His child."

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– St. Teresa of Avila

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, draw me away from the path of self-destruction,

and lead me to the path of life eternal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Whoever obeys what Christ says

is the kind of person in whom God’s love is perfected.

That’s how we know we are in Christ.

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– 1 John 2:5 (GW)

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REFLECTION…

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"That’s how we know…"

Keeping the commandments is a sign of true knowledge of God.

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Knowing God, or knowing Jesus,

is not merely an intellectual exercise,

nor does it mean that the immensity of God can be grasped by man’s limited understanding.

It is something much simpler and more important:

knowing God means being united to Him by faith and love…and by grace.

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We must keep His commandments and keep His word,

as we walk as He walked.

In this respect, St Prosper tells us:

Walk as He walked.

Does that not mean giving up the comforts He gave up?

Does that not mean not being afraid of the kind of trials He bore?

Does that not mean teaching what He taught […]?

Does that not mean persevering in helping even those who show no appreciation?,

Does that not mean praying for one’s enemies?,

Does that not mean being kind to evildoers?

Does that not mean serenely tolerating the proud?

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As Christians we need to – we must – identify our life and our actions with Christ’s.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Speak to my heart, O Lord, as I seek to obey Your commandments and to walk with You towards everlasting life.

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