Wednesday, July 5, 2023

The Daily Lectionary for Thursday, July 6, 2023

 

The Daily Lectionary
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Psalm 45:10-17; Genesis 25:19-27; Romans 7:1-6
(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)
  (Semi-continuous Reading Plan)

A Psalm and A Prayer
Responsive Readings from the Psalms and Prayers
for Public Worship and Private Devotions
Psalm 45:10-17
God has anointed you
Eructavit cor meum

“Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; *
  forget your people and your father’s house.

The king will have pleasure in your beauty; *
  he is your master; therefore do him honor.

The people of Tyre are here with a gift; *
  the rich among the people seek your favor.”

All glorious is the princess as she enters; *
  her gown is cloth-of-gold.

In embroidered apparel she is brought to the king; *
  after her the bridesmaids follow in procession.

With joy and gladness they are brought, *
  and enter into the palace of the king.

“In place of fathers, O king, you shall have sons; *
  you shall make them princes over all the earth.

I will make your name to be remembered
    from one generation to another; *
  therefore nations will praise you for ever and ever.”

Heavenly Father, our hearts overflow with love for You. Our love for You is a holy love; the love that You first poured into our hearts. We only return to You what You have first given to us: love, friendship, grace upon grace. We pledge our lives to Your service. We pray that by the power of Your indwelling Spirit we will remain loyal to You always. Help us share the good news of Jesus’ coming and His saving sacrifice with those who do not know Him. Help us demonstrate His resurrection life by the way we witness for Him in all our words and ways. We thank You for Your presence with us as we pray in Jesus’ name:
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”
Genesis 25:19-27
Birth and childhood of Jacob and Esau

This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
    and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
    and the older will serve the younger.”
When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.


Romans 7:1-6
Dying to the law through Christ

Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.


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. Responsive Readings from the Common Book of Prayer (1789).

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year A. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2023, we will be in Year B. The year which ended at Advent 2022 was Year A. 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 on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
The Daily Lectionary for Thursday, July 6, 2023
Psalm 45:10-17; Genesis 25:19-27; Romans 7:1-6

The Morning Prayer for Thursday, July 6, 2023

 

The Morning Prayer
Thursday, July 6, 2023


For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.

Dear Father in heaven, open our hearts to the wonder of being able to call you Father, the wonder of being united with you. You are the source of all life and strength. In you is redemption, and we need to be redeemed before we can live rightly. Take from us the pressures forced on us by the flood of events. Make us completely free as people led by your hand, people who may be joyful because everything will be overcome through the power you grant us in Jesus Christ. Protect us from fear and from all evil. Show more and more clearly your good and wonderful goal for all people on earth, so that in expectation they may find happiness even in all the stress of today. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Thursday, July 6, 2023

 

Verse of the Day
Thursday, July 6, 2023


Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
After Jesus left the temple, He initiated a conversation with His disciples about what would happen in the future (Matt. 24:3). The future Jesus portrayed didn’t look too bright. He described persecutions, urban devastation, hatred, widespread deception, earthquakes, and famines. He added that terrifying cosmic events would occur (v. 29). Then He described His return.

As you read, visualize what Jesus said about the Second Coming. Notice that some people will mourn upon His return (v. 30). Why would they respond that way? For those who have accepted Jesus as Lord, the response should be joyful expectation. Pray as the apostle John did: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).


Read all of Matthew Chapter 24

Listen to Matthew Chapter 24


Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.