I pray, Lord, that you enlighten my mind, inflame my will, purify my heart, and sanctify my soul. Pope Clement XI
Posted on 06/02/2006 8:16:12 AM PDT by Knitting A Conundrum
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish;
thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all thy works.
Psalm 73: 26-28
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10: 19-25
"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.
" But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also.
"If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It is to fulfil the word that is written in their law, `They hated me without a cause.' "
John 15: 18-25
"And to the angel of the church in Thyati'ra write: `The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
"`I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jez'ebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
"I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.
"But to the rest of you in Thyati'ra, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay upon you any other burden; only hold fast what you have, until I come.
"He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father; and I will give him the morning star.
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' "
Revelation 2: 18-29
Come Into Our Lives
O Lord, Giver of life,
Come into our lives this day, today, always,
The lives of your children,
And renew the heart of each of us.
You are the way, the truth and the life.
Strengthen our feet to walk that way,
Soften our hearts to accept that truth.
Breathe into us the life that only you can give.
When the darkness seems so heavy,
And the dawn so far away,
Touch us, O Lord, with your mercy
And give us the grace to carry on.
Bring to mind the cost of your touch,
How much you were willing to do to reach our lives,
And let us know that you are not a small god
Who is happy for the crumbs of our remembering,
But the Master of all,
Creator who breathed life into the universe,
Who offers us the fire of his love
To transform us, moment by moment, step by step
Into the children you would have us to be.
Amen.
Devotional ping!
I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you;
my words: to have you for their theme;
my actions: to reflect my love for you;
my sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.
I want to do what you ask of me:
in the way you ask,
for as long as you ask,
because you ask it.
I pray, Lord, that you enlighten my mind, inflame my will, purify my heart, and sanctify my soul. Pope Clement XI
That is a beautiful icon!
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Thank you so much for this beautiful devotion!
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit.
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.
We love, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:7-19
I Came to You Late
I came to You late, O Beauty so ancient and new. I came to love You late. You were within me and I was outside where I rushed about wildly searching for You like some monster loose in Your beautiful world. You were with me but I was not with You. You called me, You shouted to me, You wrapped me in Your Splendour, You broke past my deafness, You bathed me in Your Light, You sent my blindness reeling. You gave out such a delightful fragrance and I drew it in and came breathing hard after You. I tasted, and it made me hunger and thirst; You touched me, and I burned to know Your Peace.
St. Augustine of Hippo
"I Came To You Late"
That is beautiful, KAC, brought tears to my eyes.
It's one of my favorite pieces by St. Augustine...having been an adult convert who was all over the place spiritually until God sat me down and said, look, here is the place, that prayer speaks to my heart.
Thank God, we were not TOO late! By His Grace!
Amen!
The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Psalm 23
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O Valley of the Shadow of Death
where we face the ultimate reality
of how frail our life is,
how near eternity is
at any minute,
coming in pain or shock or fear or sleep,
suddenly there one moment
and not the next,
we think so often we stand in the sun
when we are walking down your narrow path.
O Valley of the Shadow of Death,
in your dark paths,
I shall not fear --
neither ambush,
nor pain,
nor uncertainty,
for the light hidden in you is so bright
there are no words.
He is with me,
My shepherd,
my Lord,
my God
even as I lay trembling
waiting to know if my tomorrow will come.
In his hand is the peace
that makes no sense,
but is sense indeed,
and when the pain and confusion come,
and I do not know what is next,
he comforts me.
Valley of the Shadow of Death,
Gateway into tomorrow,
Doorway,
I will not fear you,
for you open to me my final hope.
May I dwell in the house of my Lord forever,
Amen.
O Lord of my life and Lord of my peace,
whose love is a fountain that never will cease,
and there in those waters my soul finds release,
O Jesus my Lord, all glory to thee!
O Lord of my life, and Lord of my pain,
when the darkness is deep and my tears fall like rain,
your hand reaches out and heals me again,
O Jesus my Lord, all glory to thee!
O Lord of my life, and Lord of my hope,
When I tumble and fall on life's slippery slope
Your arms wrap me around me like the strongest of rope,
O Jesus my Lord, all glory to thee!
O Lord of my life, and Lord of my day
O be with me Lord each step of the way
Until I reach that home where I long to stay,
O Jesus my Lord, all glory to thee!
Thank you for these Blessings, Dear Knitting, on this Day of our Lord's Goodness and Grace.
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