Ecclesiastes 1:6-10

[6]The wind goes to the south, turning back again to the north; circling round for ever.

[7]All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, there they
go again.

[8]All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing,
or the ear of its hearing.

[9]That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done,
and there is no new thing under the sun.

[10]Is there anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was before
us.

OKWEWAYO

Romans 12:1-21

[1]For this reason I make request to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you will give your bodies
as a living offering, holy, pleasing to God, which is the worship it is right for you to give him.

[2]And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that
by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God.

[3]But I say to every one of you, through the grace given to me, not to have an over-high opinion of
himself, but to have wise thoughts, as God has given to every one a measure of faith.

[4]For, as we have a number of parts in one body, but all the parts have not the same use,

[5]So we, though we are a number of persons, are one body in Christ, and are dependent on one
another;

[6]And having different qualities by reason of the grace given to us, such as the quality of a prophet, let
it be made use of in relation to the measure of our faith;

[7]Or the position of a Deacon of the church, let a man give himself to it; or he who has the power of
teaching, let him make use of it;

[8]He who has the power of comforting, let him do so; he who gives, let him give freely; he who has the
power of ruling, let him do it with a serious mind; he who has mercy on others, let it be with joy.

[9]Let love be without deceit. Be haters of what is evil; keep your minds fixed on what is good.

[10]Be kind to one another with a brother’s love, putting others before yourselves in honour;

[11]Be not slow in your work, but be quick in spirit, as the Lord’s servants;

[12]Being glad in hope, quiet in trouble, at all times given to prayer,

[13]Giving to the needs of the saints, ready to take people into your houses.
[14]Give blessing and not curses to those who are cruel to you.

[15]Take part in the joy of those who are glad, and in the grief of those who are sorrowing.

[16]Be in harmony with one another. Do not have a high opinion of yourselves, but be in agreement
with common people. Do not give yourselves an air of wisdom.

[17]Do not give evil for evil to any man. Let all your business be well ordered in the eyes of all men.

[18]As far as it is possible for you be at peace with all men.

[19]Do not give punishment for wrongs done to you, dear brothers, but give way to the wrath of God;
for it is said in the holy Writings, Punishment is mine, I will give reward, says the Lord.

[20]But if one who has hate for you is in need of food or of drink, give it to him, for in so doing you will
put coals of fire on his head.

[21]Do not let evil overcome you, but overcome evil by good.

ENVY NOT THE OPPRESSOR

Proverbs 3:31-32

[31]Have no envy of the violent man, or take any of his ways as an example.

[32]For the wrong-hearted man is hated by the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.

GETTING OUT OF CAPTIVITY

Isaiah 61:1-11

[1]The spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has
sent me to make the broken-hearted well, to say that the prisoners will be made free, and that those in
chains will see the light again;

[2]To give knowledge that the year of the Lord’s good pleasure has come, and the day of punishment
from our God; to give comfort to all who are sad;

[3]To give them a fair head-dress in place of dust, the oil of joy in place of the clothing of grief, praise in
place of sorrow; so that they may be named trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, and so that
he may have glory.

[4]And they will be building again the old broken walls, and will make new the old waste places, and will
put up again the towns which have been waste for long generations.

[5]And men from strange countries will be your herdsmen, and those who are not Israelites will be your
ploughmen and vine-keepers.

[6]But you will be named the priests of the Lord, the servants of our God: you will have the wealth of the
nations for your food, and you will be clothed with their glory.
[7]As they had twice as much grief, and marks of shame were their heritage, so in their land they will be
rewarded twice over, and will have eternal joy.

[8]For I, the Lord, take pleasure in upright judging; I will not put up with the violent taking away of right;
and I will certainly give them their reward, and I will make an eternal agreement with them.

[9]And their seed will be noted among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples: it will be
clear to all who see them that they are the seed to which the Lord has given his blessing.

[10]I will be full of joy in the Lord, my soul will be glad in my God; for he has put on me the clothing of
salvation, covering me with the robe of righteousness, as the husband puts on a fair head-dress, and the
bride makes herself beautiful with jewels.

[11]For as the earth puts out buds, and as the garden gives growth to the seeds which are planted in it,
so the Lord will make righteousness and praise to be flowering before all the nations.

GETTING OUT OF CAPTIVITY 2

Psalms 56:13

[13]Because you have taken my soul from the power of death; and kept my feet from falling, so that I
may be walking before God in the light of life.

Isaiah 1:1-16

[1]The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw about Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

[2]Give ear, O heavens, and you, O earth, to the word which the Lord has said: I have taken care of my
children till they became men, but their hearts have been turned away from me.

[3]Even the ox has knowledge of its owner, and the ass of the place where its master puts its food: but
Israel has no knowledge, my people give no thought to me.

[4]O nation full of sin, a people weighted down with crime, a generation of evil-doers, false-hearted
children: they have gone away from the Lord, they have no respect for the Holy One of Israel, their
hearts are turned back from him.

[5]Why will you have more and more punishment? Why keep on in your evil ways? Every head is tired
and every heart is feeble.

[6]The body, from head to foot, is all diseased; it is a mass of open wounds, marks of blows, and broken
flesh: the flow of blood has not been stopped, and no oil has been put on the wounds.

[7]Your country has become waste; your towns are burned with fire; as for your land, it is overturned
before your eyes, made waste and overcome by men from strange lands.

[8]And the daughter of Zion has become like a tent in a vine-garden, like a watchman’s house in a field
of fruit, like a town shut in by armies.
[9]If the Lord of armies had not kept some at least of us safe, we would have been like Sodom, and the
fate of Gomorrah would have been ours.

[10]Give ear to the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; let your hearts be turned to the law of our
God, you people of Gomorrah.

[11]What use to me is the number of the offerings which you give me? Says the Lord; your burned
offerings of sheep, and the best parts of fat cattle, are a weariness to me; I take no pleasure in the blood
of oxen, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

[12]At whose request do you come before me, making my house unclean with your feet?

[13]Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new
moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.

[14]Your new moons and your regular feasts are a grief to my soul: they are a weight in my spirit; I am
crushed under them.

[15]And when your hands are stretched out to me, my eyes will be turned away from you: even though
you go on making prayers, I will not give ear: your hands are full of blood.

[16]Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there
be an end of sinning;

Isaiah 33:23

[23]Your cords have become loose; they were not able to make strong the support of their sails, the sail
was not stretched out: then the blind will take much property, the feeble-footed will make division of
the goods of war.

Isaiah 58:8

[8]Then will light be shining on you like the morning, and your wounds will quickly be well: and your
righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will come after you.

Habakkuk 2:1

[1]I will take my position and be on watch, placing myself on my tower, looking out to see what he will
say to me, and what answer he will give to my protest.

Romans 7:16-25

[16]But, if I do that which I have no mind to do, I am in agreement with the law that the law is good.

[17]So it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me.

[18]For I am conscious that in me, that is, in my flesh, there is nothing good: I have the mind but not the
power to do what is right.
[19]For the good which I have a mind to do, I do not: but the evil which I have no mind to do, that I do.

[20]But if I do what I have no mind to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me.

[21]So I see a law that, though I have a mind to do good, evil is present in me.

[22]In my heart I take pleasure in the law of God,

[23]But I see another law in my body, working against the law of my mind, and making me the servant of
the law of sin which is in my flesh.

[24]How unhappy am I! who will make me free from the body of this death?

[25]I give praise to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So with my mind I am a servant to the law of God,
but with my flesh to the law of sin.

Psalms 19:12

[12]Who has full knowledge of his errors? Make me clean from secret evil.

IT IS POSSIBLE

Acts 3:1-12

[1]Now Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer;

[2]And a certain man who from birth had had no power in his legs, was taken there every day, and put
down at the door of the Temple which is named Beautiful, requesting money from those who went into
the Temple;

[3]He then, seeing Peter and John going into the Temple, made a request to them.

[4]And Peter, looking at him, with John, said, Keep your eyes on us.

[5]And he gave attention to them, hoping to get something from them.

[6]But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, get up on your feet.

[7]And he took him by his right hand, lifting him up; and straight away his feet and the bones of his legs
became strong,

[8]And, jumping up, he got on to his feet and went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and
giving praise to God.

[9]And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

[10]And they saw that it was the man who made requests for money at the door of the Temple, and
they were full of wonder and surprise at what had taken place.

[11]And while he kept his hands on Peter and John, all the people came running together to the covered
way which is named Solomon’s, full of wonder.
[12]And when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so greatly surprised at
this man? Or why are you looking at us as if by our power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs?

OBWESIGA

2 Timothy 2:1-6

[1]So then, my child, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.

[2]And the things which I have said to you before a number of witnesses, give to those of the faith, so
that they may be teachers of others.

[3]Be ready to do without the comforts of life, as one of the army of Christ Jesus.

[4]A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he
may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army.

[5]And if a man takes part in a competition he does not get the crown if he has not kept the rules.

[6]It is right for the worker in the fields to be the first to take of the fruit.

OKUSABA

Luke 18:1-10

[1]And he made a story for them, the point of which was that men were to go on making prayer and not
get tired;

[2]Saying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man:

[3]And there was a widow in that town, and she kept on coming to him and saying, Give me my right
against the man who has done me wrong.

[4]And for a time he would not: but later, he said to himself, Though I have no fear of God or respect for
man,

[5]Because this widow is a trouble to me, I will give her her right; for if not, I will be completely tired out
by her frequent coming.

[6]And the Lord said, Give ear to the words of the evil judge.

[7]And will not God do right in the cause of his saints, whose cries come day and night to his ears,
though he is long in doing it?

[8]I say to you that he will quickly do right in their cause. But when the Son of man comes, will there be
any faith on earth?

[9]And he made this story for some people who were certain that they were good, and had a low
opinion of others:
[10]Two men went up to the Temple for prayer; one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-farmer.

Mon 24 April 2023

Psalms 147:7

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou
shalt deal bountifully with me.

Inspiration

Sin takes many forms. Pride, greed, lust, envy, and more. But all sin leads to bondage. All sin imprisons
us. And even as Christians, our enemy continues to set traps of temptation for us, hoping to bind us
once again. And every time, it is God who breaks us free, on our day of salvation, and each time we
stumble. And when He rescues us, His glory is revealed when others see us living liberated lives.

Prayer

Lord God, thank You for saving me and rescuing me from my bondage to sin. Sometimes, I stumble or
wander back into those familiar chains. Please break me free once again and guard my heart and life.
Surround me with Your righteous ones, so that I may be better defended against the enemy as I move
forward proclaiming the goodness of Your name. In Jesus’ name, amen.