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Cycle of prayer: 1/23/07

From the Anglican Cycle of Prayer

Psalm: 33: 12-14,19-end I Pet. 2: 1-12

This is one of my favorite passages of the New Testament letters:

1 Pe. 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

In the Message it says this:

11-12Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

There are several important points that I see in this passage

1. We are exiles. No matter how welcoming or adversarial our culture is toward Christians, we are exiles on this earth.

2. as exiles, we aren’t to become “cozy” or as I often say, complacent. In other words, we have a job to do and we are to be about it.

3. We are to live “good” lives

4. Our good lives are to be live AMONG those who inhabit our world - our community - not SEPARATE FROM those around us but AMONG them.

5. We are to live lives that display goodness - lives of good deeds, so that no matter what people may SAY about us, they SEE our good deeds for the Glory of God.

This is really the mandate of all Christians - live as exiles, AMONG the people, do good deeds for the Glory of God. There you have it.

Prayers from the Divine Hours

The Prayer Appointed for the Week

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.†

The Concluding Prayer of the Church

Direct me, O Lord, in all my doings with your most gracious favor, and further me with your continual help; that in all my work begun, continued, and ended in you, I may glorify your holy name, and finally, by your mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

[tags]prayer, divine hours, bible, psalms, exiles[/tags]

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