Daily Reflection Verses

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Monday – 23 December 2013

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Verses:         

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24

Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 14

Luke 1:57-66

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24

3 The Lord Almighty answers, “I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant.”

² But who will be able to endure the day when he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. ³ He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver. As a metalworker refines silver and gold, so the Lord's messenger will purify the priests, so that they will bring to the Lord the right kind of offerings. ⁴ Then the offerings which the people of Judah and Jerusalem bring to the Lord will be pleasing to him, as they used to be in the past.

²³ “But before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah. ²⁴ He will bring fathers and children together again; otherwise I would have to come and destroy your country.”

Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 14

⁴ Teach me your ways, O Lord;
    make them known to me.
⁵ Teach me to live according to your truth,
    for you are my God, who saves me.
    I always trust in you.

⁸ Because the Lord is righteous and good,
    he teaches sinners the path they should follow.
⁹ He leads the humble in the right way
    and teaches them his will.
¹⁰ With faithfulness and love he leads
    all who keep his covenant and obey his commands.
¹⁴ The Lord is the friend of those who obey him
    and he affirms his covenant with them.

Luke 1:57-66

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard how wonderfully good the Lord had been to her, and they all rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹ When the baby was a week old, they came to circumcise him, and they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother said, “No! His name is to be John.”

⁶¹ They said to her, “But you don't have any relative with that name!” ⁶² Then they made signs to his father, asking him what name he would like the boy to have.

⁶³ Zechariah asked for a writing pad and wrote, “His name is John.” How surprised they all were! ⁶⁴ At that moment Zechariah was able to speak again, and he started praising God. ⁶⁵ The neighbors were all filled with fear, and the news about these things spread through all the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard of it thought about it and asked, “What is this child going to be?” For it was plain that the Lord's power was upon him.

The highest perfection consists not in interior favors or in great raptures, but in the bringing of our wills so closely into conformity with the Will of God that, as soon as we realize that he wills anything, we desire it ourselves with all our might.

-- St. Teresa of Avila

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Source:

Good News Translation (GNT)

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