Word for today: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever ! Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21 NIV
A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, as it is in Heaven. Not only, to get to Heaven.
To finish the Bible in one year, Read Psalms 1-5 and 2nd Corinthians 1,2:4,
Old Testament Reading for today – Listen or read it for yourself:
Reflection for Today.
Also read the verses, if you like.
Psalm 1
1 How blessed is anyone who rejects the advice of the wicked and does not take a stand in the path that sinners tread, nor a seat in company with cynics,
2 but who delights in the law of Yahweh and murmurs his law day and night.
3 Such a one is like a tree planted near streams; it bears fruit in season and its leaves never wither, and every project succeeds.
4 How different the wicked, how different! Just like chaff blown around by the wind
5 the wicked will not stand firm at the Judgement nor sinners in the gathering of the upright.
6 For Yahweh watches over the path of the upright, but the path of the wicked is doomed.
Psalm 2
1 Why this uproar among the nations, this impotent muttering of the peoples?
2 Kings of the earth take up position, princes plot together against Yahweh and his anointed,
3 ‘Now let us break their fetters! Now let us throw off their bonds!’
4 He who is enthroned in the heavens laughs, Yahweh makes a mockery of them,
5 then in his anger rebukes them, in his rage he strikes them with terror.
6 ‘I myself have anointed my king on Zion my holy mountain.’
7 I will proclaim the decree of Yahweh: He said to me, ‘You are my son, today have I fathered you.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give you the nations as your birthright, the whole wide world as your possession.
9 With an iron sceptre you will break them, shatter them like so many pots.’
10 So now, you kings, come to your senses, you earthly rulers, learn your lesson!
11 In fear be submissive to Yahweh;
12 with trembling kiss his feet, lest he be angry and your way come to nothing, for his fury flares up in a moment. How blessed are all who take refuge in him!
Psalm 3
1 [Psalm Of David When he was fleeing from his son Absalom] Yahweh, how countless are my enemies, how countless those who rise up against me,
2 how countless those who say of me, ‘No salvation for him from his God!
3 But you, Yahweh, the shield at my side, my glory, you hold my head high.
4 I cry out to Yahweh; he answers from his holy mountain.
5 As for me, if I lie down and sleep, I shall awake, for Yahweh sustains me.
6 I have no fear of people in their thousands upon thousands, who range themselves against me wherever I turn.
7 Arise, Yahweh, rescue me, my God! You strike all my foes across the face, you break the teeth of the wicked.
8 In Yahweh is salvation, on your people, your blessing!
Psalm 4
1 [For the choirmaster For strings Psalm Of David] When I call, answer me, God, upholder of my right. In my distress you have set me at large; take pity on me and hear my prayer!
2 Children of men, how long will you be heavy of heart, why love what is vain and chase after illusions?
3 Realise that Yahweh performs wonders for his faithful, Yahweh listens when I call to him.
4 Be careful not to sin, speak in your hearts, and on your beds keep silence.
5 Loyally offer sacrifices, and trust in Yahweh.
6 Many keep saying, ‘Who will put happiness before our eyes?’ Let the light of your face shine on us. Yahweh,
7 to my heart you are a richer joy than all their corn and new wine.
8 In peace I lie down and at once fall asleep, for it is you and none other, Yahweh, who make me rest secure.
Psalm 5
1 [For the choirmaster For flutes Psalm Of David] Give ear to my words, Yahweh, spare a thought for my sighing.
2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God! To you I pray,
3 Yahweh. At daybreak you hear my voice; at daybreak I lay my case before you and fix my eyes on you.
4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil, no sinner can be your guest.
5 Boasters cannot stand their ground under your gaze. You hate evil-doers,
6 liars you destroy; the violent and deceitful Yahweh detests.
7 But, so great is your faithful love, I may come into your house, and before your holy temple bow down in reverence of you.
8 In your saving justice, Yahweh, lead me, because of those who lie in wait for me; make your way plain before me.
9 Not a word from their lips can be trusted, through and through they are destruction, their throats are wide — open graves, their tongues seductive.
10 Lay the guilt on them, God, make their intrigues their own downfall; for their countless offences, thrust them from you, since they have rebelled against you.
11 But joy for all who take refuge in you, endless songs of gladness! You shelter them, they rejoice in you, those who love your name.
12 It is you who bless the upright, Yahweh, you surround them with favour as with a shield.
2nd Corinthians 1
1 Paul, by the will of God an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother, to the church of God in Corinth and to all God’s holy people in the whole of Achaia.
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father and the God who gives every possible encouragement;
4 he supports us in every hardship, so that we are able to come to the support of others, in every hardship of theirs because of the encouragement that we ourselves receive from God.
5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow into our lives; so too does the encouragement we receive through Christ.
6 So if we have hardships to undergo, this will contribute to your encouragement and your salvation; if we receive encouragement, this is to gain for you the encouragement which enables you to bear with perseverance the same sufferings as we do.
7 So our hope for you is secure in the knowledge that you share the encouragement we receive, no less than the sufferings we bear.
8 So in the hardships we underwent in Asia, we want you to be quite certain, brothers, that we were under extraordinary pressure, beyond our powers of endurance, so that we gave up all hope even of surviving.
9 In fact we were carrying the sentence of death within our own selves, so that we should be forced to trust not in ourselves but in God, who raises the dead.
10 He did save us from such a death and will save us — we are relying on him to do so.
11 Your prayer for us will contribute to this, so that, for God’s favour shown to us as the result of the prayers of so many, thanks too may be given by many on our behalf.
12 There is one thing that we are proud of, namely our conscientious conviction that we have always behaved towards everyone, and especially towards you, with that unalloyed holiness that comes from God, relying not on human reasoning but on the grace of God.
13 In our writing, there is nothing that you cannot read clearly and understand;
14 and it is my hope that, just as you have already understood us partially, so you will understand fully that you can be as proud of us as we shall be of you when the Day of our Lord Jesus comes.
15 It was with this assurance that I had been meaning to come to you first, so that you would benefit doubly;
16 both to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then to return to you again from Macedonia, so that you could set me on my way to Judaea.
17 Since that was my purpose, do you think I lightly changed my mind? Or that my plans are based on ordinary human promptings and I have in my mind Yes, yes at the same time as No, no?
18 As surely as God is trustworthy, what we say to you is not both Yes and No.
19 The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, that is, by me and by Silvanus and Timothy, was never Yes-and-No; his nature is all Yes.
20 For in him is found the Yes to all God’s promises and therefore it is ‘through him’ that we answer ‘Amen’ to give praise to God.
21 It is God who gives us, with you, a sure place in Christ
22 and has both anointed us and marked us with his seal, giving us as pledge the Spirit in our hearts.
23 By my life I call on God to be my witness that it was only to spare you that I did not come to Corinth again.
24 We have no wish to lord it over your faith, but to work with you for your joy; for your stand in the faith is firm.
2nd Corinthians 1-4
1 I made up my mind, then, that my next visit to you would not be a painful one,
2 for if I cause you distress I am causing distress to my only possible source of joy.
3 Indeed, I wrote as I did precisely to spare myself distress when I visited you, from the very people who should have given me joy, in the conviction that for all of you my joy was yours too.
4 I wrote to you in agony of mind, not meaning to cause you distress but to show you how very much love I have for you.
Sermons and explanations for the above chapters.
Catholic Daily Reflections
Reading 1, Amos 8:4-6, 9-12
4 Listen to this, you who crush the needy and reduce the oppressed to nothing,
5 you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over so that we can sell our corn, and Sabbath, so that we can market our wheat? Then, we can make the bushel-measure smaller and the shekel-weight bigger, by fraudulently tampering with the scales.
6 We can buy up the weak for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals, and even get a price for the sweepings of the wheat.’
9 ‘On that Day- declares the Lord Yahweh- I shall make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I shall turn your festivals into mourning and all your singing into lamentation; I shall make you all wear sacking round your waists and have all your heads shaved. I shall make it like the mourning for an only child, and it will end like the bitterest of days.
11 ‘The days are coming- declares the Lord Yahweh- when I shall send a famine on the country, not hunger for food, not thirst for water, but famine for hearing Yahweh’s word.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea, will wander from the north to the east, searching for Yahweh’s word, but will not find it.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131
2 Blessed are those who observe his instructions, who seek him with all their hearts,
10 With all my heart I seek you, do not let me stray from your commandments.
20 My heart is pining away with longing at all times for your judgements.
30 I have chosen the way of constancy, I have moulded myself to your judgements.
40 See how I yearn for your precepts; in your saving justice give me life.
131 I open wide my mouth, panting eagerly for your commandments.
Previous Daily Bible Study Blogs
Book of Psalms, Outline Summary, Outline Book of 2 Corinthians (we are studying these books presently)
Audio Drama: Old Testament New Testament Each book is read in its entirety. You can listen to the bible, one book at a time in contemporary English.
Dr. Myles Munroe
I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights
Sermons Rosary Prayers Catholic Answers
Did Mary have other children? No, Listen here
Called to Communion
Pray the Rosary
Rosary Mysteries
The following 4 videos are the 4 Mysteries that we pray on certain days of the week. I like these videos, because I can pray it alone, with only the images, or go along with the sound. The images help me to focus on the particular mystery that I am contemplating as I say the Hail Mary on each bead.
Joyful Mysteries
Luminous Mysteries
Sorrowful Mysteries
Glorious Mysteries
Prayers of the Rosary
Links to “How to pray the rosary” Popular Catholic Prayers
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,
He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
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. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
(this prayer is optional and may be said after all Glory Be to the Fathers…..)
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell.
Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of thy mercy.
Console the souls in Purgatory, particularly those most abandoned. Amen
Hail Mary,
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Hail, Holy Queen
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
That we maybe made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Closing Prayer
O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation.
Grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
that we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The Fatima Prayer:)
Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – I adore thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference’s whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
Prayer to St. Michael
Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Thurzo Gizella Bible Study 
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