Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Personal Challenge
The bride of Christ is represented in His church. We are meant to be in fellowship, communion, with fellow believers. It is in these communities, our churches, that we can encourage and support each other in our journeys through life. We can confess our sins and issues to one another seeking prayer and support, which leads to healing. We can avail much in each other’s life through fervent prayer. God himself is a community three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He desires that we exercise our faith in community as well. Glory be to God!
saying, ‘Why have we fasted, but You did not see it? Why have we humbled our souls, but You did not know it?’ Because in the days of your fasts, you seek your own wills, and mistreat those under your authority. If you fast for condemnations and quarrels, and strike a humble man with your fists, why do you fast to Me as you do today, so your voice may be heard in crying? I did not choose this fast, and such a day for a man to humble his soul; nor if you should bow your neck like a ring and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself, could you thus call such a fast acceptable. I did not choose such a fast,” says the Lord; “rather, loose every bond of wrongdoing; untie the knots of violent dealings; cancel the debts of the oppressed; and tear apart every unjust contract. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see a naked man, clothe him, nor shall you disregard your offspring in your own household. Then your light shall break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth quickly. Your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall cover you.
Personal Challenge
Long passage today, yet so necessary in what we are seeing in our world today. So many people are proclaiming to be Christians and yet behaving worse than heathens. In Russia we have the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill proclaiming Russky Mir, the Russian World Order, as the ideology of the church and blessing the war in Ukraine. In America we have leadership brandishing crosses and the ten commandments, all the while doing things that would make Jesus flip the tables over. We also have Christian nationalism that has abandoned the truth of the Gospel. The list goes on and on. Read this passage multiple times to really understand how much God hates these false expressions of faith in Him. If we are not loving our neighbor, protecting those who cannot protect themselves, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, taking in the foreigner, then we are not living as Christians. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Encouraging Words
Our lives as followers of Christ are not just about attending services and reading scriptures. Those are things that we do to build and strengthen our failth, but Christianity goes much farther than that. We are to be holistic in our faith practice. We offer up prayer for those who are suffering. We sing and rejoice with those who are cheerful. When one amongst us is sick, we come together, including the leaders of the church, pay over them, anoint them with oil, and call upon God for their healing. We are not to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world in some errant form of false piety, but are to engage with one another in God’s love. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
The Lord, the Most High who dwells on high forever, the Holy One among His saints, whose name is the Lord Most High, who rests among His saints, and who gives patience to the fainthearted and life to the broken-hearted, says this:
Encouraging Words
As followers of Christ, we believe these things about our God. He is the most high and dwells forever. He is eternal. He both gives rest to His saints, His followers, and rests with us. He gives patience to the fainthearted and life to the broken-hearted. He loves us. Glory be to God!
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
Personal Challenge
One of the most difficult virtues to learn is to be patient, especially when we are waiting on God for something. Our timeline on this earth is finite and yet, all that we have to reference. We desire that things move at a pace that fits us. God’s timeline is infinite and He sees the entire picture. We can learn to be patient as we wait upon Him and live a much fuller life. However, being patient does not just mean waiting. It means establishing our hearts for the wait. It means not grumbling and complaining about the wait. It sometimes includes suffering as we wait. It will always be worth it. Glory be to God!
For as rain comes down, or snow from heaven, and does not return until it saturates the earth, and it brings forth and produces, and gives seed to the sower and bread for food, so shall My word be, whatever proceeds from My mouth. It shall not return until it accomplishes whatever I willed, and I shall prosper your ways and My commandments.
Encouraging Words
As followers of Christ, we have a desire that every human being will be ushered into the loving arms of God. In the Eastern Orthodox faith practise we consistently pray, “Lord, have mercy! “. We do this knowing that none of us will be saved, or redeemed, from eternal separation from God except by His love, grace, and mercy! Truly, it does not matter how many times I attend liturgy, mass, or worship. These can become acts of works, trying to earn God’s favor. It does not matter if I recite some canned prayer or make a statement of belief that someone is asking me to do. Again, this can be an act of works. What matters is am I doing what Jesus commanded me to do, which is loving God and lovin g my neighbor. Only God knows the state of our heart and where we truly are on that scale. He also knows that we may take up to our last breath, like the thief on the cross, to finally proclaim Him as Lord. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord have mercy!
Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Personal Challenge
So many people have become comfortable with saying that sin is only about doing something that is wrong. That would only account for sins of commission. We also have sins of ommission in our lives. We are wired, as human beings, to know the right things, the good things, that we should do. If we do not do these things, we have sinned. These are things like speaking the truth, showing kindness to another, loving the unloveable, and so many acts that are embedded in our soul. In the world today, we need to commit more of these acts that edify our neighbor and glorify God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
“For My counsels are not as your counsels, neither are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “But as heaven is distant from earth, so is My way distant from your ways, and your thoughts from My mind.”
Personal Challenge
Be very wary when someone proclaims to be following the ways of God and exhibiting behaviors that are contradictory to what God has told us to do. Jesus warned us to be on the watch for false prophets, anti-Christs, and leaders that were actually wolves in sheep’s clothing. It is always critical to observe the fruit of one’s labor to understand the true nature of their heart. Sowing hatred and division is not of God. Demeaning others, tearing them down, and praising oneself is not of God. Doing things that will destroy families, harm innocent people, take food and care from those in need, and other acts like these are not of God. His ways are not the ways of man. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
Personal Challenge
It is a fine line between challenging a brother or sister in Christ for their behavior and judging them for that behavior. Only God knows the true state of a person’s heart. It is not for us to try to judge if another person is a follower of Christ or just proclaiming to be a Christian. It is acceptible to challenge actions and behaviors that conflict with the teachings of Christ in order to help the other see their errors and hopefully correct them. We must also always be monitoring our own actions and behaviors to ensure that we are following Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
Verse of the Day 