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July 7, 2026

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet

Bruce Reyes-Chow   |   Read Psalm 119:107 , Read Matthew 13:1-9

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Lectionary Week
July 6–12, 2026
Scripture Overview

Psalm 119 will serve for us as a pathway of insight into the intertwined and multiple truths that can be revealed when one text is seen through the lens of another. Through a verse of the psalm each day, we’ll explore the failures and successes represented in the other scriptures. In Genesis, Jacob should feed his brother out of care and concern, but he takes advantage of the situation and robs Esau of his birthright. Paul in Romans contrasts the life of the flesh and the life in the Spirit. Without the power of God, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes in the flesh, but the Spirit sets us free. Jesus reminds us in Matthew that the effectiveness of the gospel is not based on our efforts. We sow the seed, but we cannot control whether it takes root.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Psalm 119:105-112. How do you listen and look for how God may be revealing the path that God yearns for you to follow?
Read Genesis 25:19-34. How might you resist the pull to take advantage of another’s desperation (people you know or people with whom you share no adjacency) for your own benefit?
Read Romans 8:1-11. In a world constantly competing for your imagination, intelligence, and integrity, when have you embraced and navigated the divine call to faith that has been gifted to you?
Read Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. Knowing that none of us thrives or “succeeds” one hundred percent of the time, when has your life and faith felt like each of the seeds in this parable?

Respond by posting a prayer.

Psalm 119:107

107 I have been suffering so much LORD, make me live again according to your promise.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

Matthew 13:1-9

1 That day Jesus went out of the house and sat down beside the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he climbed into a boat and sat down. The whole crowd was standing on the shore. 3 He said many things to them in parables: “A farmer went out to scatter seed. 4 As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up, it scorched the plants, and they dried up because they had no roots. 7 Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked them. 8 Other seed fell on good soil and bore fruit, in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one. 9 Everyone who has ears should pay attention.”

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

Sometimes, it is difficult to see hope, let alone to live with hope. The constant rage-baiting and abusive onslaught of violent, destructive, and dehumanizing words and actions that are being unleashed upon our collective existence by politicians, institutions, and hoarders of power are determined to extinguish our hope. We are...

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Pray a breath prayer. As you inhale, pray, “God, you reveal your path.” As you exhale, pray, “I will follow with hope.”


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