The cursed shall be cut off: Advent Daybook 12

Take a few deep breaths, settle your body, mind, and heart into a quiet space, and let’s begin with prayer.

Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Look: Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pietro Annigoni - Source

About this image: “Painted in 1961 for the Church of the same name, Mary is depicted as the strong Mother of Mankind. The child, sleeping peacefully on her arm, represents humanity undisturbed by the chaos of the world, shown in the blazing explosion of the background. Mary's foot crushes the serpent; new branches spring from the dead log; the dove with an olive branch, symbol of peace, in its beak is alighting; the pylons and factories in the distance recall where the church is situated and that Mary, like all of us, had to work.” (taken from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish booklet)

Listen: Mvmt. 1: “Rejoice! Rejoice!”, The Oh Hellos. - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube

Read: Psalm 37, Amos 9:1-10; Revelation 2:8-17; Matthew 23:13-26

Excerpts:

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil. For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming.

The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly; their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.

The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide forever; they are not put to shame in evil times, in the days of famine they have abundance.

But the wicked perish, and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

The wicked borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving; for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.”

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“For lo, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, “Evil shall not overtake or meet us.”

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“Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

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“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.”

- Psalm 37:5-22 * Amos 9:9-10 * Revelation 2:16-17 * Matthew 23:13-14, 25-26 (NRSV + ESV)

Pray: The Lord's Prayer, paraphrased by Dallas Willard found in The Divine Conspiracy

Dear Father, always near us, may your name be treasured and loved. May your rule be completed in us. May your will be done here on earth in just the way it is done in heaven. Give us today the things we need today, And forgive us our sins and impositions on you as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us. Please don’t put us through trials, but deliver us from anything bad. Because you are the one in charge, and the glory too is all yours—forever— Which is just the way we want it! Amen.

Do: Spend time and energy secretly blessing someone else today.

Let’s identify a call to action, a way to put hands and feet to your prayers. Read today's Scripture passages carefully and then prayerfully identify one specific way that you can respond to the passage with your words and actions. How can you risk in faith this day? Is there someone you can secretly bless? A note of encouragement? An act of service?

You might also enjoy: Our favorite Advent & Christmas books (for all ages)

These daily devotional posts are available to those who subscribe at the Daybook ($5 a month) level. You can also purchase a one-time .pdf download of all 40 meditations for Advent & Christmastide in my Shop. You can see the entire Advent archive here.

* Listen to my entire playlist on Spotify: Make A Way: Advent 2021 .

** Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary. Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 2).