Day 23 of 40 days for Life

This e-mail from 40 Days for Life reminded me to pray for the end to abortion and to pray for the unborn and their parents. I hope it encourages you to do the same.


COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO     
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"If you have been out on the sidewalk in front of
Planned Parenthood," said Michele in Colorado Springs,
"you know what a beautiful and majestic sight the
mountains are." She could stand there for a very
long time praising God in the wonders and beauty of
His creation.

Sometimes, though, she wonders, "How can such peace
and such horror live so close together? The horror
of Planned Parenthood just attacks your very soul,
trying to take away all peace and hope as it steals
the peace and hope of those going in. So you vow
never to give up."

Someday, she said, "I know the view will be restored
to what God's creation should be. And I hope for
that day!"

Here's today's devotional from Dennis DiMauro of
Lutherans for Life.

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DAY 23 INTENTION
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We pray for the strength to love those who do not
love us.

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SCRIPTURE
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But the Lord said "You have had pity on the plant for
which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which
came up in the night and perished in the night. And
should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which
are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons
who cannot discern between their right hand and their
left, and much livestock? Should I not be concerned
about that great city?"

-- Jonah 4:10-11
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REFLECTION by Dennis DiMauro
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God doesn't value people and things like we do. Jonah
loved a shade tree more than an entire city of sinful
people. We love our dogs more than a terrorist. We
love our cars more than a beggar on the side of the
road. And sometimes, we love our money more than a
child growing in a desperate teenager's womb.

But God isn't like us. Genesis 1 tells us that humans
were the capstone of God's creation. We were created
on the sixth day after God had completed the land,
the stars, the plants and the animals. Therefore, His
love for us is greater than His love for a plant, an
animal, or any other created thing.

And the book of Jonah tells us that He loves even the
most sinful people and seeks to bring them into His
merciful arms. And it's a love that seeks to touch
all of his created children: that desperate teenager,
the baby growing in her womb, even tyrants and
terrorists.

So it's up to us to imitate God's merciful love by
helping and praying for those who persecute us, and
those who don't love us back.

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PRAYER
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Gracious God, loving our enemies seems like one of
most difficult things you could ask of us. Please
remind us that this is how you love and that if you
ask it of us then you will give us the grace to do
it. This we ask through Christ our Lord, Amen.
 
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