“ ‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture. You are My people, and I am your God, I, the sovereign LORD, have spoken’.” (Ezekiel 34 v 31 NLT) Restore us back, Lord. We lack so much! Sin did begin to undo us, Unravelling life, sometimes completely Until we are lost as a holy society. No longer Your family, We are broken by immorality. What, oh what a tragedy! Call us back, Lord. Restore what we have lost. Nothing good lives in us Unless we share Your holiness. Lord Jesus, Saviour, Brother, Revive to let us survive. Restore more to faith, to prayer Where we learn, then yearn, To always share with You. Or at least we do until sin That did begin our undoing, Seeps throughout our mind and heart To start a rotting process. Bring us back, Lord, according to mercy. “So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6 v 11 NLT) We have no help but You, And Your Spirit of holiness. Thank You for His arrival, Maintaining our survival. May the Spirit enable faith to thrive, Bringing us fully alive In You, through You, Lord Jesus. For You are God with us. We need Your holiness. Call us back, Lord, Lest we fall further. Lord Jesus, the Paschal Mystery, Lord, Saviour and Master over our history, The One who as a Trinity Loves us entirely, and radically. No longer need our soul be lost, Not even momentarily, for You, Lord Jesus, God’s Son, The holy One, is our Saviour Healer. You reach all who ache for a help Entirely holy, all powerful and most marvellous. Call us back to restore us, Lord Jesus, For God created us for a holy purpose. Be evidently present to us today. “God loves you very much ... don’t be afraid! Calm yourself; be strong – yes, strong!” (Daniel 10 v 19 TLB) “Return, O LORD, and rescue me. Save me because of Your unfailing love.” (Psalm 6 v 4 NLT) Please pray to be convinced that God is well able to do all He promises to do. Please pray to better understand and appreciate the salvation the Lord Jesus wins for us at the †, gaining our forgiveness. Please pray to see satan banished from amongst us. Please pray for the power of holy love to overcome all that is evil. Please pray for more people to recognise the sin in our ‘anything goes’ society and to be resolved to overcome this. Please pray for the redemption of society. Please pray for our Lenten observances of fasting, prayer and almsgiving to be a tried and tested and successful method in choosing life. Please pray for a holy purpose to motivate all we decide, do and say, that the power of holy love becomes more evident. Please pray for justice and peace throughout the world. Please pray for scientists and explorers that their new discoveries are used to bring glory to God. Please pray for us all to develop a fully contrite heart that we make better progress in all the ways of holy love. Please pray for our life to give better witness to the gospel message of love, which develops hope, peace and joy amongst us, admitting where we have gone wrong, resolved to do better in the future. Amen. 19.02.21 Sue O’Donnell

“The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” (Isaiah 52 v 10) Call on the name of Christ Jesus: Be forgiven; Be accepted; Be saved; Be sanctified; Be replenished; Be graced; Be guided; Be safeguarded; Be provided for; Be addressed. “As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is His love for those who honour Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our sins from us.” (Psalm 103 v 11, 12 GNT) Claim the name of Christ Jesus: Be healed; Be helped; Be supported; Be strengthened; Be gifted; Be uplifted; Be encouraged; Be blessed; Fully, wondrously blessed. “May the LORD who created the heavens and the earth give you His blessing.” (Psalm 115 v 15 CEV) “You God, You bless everyone whose sins You forgive and wipe away. You bless them by saying, ‘You told Me your sins without trying to hide them, and now I forgive you.” (Psalm 32 v 1, 2 CEV) Let us pray. 29.09.20 Sue O’Donnell

“Understand what this one sacrifice has achieved: those who are being made holy, set apart for God He was made perfect already!” (Hebrews 10 v 14 The Truth) Sadly however, we mar this perfection continuously. Therefore our Father, out of mercy devised a rescue plan In Jesus Christ, hung on the † for us, To redeem our sinfulness, gaining us forgiveness. This merciful pardon is certain, given out of love for us. God forgives us because of what Jesus accomplished In living a perfect life, offering a sacrificial death. The sin which holds us captive is dealt a blow. satan is vanquished at the †of Jesus. It doesn’t seem so, you might well say For there is much evil in the world today, though disobedience. “The Holy Spirit explains this (one sacrifice) to us, for He says: ‘This is the covenant I will make with them in due course, says the Lord. I will place My commands in their hearts and will write them on their minds’.” (Hebrews 10 v 15, 16 The Truth) Salvation is secured for believers in Christ Jesus. The rest is up to us, to desire holiness. We must want to pray, obey and share in our Brother’s holiness. You cannot have holiness without Jesus’ closeness. This is why He lives in us through the Eucharist. Here hidden under the form of bread and wine, Jesus comes to us by the active Holy Spirit. Reconciliation and redemption work hand in hand, As do repentance and remorse of course. Certainly God wills to save us from final separation, damnation. The annihilation of our hope if eternally separated at death. “He says also: ‘I will never remember their sins and their acts of rebellion, against Me’.” (Hebrews 10 v 17) By living in Jesus, death is merely a passing From this stage of life to a far more glorious one. All thanks to God, our Brother and the Spirit Sanctifier. Forgiveness blesses us with the love and mercy of the Trinity. We have to be conscious of sin to seek deliverance. We have to speak of sin, confessing this To clear the way sincerely, apologetically, for God to forgive us. The Lord Jesus, the Christ, the promised Saviour, Has already accomplished all the rest. In the face of forgiveness there is no room for despair. God gifts us Jesus to save us, the Spirit to sanctify us. Advent is the season for decided hope through forgiveness. “For it is by the Spirit that we eagerly await the hope of our eternal acceptance by faith.” (Galatians 5 v 5 The Truth) “For in Christ Jesus...all that matters is that you have a life of faith that is expressed in a life of love for God and for others.” (Galatians 5 v 6 The Truth) We can accomplish this fully only if we pray. Please pray that in our renewed relationship with each Person of the Trinity, we show love and respect towards them by our godly attitude to each other. Please pray because “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4 v 19) as proved by our redemption at the †, the recalling of this in the Holy Eucharist, Jesus coming to us because we are forgiven. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to be an integral part of our life as Counsellor and Adviser, insisting that we live in the truth the Lord Jesus spells out to us. Please pray in recognition of our sorrow at spoiling the perfection our Lord God intended, grateful that “Once sins are forgiven; there is no need for any further sacrifice to rake away our sins”. (Hebrews 10 v 18 The Truth) For the love the Lord Jesus has for us completed His sacrifice and the Holy Spirit of truth reveals this to us. Advent is a time of hope, an awareness of our sins. and doing something about it is a vital part of growing in holiness. Although sorrowful, we have the certainty of forgiveness. Please pray, there is much to gain or lose. May the Holy Spirit show us our sinfulness in the light of love and mercy, a truly incredible, most wondrous love God has for us. Amen. 07.12.20 Sue O’Donnell

“Try to think rightly about God, sisters. He does not look at such trifling matters as you suppose. Keep a pure intention and a firm resolve not to offend God, but do not trammel your soul.” (St Teresa of Avila) What a wise motto to consider for Advent! We must, must, must determine better, To try harder not to offend God. But how often do we when thinking, Considering life meditatively, Look too closely at some aspects, And not look sufficiently closely at others? “Live as the servants of God, who show proper respect for everyone. Of course, you are to love all your fellow believers. But you also are too live in fear of God, in reverent awe of Him and submission to His call. And you are to honour the secular authorities.” (1 Peter 2 v 16,17) How often do we hinder, hamper, fetter, Our soul, our spirit, our heart, our mind? For we find we intend to restrain ourselves With regard to this, that or the other, But, as ever, have failed to do so. This can make us feel an abject failure. “My eyes fail from searching Your word, saying, ‘When will You comfort me?” (Psalm 119 v 83) Yet, I am sure, the Lord God, Full of loving kindness and mercy, Does not want us to lose heart. He cannot, or why else offer us a fresh start? We move towards Christmas in best company, That of the Trinity who truly loves us. Love plans for the best always. “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27 v 13) Love acts for the best for everybody. That is why love is born to us at Christmas, Love is manifest in the Word made flesh Christ Jesus, God’s Son, the perfectly holy One, Come amongst us to remain forever. Jesus is the forever love of our Father, Come to us by the miraculous Spirit of holiness. “When He (the Spirit) came to live in you, He did not lead you back to your past life, making you a slave of fear again. No, you received the Spirit that enables you to live as a son (daughter) of God. You can call Him ‘Father, my Father’.” (Romans 8 v 15 The Truth) This is for all who believe in true love, Prepare now to receive, making ready spiritually, The Christ of Christmas is true love born to us. Make ready to receive this holy Baby, Son of the Lord God, Child of man. Prepare heart and mind honestly introspective, But not destructively so, thinking the worst. “The Holy Spirit urges us to remember that we are God’s children, to know this deep in our hearts... we know also that we are His heirs...and inherit all His blessings along with Christ.” (Romans 8 v 16, 17 The Truth) For the Lord born to us is the Word of hope. The offer of our Father, by means of the Holy Spirit, Of a new life to be given to Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is our forever Saviour, the Prince of Peace. He comes to release us from sinfulness. The precious gift of Christmas is ongoing forgiveness. Feel no longer a failure, we have a Saviour! “ ‘Anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink from deep within anyone who believes in Me will find rivers of living water, as the Scripture says.” (John 7 v 38 The Truth) Pray! Repent of sin in all sincerity. Relent of former, foolish, careless ways. Express remorse with genuine heartfelt sorrow. Call on the Spirit to help with this! That no more will life go amiss Because we re-affirm our relationship with Christ Jesus. We belong to Him who is God’s love and mercy manifest. “ ‘If we are to do the works that God wants of us, tell us what to do.’ ‘This is God’s work’ Jesus replied, ‘to believe in Me, the One He has sent’.” (John 6 v 28, 29 The Truth) The love expressed in the cradle and as Saviour on the †. Are we not being reminded of innocence as we gaze on this Baby? Thoughts of loving kindness gifted us too. Have we been similarly kindly, always loving? What does the Holy Spirit bring to mind? How ready do you find yourself to meet Jesus at Christmas? Is Mary’s Baby, your King of Glory? If so, how are you going to live moving forwards? “This year, or this month, or more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise the kind of behaviour we expect from other people.” (C.S. Lewis) “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Psalm 46 v 10, 11) Lord God, Eternal Father, You are the Lord of mercy offering us all loving kindness through the gift of Your beloved Son, Christ Jesus. Thank You. When we ignore the Lord Jesus’ command to love as He has loved us so as to please You, do we not then deny His existence? I have not meant to do this, I am sorry. Thank You for the sacrament of reconciliation, whereby we can reflect upon the errors of our ways, repent from the heart and receive forgiveness. What mercy, we are blessed indeed! Surely this is the best spiritual preparation to make ready to receive our Saviour Brother, He who changes life completely as the Holy Spirit of wisdom and truth is given to us. We are to be born again through loving mercy, the mystery which is so wonderful because of the incarnation. This love changes everything. Nothing will ever be as it was once we meet our Saviour. Thank You for His coming to rescue us. He comes as the God and the Man, Christ the King, Your anointed Son, and truly this is awesome. We should, we must bow before our King. I am sorry that many do not respect this marvel of Your Word of life, Your offer of love, come to us in a recognisable form. How sad this must make You feel, dearest Father. Why do so many not own their Saviour. Without believing we have a Saviour, we see no need of developing a submissive attitude towards those to whom we are accountable, especially to the royal, holy authority of the Lord and Master. This is an awful situation where so many are hostile to Christian values. Forgive us, Father God, merciful Deliverer. May the Holy Spirit be ever a force for good because He helps us to recognise the truth about ourselves. All disobedience stems from a lack of love. May the Spirit of love impress this fact upon us and help us to change. Thank You that the Spirit persists in drawing our attention to Jesus so we can ask what He would do in similar circumstances that concern us. May we honour the Lord Jesus’ authority, not be unresponsive to the Holy Spirit, nor pretend to ourselves that we are better than we are. To celebrate Christmas well, we have to know who Jesus is and respond appropriately. Please, please, can the Spirit, working clearly within truth, show non-believers that our Saviour Brother is not born to condemn us, exactly the opposite in fact! Jesus comes to save us from condemnation, to show us the mercy of Your steadfast loving kindness and faithfulness towards us, Eternal Father. “The (wo)man who wants to live by the truth comes readily into the Light. (S)he has nothing to be ashamed of, for the Light shows clearly that it is God who has inspired and enabled what (s)he does.” (John 3 v 21 The Truth) This Light is the Lord Jesus, His love ever shining so radiantly over and amongst us. May love be our Advent calling and the byword of the Christmas season and beyond. For once we have met the Lord Jesus, we have met with love. All praise and all thanks ever be for the Lord Jesus’ words spoken to us in all truth, for He manifests truth. We learn then that to know Jesus is to know You, Father. “ ‘I came to bring light into the world, to deliver from darkness those who believe in Me’,” (John 12 v 40 The Truth) must be some of the most comforting words ever spoken to mankind. Jesus as the heart of holy love gifted us, wants to love us. The question is, will we allow Him to? He cannot if we turn our back on His very existence. Oh how mistaken and off-key this world can be. Father, this is an offence to You. We need the Holy Spirit to get us to the crux of truth. We need please, a holy wisdom not a worldly one. We need the entire world to be convinced of who Jesus is that we live by His standards. Surely we must pay more attention to how love results in mercy? For this above all else is the Lord Jesus’ message. “ ‘When someone hears what I say but does not act on My words...I do not judge people now. My purpose,” we are told very clearly is “To save them from the judgment they deserve’” (John 12 v 47 The Truth) At Christmas, love, mercy and forgiveness are born to remain with us. this is the keynote of the kingdom the Lord Jesus came to establish, a kind of heaven upon earth. This is what we hope for. This is what we must prepare for. May the Holy Spirit be very, very evidently active in our spiritual preparation for the turning point of the world’s understanding of and relationship with You, Father God, Father of mercies. We should listen to and react to Hosea’s teaching “O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you,” (Hosea 14 v 1, 2) or in other words, ‘Repent’! “Return to the LORD, say to Him ‘Take away all iniquity, receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips’.” (v 2 Cont) This is exactly what is about to happen. Our redemption results from loving mercy offered to us in Christ Jesus. “ ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honour and glory and blessing’!” (Romans 5 v 12) For “Mercy and truth have met together.” (Psalm 85 v 10) Yes, we have a forever Saviour! “Righteousness and peace have kissed...Truth shall spring out of the earth,” (v 10, 11) in this royal Baby’s birth, “And shall make His footsteps our pathway.” (v 13) Forever love is born to us in our Brother Jesus! How truly glorious! Amen. 15.12.20 Sue O’Donnell

“He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross...” (Malachi 3 v 3 NLT) So why is this dross still a threat to us? We could suffocate beneath the weight of rubbish. We could drown in a morass of immorality. We may be strangled by the cries of incredulity. We are in imminent danger from all manner of iniquity. But fortunately the love of the Lord God Almighty, He will not allow this disaster to overtake us. He has, out of mercy, provided a remedy. “Open up, ancient doors, and let the King of glory enter. Who is this King of Glory? The LORD, strong and mighty; the LORD invincible in battle.” (Psalm 24 v 7, 8 NLT) This King of Glory is Christ Jesus, Coming to us, not as a warrior, But as a Divine Healer, full of holy power, a Saviour. He is our hope of saving help, rescue from evil. “He will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God.” (Luke 2 v 34 NLT) Jesus comes as God’s promise of a Messiah to help us. His Kingship calls for our belief and acceptance of God’s grace. “ ‘Comfort, comfort My people,’ says your God. ‘Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned’.” (Isaiah 40 v 1 NLT) “He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and He is the glory of Your people Israel’.” (Luke 2 v 32 NLT) Please pray for many more to come to faith in Christ Jesus, the Victor over all that is evil. Please pray that in all sincerity mankind will say, like Simeon, “ ‘I have seen Your salvation which You have prepared for all people.” (Luke 2 v 30, 31 NLT) Please pray for forgiveness for all of us for our moral decline and rampant secularism. “Good Father, I need You. I rely on You to exist and to live. Through Your Son Jesus, You looked on me and You loved me. I did not have the courage to leave everything and follow You and my heart is full of sorrow. But You are stronger than my sins. I believe in Your power over my life. I believe that You can save me as I am now. Remember me. Forgive me.” (Source not known) Please pray on behalf of those who, as yet cannot pray for themselves. The world is in need of holy love’s healing touch available to us in Christ Jesus. Please pray for this blessing bestowed upon us by our Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit of wisdom and truth, love and mercy, forgiveness and conversion. Please pray: “O LORD if You heal me I will be truly healed; if You save me I will be truly saved. My praises are for You alone.” (Jeremiah 17 v 14 NLT) Please pray for the conversion and re-dedication of mankind to the gracious mercy our Father shows to us through the gift of His Son’s saving life and sacrificial death. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9 v 15) 03.02.21 Sue O’Donnell

“As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62 v 5) When we come before the throne of mercy As a penitent. Lent is meant for us to be sincerely, regularly This penitent. Our humanity is blighted, slighted by sin. Our nature is marred, scarred by sin. We must not underestimate the seriousness of this. Sin separates us from the Trinity. Sin has a seriously destructive ability. Sin darkens, blackens humanity. We become less than God intended us to be. We are a broken family, a mere token of anything holy. So what are we to do in this dire dilemma? Jesus went to the † to save us! “Because (s)he has set his (her) love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him (her). I will set him (her) on high because (s)he has known My name. (S)he shall call upon Me, and I will answer him (her); I will be with him (her) in trouble; I will deliver him (her) and honour him (her) with long life. I will satisfy him (her) and show him(her) My salvation.” (Psalm 91 v 14, 15, 16) This blessing is celebrated in every Eucharist, Yet we remain slain, a fallen race. There is but one answer if we wish to embrace grace, And look for the mercy of God’s holy love. We must resolve without delay, to become A penitent. We must take stock to unlock our potential, Our faults, failings both in what we have done And what we have failed to do, This must be expressed contritely, not only rightly, But regularly before the chosen Confessor, Whilst we are resolved to try harder to live virtuously. We must be forgiven, cleansed, our sins’ released To give us the peace of Christ Jesus once more. “I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” (Psalm 13 v 5, 6) “O LORD, truly I am Your servant...You have loosed my bonds. I will offer You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the LORD.” (Psalm 116 v 16, 17) Please pray. 23.11.20 Sue O’Donnell

“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible and shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15 v 51, 52, 53 Revival is for our eternal survival. Do not go astray then! Pray day by day. Pray, ask to receive More and more of Jesus. Life needs to be shaped, Sourced, guided and guarded By Jesus’ Spirit of holiness. Jesus intercedes for us. Jesus pleads for us. Jesus accepted His †for us. Meet His loving gaze. Repent as you amaze At the wonder of a love Which, entirely holy itself, Forgives all our wrongdoing, Healing sin’s ensuing catastrophe. Jesus in Person helps refashion us. We see the anguish He bore, Allowing Himself to carry The burden of our sinfulness To the †of forgiveness. Jesus accepts Peter’s betrayal, For He knows Peter Out of love for Jesus, Will repent of his foolishness. It is similar for us. Mercy awaits admittance Of all faults and failings, Assailing our progress in holiness. Seek then purity, To be our ability To access spiritual strength According to God’s mercy. Yes, revival is for eternal survival. The Paschal mystery and victory of Jesus, Is us reclaimed as family, Before which the enemy Will no longer stand. The glorified Jesus sends His Spirit, To us for transformation. “You send forth Your Spirit They are created; And You renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the LORD endure forever; May the LORD rejoice in His works… I will sing to the LORD, As long as I live; I will sing praise to my God While I have my being. May my meditation be sweet to Him, I will be glad in the LORD. May sinners be consumed from the earth, And the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Psalm 104 v 30-35 "Praise the LORD.” “Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory Through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15 v 57 “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great. You are clothed with honour and majesty…” Psalm 104 v 1, 2 “The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed, He has guided Himself with strength. Surely the world is established so that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.” Psalm 93 v 1, 2 Therefore, let us pray. 27.06.20 Sue O’Donnell

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55 v 22 What a burden is sin! We let satan in. The tiniest gap will do, And we run amok Through and through our life, Trying to disrupt and destroy entirely. But fortunately, mercifully, We have an answer. The perfect solution, our resolution To put sinfulness behind us, Is found at the †of Jesus. Here forgiveness offers us A fresh start. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the (wo)man who trusts in Him. Those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.” Psalm 34 v 8, 9 God our Father, will impart compassion So as to re-fashion us in Jesus. He re-clothes us by the Spirit, in a better likeness To the holiness of Jesus. How magnanimous, truly wondrous! Our faith is in Jesus, Our sinfulness, mercifully dealt with, But only because we confess, Admit our faults and failings Asking for help and healing, Seeking from an earnest heart A fresh start. “Anyone who is wise or understanding among you should from a good life give evidence of deeds done in the gentleness of wisdom. But if at heart you have the bitterness of jealousy, or selfish ambition, do not be boastful or hide the truth with lies; this is not the wisdom that comes from above, but earthly, human and devilish. Wherever there are jealousy and ambition, there are also disharmony and wickedness of every kind.” James 3 v 13, 14, 15, 16 TNJB “Whereas the wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it is also peaceable, kindly and considerate; it is full of mercy and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it. The peace sown by peacemakers brings a harvest of justice.” James 3 v 17, 18 TNJB Let us pray. 12.03.20 Sue O’Donnell

“Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; let Your loving kindness and Your truth continually preserve me.” Psalm 40 v 11 Mercy is unmerited loving kindness That really blesses us as Jesus lives in us. The Spirit reveals to us that our Father, Is the Almighty God of wondrous mercy. Hence the †of Jesus, our salvation Changing our life’s situation from defeat by sinfulness To a position where forgiven, we start anew. We start anew through the merciful love of God, Offered us through the Lord Jesus, by the Spirit. Without the Spirit we would not receive this And in fact would not believe in such an amazing grace. But because we are powerless without God’s love shown us, Love perfectly manifest by Jesus, Thankfully we are shown His love by the Spirit. “The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.” Psalm 103 v 6 The Trinity, a community of perfect love and harmony, Work together to be our Saviour and Sanctifier. Each Person of the Trinity loves us passionately. Be assured of this by Jesus, when You let the Spirit in. In to begin His work of illumination and clarification. The truth of holy love is shown us at the †. The wonders of salvation made known spiritually. No longer do fleshly appetites control us. The Spirit of purity reshapes our morality By inviting us to meet with Jesus continuously. Thus according to our Father’s merciful plan And His all loving purpose, holy love moves our faith forwards. “My ears You have opened...Then I said, ‘Behold, I come’.” Psalm 40 v 6, 7 “ ‘In the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do Your will, O my God and Your law is within my heart.” Psalm 40 v 8 What mercy! Dearest Father, I thank You for Your mercy in allowing us to see the truth the Holy Spirit spells out to us. For without this we are lost to You. May the Spirit always convict us of sin and our need to repent, to have a change of heart expressed remorsefully. I ask too, for mercy in that the Spirit will always re-connect us with the Lord Jesus, He who is our Saviour. What a wondrous love You show to us in the plan of salvation, Father God. “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You.” Psalm 72 v 4 “And let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Let God be magnified’!” We must do this in response to Your merciful love for us Thank You for our Saviour Jesus. Thank You for Your saving action allowing Him to die on the †for us. Thank You for mercy. Thank You for the work of the purifying, sanctifying Spirit. May we never turn our back on His favour, so utterly life changing. “You have put a new song in our mouth – praise to our God; many will see it and will fear, and will trust in You, LORD.” based on Psalm40v3 What mercy is at work here too, for the fear we feel is not one of quaking fright, but of awed reverence. Faith enables us to feel positive, thank You. Perhaps Your mercy is best summed up in the words of a psalm: “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.” “He will not always strive with us nor will He keep His anger forever,” or else we would not have been sent the Lord Jesus as Saviour and the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier. But we have! So it is true that Father of mercy, You have “Not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our mercies.” “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is Your mercy toward those who fear You,” thank You. “As far as the east is from the west, so far have You removed our transgressions from us.” We are a redeemed people! (Psalm 103 v 8, v9, v10, based on v 11, based on v 12) Thank You for Your merciful pardon extended to us by Jesus according to the working of the Holy Spirit, “From generation to generation.” ( Luke 1 v 40 ) Truly we are richly blessed. Blessed to have been given a “New birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” ( 1Peter1v3 ) our salvation secured. May the Holy Spirit be ever at work with us in “The washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” ( Titus 3 v 5 ) the Purifier, our Sanctifier. Lord, hear this prayer, for I know You will answer in the mercy of Your love for us. Thank You for all You so wonderfully do. “O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things: Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” ( Isaiah 25 v 1 ) Praise ever be to Your glory. Amen. Sue O’Donnell 15.06.19