This is the day the Lord has made! Find a Bible and start working through all or part of the prayers, scripture, questions, and reading below. May the Lord bless you as you do so. May you rejoice in the gift of this day. And may the Spirit of God work in us to shape us to be more like Christ in humility!

— Praise: (1)
Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!
You, Lord Jesus Christ, are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,
and they will reign on earth.
To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! Amen!

— Scripture:
Come Holy Spirit, open our minds and hearts as we read your word:
Matthew 5:43-48

— Answer these four questions:
What does this passage say about God?
What does this passage say about people?
As a result of this reading, what is one step God is inviting you to take?
Who is one person you will tell about that step today?

— Response: (2)
Dear Jesus,
it is hard to forgive people
when they hurt us and our friends.
We want to hit back—
and sometimes we do.
But you teach us to love our enemies
no matter what they do.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus,
when we do not forgive others.
Help us to understand why people hurt others,
and let our hearts be filled with love for them. Amen.

— Devotional: (3)
At a certain pint in the spiritual journey God will draw a person from the beginning stage to a more advanced stage. At this stage the person will begin to engage in religious exercises and grow deeper in the spiritual life.
Such souls will likely experience what is called “the dark night of the soul.” The “dark night” is when those persons lose all the pleasure that they once experienced in their devotional life. This happens because God wants to purify them and move them on to greater heights…
Let it suffice to say, then, that God perceives the imperfections within us, and because of his love for us, urges us to grow up. His love is not content to leave us in our weakness, and for this reason he takes us into a dark night. He weans us from all of the pleasures by giving us dry times and inward darkness.
In doing so he is able to take away all these vices and create virtues within us. Through the dark night pride becomes humility, greed becomes simplicity, wrath becomes contentment, luxury becomes peace, gluttony becomes moderation, envy becomes joy, and sloth becomes strength. No soul will ever grow deep in the spiritual life unless God works passively in that soul by means of the dark night.

— Closing Prayer: (4)
Almighty and merciful God,
through your well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
you have willed to make all things new.
Grant that we may be renewed by your Holy Spirit
and may come at last to that heavenly country
where your people hunger and thirst no more
and the tears are wiped away from every eye,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(1) From Revelation 5:9-13, NRSV
(2) From The Worship Sourcebook, 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources.
(3) Purifying the Soul by John of the Cross found in Devotional Classics by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith.
(4) From The Worship Sourcebook, 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources.