The Daily Lectionary for WEDNESDAY, January 8, 2020

The Daily Lectionary

WEDNESDAY, January 8, 2020

(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)

Psalm 72

Prayers for the king

1  Endow the king with your justice, O God,
     the royal son with your righteousness.
2  May he judge your people in righteousness,
     your afflicted ones with justice.

3  May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
     the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4  May he defend the afflicted among the people
     and save the children of the needy;
     may he crush the oppressor.
5  May he endure as long as the sun,
     as long as the moon, through all generations.
6  May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
     like showers watering the earth.
7  In his days may the righteous flourish
     and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

8  May he rule from sea to sea
     and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9  May the desert tribes bow before him
     and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
     bring tribute to him.
   May the kings of Sheba and Seba
     present him gifts.
11 May all kings bow down to him
     and all nations serve him.

12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
     the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
     and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
     for precious is their blood in his sight.

15 Long may he live!
     May gold from Sheba be given him.
   May people ever pray for him
     and bless him all day long.
16 May grain abound throughout the land;
     on the tops of the hills may it sway.
   May the crops flourish like Lebanon
     and thrive like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever;
     may it continue as long as the sun.

   Then all nations will be blessed through him,
     and they will call him blessed.

18 Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
     who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;
     may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
   Amen and Amen.

20 This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.

1 Kings 10:14-25

Solomon’s splendor

14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, 15 not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

18 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. 22 The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

23 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

Ephesians 4:7, 11-16

Gifts according to Christ

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
…
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets.]

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Daily Lectionary is a three-year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year A. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2020, we will be in Year B. The year which ended at Advent 2019 was Year C. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
The Daily Lectionary for WEDNESDAY, January 8, 2020
Psalm 72; 1 Kings 10:14-25; Ephesians 4:7, 11-16

The Daily Prayer for WEDNESDAY, January 8, 2020

The Daily Prayer

WEDNESDAY, January 8, 2020

In the sayings of the desert fathers, this story is recorded: “A brother came to see Abba Poemen and said to him, ‘Abba, I have many thoughts and they put me in danger.’ The old man led him outside and said to him, ‘Expand your chest and do not breathe in.’ He said, ‘I cannot do that.’ Then the old man said to him, ‘If you cannot do that, no more can you prevent thoughts from arising, but you can resist them.’”

Lord, we pray not to get lost in the reality of our own depravity, but rather to find ourselves morning by morning in the light of your mercy and redemption. Amen.

Verse of the Day for WEDNESDAY, January 8, 2020

Amos 5:14-15

Seek good, not evil,
  that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
  just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good;
  maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
  on the remnant of Joseph.

Read all of Amos 5

Listen to Amos 5

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Un dia a la Vez - Miércoles 8 de enero de 2020

Dios es compañía

Aunque pase por el más oscuro de los valles, no temeré peligro alguno, porque tú, Señor, estás conmigo.

—Salmo 23:4 (DHH)

Ayer te hablaba de los momentos en que Dios nos permite pasar por valles de soledad y momentos de mucha tristeza y dolor. Sin embargo, eso no se queda así, pues auque estemos atravesando los peores momentos, Dios siempre está a nuestro lado.

En medio de la enfermedad te promete ser tu médico de cabecera, tu sanador. Cuando tienes problemas legales, Dios te promete en su Palabra que «abogado tenemos para con el Padre» (1 Juan 2:1, RV-60) en el cielo. Cuando no tenemos trabajo ni dinero, nos recuerda que Él es nuestro proveedor y que, si se preocupa por las aves que están en el cielo y las flores, ¿cómo no se va a preocupar por sus hijos? Dios sabe cada una de nuestras necesidades, y aun antes de que le pidamos algo, ya conoce nuestros pensamientos.

Así que descansa en el Señor y entrégale toda tu preocupación.

Dios, que es sobre todo tu Padre, te ayudará a seguir adelante y te pondrá en lugares que jamás pensaste alcanzar.

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón
Ayer te hablaba de los momentos en que Dios nos permite pasar por valles de soledad y momentos de mucha tristeza y dolor. Sin embargo, …

Standing Strong Through the Storm - Wednesday, January 8, 2020

FAITH THAT BRINGS HOPE

…for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

—1 John 5:4 (NIV)

We often think that faith is our duty or something we can give back to God. In reality, we cannot even do that on our own. There is nothing we can give to God. We must rely on Him for everything—even our faith. When we accept it as His precious gift, we find victory over sin and trials. We could never have this victory if we relied only on our own tenuous faith. “Faith does not always provide an exemption from suffering, but it does keep us from being defeated at the hands of suffering.”

Carl Moeller, Open Doors’ USA President says, “I met secretly with a courageous believer who had been forced to hang from his ankles or wrists every day, subjected to repeated beatings and was crammed in a three-foot square box for three weeks.

Racked by memories of the agony he’d been through, Aran had been looking at me with a pained expression until I asked the question, “What were you thinking or feeling during that time?”

His face completely changed. A huge smile broke across it, and he gave me two thumbs up.

What was he thinking…?

Aran simply said, “That I was counted worthy to suffer for Jesus Christ.”

A Christian leader in another restricted country shared the situation there in these words:

In our country, we live in the midst of a pressure cooker. To survive as Christians, we must have a pressure cooker faith. Our young people decide for Christ not because He offers them the most, or because it is fashionable, but because they consider that here is One worth dying for. That may even be what their discipleship may have for them.

Standing Strong Through the Storm (SSTS) examines persecution and the results of persecution—suffering and martyrdom. Satan wants to dishearten us and create hopelessness because of persecution and suffering. We will expose Satan’s lies and show how by faith we can experience God’s restoration of our hope—“the oxygen of the human spirit.”

RESPONSE: Today I will rely on the Lord to walk by faith and not by sight, no matter what happens.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to ignore Satan’s lies and live victoriously today by faith in the hope which only You can give and restore.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

LHM Daily Devotions -January 8, 2020 - And Still He Loves Us

"And Still He Loves Us"

Jan. 8, 2020

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

—Romans 6:1-11 (ESV)

Another Christmas season has come and gone. Our New Year's Day celebrations are now more than a week old. I find it pretty much a rule that after the buzz of Christmas and New Year's Day has come and gone there's a bit of melancholy that sets in. The good cheer and hopeful anticipation for the new year has had a chance to fade, and the real matter of living gets back to its normal routine.

That's where the rubber meets the road, isn't it, especially for the Christian—the normal routine? As we reengage with our colleagues in the workplace, how does our living reflect the gift of the Savior we have just finished celebrating? As we head out on the road, how quickly do we find ourselves silently (or not so silently) laser beaming drivers to oblivion? Is it possible for the light from Bethlehem's star to illumine our lives with the hope and joy of the Savior beyond the last Christmas carol heard and the last goodbye to visiting family and friends?

It's easy to take for granted the new life we have been given in Christ. How often the world suffocates our desire to live a life that's pleasing to God. How often it leaves us with nothing but junk. "Think! Think!" I urge myself, looking for some internal resolve against old habits and knee-jerk reactions. "Watch out for the landmines and the dodgy situations! Do the right thing!" you might say to yourself.

But even as we slip and slide through life, blowing it here, fumbling it there, God loves us. He knows our weaknesses and shortcomings, our secret sins and indefensible excuses, and He loves us anyway. Jesus is proof of that. He "came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10b)—and that includes you, and that includes me. And by His death and resurrection, He has given us newness of life.

And what better knowledge than this can we have in the new year?

THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for the new life You have given us in Your Son. May our lives glorify Him—the One who came to save us. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Reflection Questions:

• What's the hardest part about making resolutions "stick" in your life?
• Do you walk in "newness of life" better some days than others? What makes the difference?
• When you do something wrong or foolish, how does God see you through?

This Daily Devotion was written by Paul Schreiber. Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
What's the hardest part about making resolutions "stick" in your life?

CPTLN devocional del 08 de enero de 2020 - Aun así, Él nos ama

ALIMENTO DIARIO

Aun así, Él nos ama

08 de Enero de 2020

Entonces, ¿qué diremos? ¿Seguiremos pecando, para que la gracia abunde? ¡De ninguna manera! Porque los que hemos muerto al pecado, ¿cómo podemos seguir viviendo en él? ¿No saben ustedes que todos los que fuimos bautizados en Cristo Jesús, fuimos bautizados en su muerte? Porque por el bautismo fuimos sepultados con él en su muerte, para que así como Cristo resucitó de los muertos por la gloria del Padre, así también nosotros vivamos una vida nueva. Porque si nos hemos unido a Cristo en su muerte, así también nos uniremos a él en su resurrección. Sabemos que nuestro antiguo yo fue crucificado juntamente con él, para que el cuerpo del pecado sea destruido, a fin de que no sirvamos más al pecado. Porque el que ha muerto, ha sido liberado del pecado. Así que, si morimos con Cristo, creemos que también viviremos con él. Sabemos que Cristo resucitó y que no volverá a morir, pues la muerte ya no tiene poder sobre él. Porque en cuanto a su muerte, murió al pecado de una vez y para siempre; pero en cuanto a su vida, vive para Dios. Así también ustedes, considérense muertos al pecado pero vivos para Dios en Cristo Jesús, nuestro Señor.

—Romanos 6:1-11 (RVC)

Otra temporada navideña llegó y se fue. Las celebraciones de Año Nuevo pasaron hace más de una semana y luego que el zumbido de Navidad y Año Nuevo han pasado, queda un poco de melancolía. La alegría y la anticipación con esperanza del nuevo año han comenzado a desvanecerse y la vida vuelve a su rutina normal.

A medida que nos reencontramos con nuestros colegas o compañeros de estudio, ¿cómo refleja nuestra vida el don del Salvador que acabamos de celebrar? Cuando vamos manejando, ¿qué tan rápido nos encontramos enojados en silencio (o no tan silenciosamente) con los conductores que nos agreden? ¿Es posible que la luz de la estrella de Belén ilumine nuestras vidas con la esperanza y la alegría del Salvador más allá del último villancico que escuchamos y el último "hasta pronto" a nuestros familiares y amigos que nos visitaron?

Es fácil dar por sentada la nueva vida que se nos ha dado en Cristo. Con mucha frecuencia el mundo sofoca nuestro deseo de vivir una vida que le agrade a Dios, y también con mucha frecuencia nos deja con nada más que basura. "¡Piensa! ¡Piensa!", nos decimos, buscando una resolución interna contra los viejos hábitos y las reacciones instintivas. "¡Cuidado con las situaciones poco fiables! ¡Haz lo correcto!", nos imploramos a nosotros mismos.

Pero incluso cuando vamos dejándonos llevar por la vida, Dios nos ama. Él conoce nuestras debilidades y defectos, nuestros pecados secretos y excusas indefendibles, y nos ama de todos modos. Jesús es prueba de eso. "Porque el Hijo del Hombre vino a buscar y a salvar lo que se había perdido" (Lucas 19:10b), y eso te incluye a ti, y eso me incluye a mí. Con su muerte y resurrección, Dios nos ha dado nueva vida.

¿Y qué mejor conocimiento que este podemos tener en el nuevo año?

ORACIÓN: Padre celestial, gracias por la nueva vida que nos has dado en tu Hijo. Que nuestras vidas lo glorifiquen a Él, quien vino a salvarnos. En el nombre de Jesús. Amén.

Paul Schreiber

Para reflexionar:

• ¿Qué hace que sea tan difícil que tus resoluciones de nuevo año "duren" toda tu vida?
• Cuando haces algo mal o tonto, ¿cómo te ve Dios?

© Copyright 2019 Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones. Que a través de estos devocionales, la Palabra de Dios te refresque en tu diario caminar.
¿Qué hace que sea tan difícil que tus resoluciones de nuevo año "duren" toda tu vida?

Ministérios Pão Diário - O apagador de dívidas

O apagador de dívidas

Leia: Salmo 103:1-12 | A Bíblia em um ano: GÊNESIS 20–22; MATEUS 6:19-34

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De nós ele afastou nossos pecados, tanto como o Oriente está longe do Ocidente.

—Salmo 103:12

Segurei as lágrimas ao revisar minhas despesas médicas. Com o severo corte no salário do meu marido após o desemprego prolongado, pagar metade do saldo exigiria anos de parcelas mensais. Orei antes de ligar para o consultório do médico para explicar-lhe nossa situação e solicitar um plano de pagamento. Porém, o recepcionista me informou que o médico tinha perdoado a nossa dívida.

Soluçando, agradeci. A generosidade me encheu de gratidão. Desliguei o telefone e louvei a Deus. Pensei em guardar a conta do médico como uma lembrança do que Deus tinha feito.

A decisão do médico em perdoar minha dívida me trouxe à mente a escolha de Deus em perdoar a dívida insuperável dos meus pecados. As Escrituras nos asseguram que Deus é “compassivo e misericordioso” e “lento para se irar e cheio de amor” (v.8). Ele “nem nos trata como merecemos” (v.10).

Ele remove nossos pecados, “tanto como o Oriente está longe do Ocidente” (v.12), quando nos arrependemos e aceitamos Cristo como nosso Salvador. Seu sacrifício apaga completamente a nossa dívida passada.

Uma vez perdoados, não somos definidos nem limitados por nossa dívida antiga. Em resposta à graciosa dádiva do Senhor, podemos reconhecer tudo o que Ele fez. Oferecendo a nossa dedicada adoração e grato afeto, podemos viver para Ele e compartilhá-lo com os outros.

Pai, obrigado por apagares completamente a nossa dívida quando colocamos nossa confiança em ti.

A dívida impagável que contraímos pelo pecado é apagada pelo nosso Deus misericordioso.

por Xochitl Dixon

© 2020 Ministérios Pão Diário
Segurei as lágrimas ao revisar minhas despesas médicas. Com o severo corte no salário do meu marido após o desemprego prolongado, pagar metade do saldo exigiria anos de parcelas mensais.