Happy New Year and Good morning beloved child of God. “You are higher than the Cherubim; you changed the bad state of the earth, when you came in a nature like ours” (St Athanasius). Begotten before the dawn and before all ages, today the Lord, our Saviour, was born of the Virgin.
Psalm 99
The Lord is king; the peoples tremble.
He is throned on the cherubim; the earth quakes.
The Lord is great in Sion.
He is supreme over all the peoples.
Let them praise his name, so terrible and great,
he is holy, full of power.
You are a king who loves what is right;
you have established equity, justice and right;
you have established them in Jacob.
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before Sion, his footstool.
He the Lord is holy.
Among his priests were Aaron and Moses,
among those who invoked his name was Samuel.
They invoked the Lord and he answered.
To them he spoke in the pillar of cloud.
They did his will; they kept the law,
which he, the Lord, had given.
O Lord our God, you answered them.
For them you were a God who forgives;
yet you punished all their offences.
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before his holy mountain
for the Lord our God is holy.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
TODAY’S WORD: And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. (Lk 2:16ff)
DAILY PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, I exalt your name above every other name. For in you I have pardon, mercy, grace and victory over sin and death. You humbled yourself for my sake and for the sake of all sinners by sharing in our humanity and by dying on the cross. Help me to always praise your holy name and to live for your greater glory.” Amen.
The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Think positive. It is well with you. God is in control. Have a blessed and fulfilling New Year.
ONE PERCENT BIBLE CHALLENGE: MATTHEW 1.