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Jesus 365 - August August 1 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light. Mt11:29-30 August 2 What is written in the Law? How do you read it? 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' Do this and you will live. L10:26-28 (Deuteronomy 6:5 / Leviticus 19:18) August 3 A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, ' and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? Go and do likewise. L10:30-37 August 4 You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. It will not be taken away. L10:41 August 5 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. J9:4-5 d August 6 Do you believe in the Son of Man? You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you. For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. J9:35,37 & 39 August 7 I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger, in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise the stranger's voice. J10:1-5 h August 8 I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. J10:7-10 h August 9 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. J10:11-13 h August 10 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. J10:14-16 h August 11 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. J10:17-18 h August 12 The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. J10:25-29 h August 13 I and the Father are one. J10:30 h August 14 Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods?' If he called them 'gods', to whom the word of God came - and the Scripture cannot be broken - what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may learn and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. J10:34-38 (Psalm 82:6) h August 15 Blessed... are those who hear the word of God and obey it. L11:28 m August 16 Now then, woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed, wickedness and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! You foolish people! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean. Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. Mt23:25-26 / L11:39-41 h August 17 Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give God a tenth of your spices and all kinds of garden herbs - mint, rue, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness, and love of God. You should have practised the latter without leaving the former undone. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. Mt23:23-24 / L11:42 h August 18 Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places. L11:43 h August 19 Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it. L11:44 h August 20 You experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. L11:46 h August 21 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'if we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in the shedding of the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets, and that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore, God in his wisdom says, 'I am sending you prophets and apostles, wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will persecute and flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.' And so upon you will come all the righteous blood of all the prophets that has been shed on earth since the beginning, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Yes, I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for it all. Mt23:29-36 / L11:47-51 h August 22 Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering. L11:52 h August 23 Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. L12:15 m August 24 The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. L12:16-21 m August 25 Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. L12:35-41 d August 26 Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants in his household to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat his fellow menservants and women servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him to a place with the hypocrites and unbelievers, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Mt24:45-51 / L12:42-48 d August 27 I have come to bring fire on earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! L12:49-50 d August 28 There were some Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will perish. L13:1-5 h August 29 A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil? 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' L13:6-9 m August 30 You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her? L13:15-16 h August 31 Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled to him on the way, or he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge will turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. L12:57-59 m
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