Readings to help prepare for Easter

1. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13)
2. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” (Mark 1:3)
3. “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18)
4. “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matthew 9:13)
5. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24)
6. “The son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister.” (Matthew 20:28)
7. “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Matthew 4:10)
8. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32)
9. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good.” Isaiah 1:16-17)
10. “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:14)
11. "I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word." (Psalm 119:101)
12. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:23)
13. “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:21)
14. “For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of the lowest hell.” (Psalm 86:13)
15. “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14)
16. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)
17. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:2)
18. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
19. “I cried out to You, O Lord; and to the Lord I made supplication.” (Psalm 30:8)
20. “Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.” (Psalm 118:25)
21. “Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.’” (John 8:34)
22. “All flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am your savior, and your redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Isaiah 49:26)
23. “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 10:21)
24. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
25. “They will deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify Him. And the third day He will rise again.” (Matthew 20:19)
26. “For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.” (Luke 20:38)
27. “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!” (Revelation 19:1)
28. “The Lord came into the world that He might save the human race, which otherwise would have perished in eternal death.” (New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 293)
29. “The Lord saved them by this, that He subjugated the hells, which infested every man coming into the world and going out of the world; and at the same time by this, that He glorified His Human: for thus He can keep the hells in subjugation to eternity.” (New )Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 293
30. “In brief, the Lord from His earliest childhood up to the last hour of His life in the world, was assaulted by all the hells, against which He continually fought, and subjugated and overcame them, and this solely from love toward the whole human race.” (Arcana )Coelestia 1690:6
31. “The Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world to subjugate the hells and to glorify His Human; and without this no mortal could have been saved; and those are saved who believe in Him.” (True Christian Religion 2)
32. “For man is saved by this power of the Lord, and not by any other; because all the good which is of love, and all the truth which is of faith, flow in through the heavens from the Lord, and they cannot flow in unless the hells are removed, for all evil, and from this all falsity, are from the hells.” (Arcana Coelestia 10019:3)
33. “Man is saved by the removal of the evils and the derivative falsities that are from the hells, and by the influx then of the good of love and of the truth of faith through heaven from the Lord.” (Arcana Coelestia 10019:3)
34. “All those who are in spiritual faith have confidence that they are saved by the Lord, for they believe that the Lord came into the world to give eternal life to those who believe and live according to the precepts which He taught, and that He regenerates them, and renders them fit for heaven, and that He alone does this from pure mercy without the aid of man.” (The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 115)
35. “The Lord is present with you, urging and pressing to be received; and His first coming, which is called the dawn, is when you receive Him, which you do when you acknowledge Him as your God, Creator, Redeemer, and Savior.” (True Christian Religion 766)
36. “When a person is in temptations, the Lord fights for him, conquers the evil spirits who are infesting him, and after temptation glorifies him, that is, renders him spiritual.” (True Christian Religion 599)
37. “Every man who is saved ascends into heaven, but not of himself. He ascends by the Lord's aid. The Lord alone ascended of Himself.” (Doctrine of the Lord 35:11)

Happy Easter from the New Church!