Daily Readings for Monday, 26 January 2015

Daily Readings for Monday, 26 January 2015
2 Timothy 1:1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus.
God himself chose me to be an apostle, and he gave me the promised life that Jesus Christ makes possible.
2 Timothy, you are like a dear child to me. I pray that God our Father and our Lord Christ Jesus will be kind and merciful to you and will bless you with peace!
Do Not Be Ashamed of the Lord
3 Night and day I mention you in my prayers. I am always grateful for you, as I pray to the God my ancestors and I have served with a clear conscience. 4 I remember how you cried, and I want to see you, because that will make me truly happy. 5 I also remember the genuine faith of your mother Eunice. Your grandmother Lois had the same sort of faith, and I am sure that you have it as well. 6 So I ask you to make full use of the gift that God gave you when I placed my hands on you.[a] Use it well. 7 God’s Spirit[b] doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control.
8 Don’t be ashamed to speak for our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, just because I am in jail for serving him. Use the power that comes from God and join with me in suffering for telling the good news.[Footnotes:
1.6 when I placed my hands on you: Church leaders placed their hands on people who were being appointed to preach or teach (see 1 Timothy 4.14).
1.7 God’s Spirit: Or “God.”]
Psalm 96: Sing a New Song to the Lord
96 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Everyone on this earth,
    sing praises to the Lord,
2     sing and praise his name.
Day after day announce,
    “The Lord has saved us!”
3 Tell every nation on earth,
“The Lord is wonderful
    and does marvelous things!
7 Tell everyone of every nation,
    “Praise the glorious power
    of the Lord.
8 He is wonderful! Praise him
    and bring an offering
    into his temple.
10 Announce to the nations,
    “The Lord is King!
The world stands firm,
    never to be shaken,
    and he will judge its people
    with fairness.”
Mark 3:22 Some teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem and said, “This man is under the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons! He is even forcing out demons with the help of Beelzebul.”
23 Jesus told the people to gather around him. Then he spoke to them in riddles and said:
How can Satan force himself out? 24 A nation whose people fight each other won’t last very long. 25 And a family that fights won’t last long either. 26 So if Satan fights against himself, that will be the end of him.
27 How can anyone break into the house of a strong man and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.
28 I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. 29 But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.
30 Jesus said this because the people were saying that he had an evil spirit in him.

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