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Reading
January 8
First Lesson
Isaiah 48:12-21
12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I
am the first, I also am the last.
13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and
my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them,
they stand up together.
14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath
declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his
pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought
him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret
from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and
now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
17 Thus
saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the
LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee
by the way that thou shouldest go.
18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy
peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of
the sea:
19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy
bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been
cut off nor destroyed from before me.
20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a
voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the
end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant
Jacob.
21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts:
he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave
the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
QUESTIONS - Isaiah 48:12-21. Do I always allow God to teach and to lead me through life? (V. 17) RESOLVE.
Second Lesson
Acts 26:1,13-23
1 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for
thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for
himself:
13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above
the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which
journeyed with me.
14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice
speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks.
15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto
thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness
both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things
in the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto
whom now I send thee,
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith
that is in me.
19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the
heavenly vision:
20 But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem,
and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles,
that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for
repentance.
21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went
about to kill me.
22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this
day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things
than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first
that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the
people, and to the Gentiles.
QUESTIONS - Acts 26:1,13-23. Verse 14 says, It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. What does that mean? Do I find it so? Do I do so often, anyway? RESOLVE.