Author: David Short

Matthew 18:20

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

Personal Challenge

We are reminded here, by Jesus, that our journey through life as a Christian is not a solo journey. If I desire Christ to be in the midst of my life then I must be in fellowship with other Christians. The Eastern Orthodox teach that I am saved in Christ, but my salvation is worked out in the community of believers who are also saved in Christ. The Western way of Christianity teaches that it is me and my Bible. As long as I have my Bible (and of course the version that I choose) I can determine how God is speaking to me and then act on it accordingly. What is the result of this kind of thinking? A myriad of churches and denominations that cater to individual preferences, Men, and women, who never go to a church because they claim to be in their own, personal church. People who claim to be Christians and reject others who claim to be Christians because of minute differences in their creeds. This is not the way that our Lord wanted His Church to be. He prayed for unity. He told us that we must come together in order for Him to be in our midst. We were created in the image of God, and God, by His very nature, is relational. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Judges 7:9-11

On that same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. Listen to what they shall say, and afterward your hands shall be strong and you shall then go down into the camp.” And he went down with Purah his servant to the edge of the camp of the fifty.

Encouraging Words

Once again, we see Gideon, that guy who was called out as mighty one of the armies, cowering before the odds that he has before him. This time the Lord tells him to sneak down to the enemy’s camp and see for himself what the situation looks like. And as the rest of the story plays out he finds out that the majority of the enemy camp is scared out of their wits about the mighty things that the God of Israel has done through the commander of their armies, Gideon. So, what does this have to do with me and why is it encouraging. My God does not expect me to just blindly trust Him and do whatever He asks of me. He desires that of me, but since He is relational He is willing to let me experience His involvement to the point where I choose to follow Him with full, blind trust. That is how much He loves me and even trusts me. That, to me, is extremely encouraging. God loves me so much and so deeply that He will not force me to do anything against my free will. What a blessing. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner!

Matthew 18:15-17

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Personal Challenge

Once again, the way that we are expected to live as Christians is so much different than the way that the world wants us to live. If we are offended by someone the world expects us to lash back at them, call them names and make them regret what they did. And if that doesn’t work, and even sometimes if it does, then the world expects us to tell everyone that we know, and that they know, how much they offended us. The world even gives us permission to embellish the story if it helps to enhance the offense. In our desire to live in the spiritual realm and not the temporal one, we are expected to behave so much differently as Christians. If someone offends us then it is expected that in the spirit of love for that person we go to them privately and lovingly let them know of their offense. We are also expected to assess the situation first and if our brother or sister is not able to accept this correction then we consider waiting until they are able or depending on the magnitude of the offense consider forgiveness without confrontation. All of this takes humility on our part and love for both our Lord and our neighbor. Glory be to God.

Psalms 31:23-24 (30:24-25 LXX)

Love the Lord, all you His saints,
For the Lord seeks out truth,
And He repays those who act with great arrogance.
Be courageous, and let your heart be strengthened,
All who hope in the Lord.

Command with a Promise

We are told here to love our Lord and to be courageous and He will strengthen our heart. We are also told to let our heart be strengthened, which implies that the reception of the blessings bestowed on us by our Lord are interactive and not just forced upon us. We are also told in this passage that we cannot expect to receive these blessings from our Lord if we live and act with arrogance. Our Lord desires that we live our lives in humility with Him and with those whom He has placed in our lives. If we choose to continue to live arrogant self-centered lives then our Lord, who knows and seeks out the truth will give us our just rewards. In this case, those rewards often force us into a state of humility. Forgive me, O Lord, for claiming to be Your child and yet living my life arrogantly for myself.

Judges 6:12

And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty one of the armies!”

Encouraging Words

In the story leading up to this proclamation by the Angel of the Lord, we find Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress. This doesn’t make any sense until you read the rest of the story. Gideon is an Israelite and his people have been under the oppression of the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites have been destroying their crops and decimating their livestock in order to break them down. Gideon had found some stalks of wheat and had found a place where he could hide from the Midianites and thresh the wheat for some food. He was actually being kind of cowardly in what he was doing. I can just imagine what he thought when he was told that he was a mighty one of the armies. What armies? Who, me? Why do you think that I am hiding out here? I am sure it was quite amusing. As the story continues we see that the Lord is indeed with Gideon and that he does indeed become a mighty warrior for his people, We too have our Lord with us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us, even if we are hiding out someplace from the challenges in our lives that are closing in on us. He will lead us into the battles of this world as mighty ones of His army if we will just let Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Matthew 18:12-14

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

Encouraging Words

Once again we see that God’s way of doing things is so much different than ours as we succumb to the ways of our fallen world, In our way of thinking we would look at this situation and choose to cut our loses. We would think it better to lose the one and not risk the other ninety-nine. In God’s mind, the lost one is just as important as all of the others and He will pursue that one in order to bring him home to the fold. Now that is true, unconditional love. Many of the early church fathers felt that the ninety-nine represented the angels in heaven and that the one lost sheep was fallen mankind. Jesus left His faithful flock and came to earth, giving His all so that we would be redeemed. This is such a great love that none of us can fully understand it. What we can know, though, is that God loves us so very much that He sent His son to redeem us and has waited patiently for over 2,000 years so that more will be redeemed before He returns. To God be the glory!

Psalms 31:1-5 (30:1-6 LXX)
In You, O Lord, I hope; may I not be ashamed forever;
In Your righteousness deliver and rescue me.
Incline Your ear to me;
Rescue me speedily;
Be to me a God who protects me,
And a house of refuge to save me.
For You are my strength and my refuge,
And for Your name’s sake You will guide and sustain me;
For You will bring me out from the snare they hid for me;
For You are my protector.
Into Your hands I shall entrust my spirit;
You redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.

Encouraging Words

We often forget that King David, the man who slew the giant Goliath as a young shepherd boy with a sling and a stone, was also a prophet. As a prophet, he was blessed to have the Holy Spirit speak through him regarding future events. This passage, as well as the rest of this chapter in Psalms, points to the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ as he approaches and ultimate hangs on the cross. Read this passage as if it were Jesus speaking these words and you will see the prophecy, even to the line, “Into Your hands I shall entrust my spirit;” which Jesus spoke as His final words from the cross. We too, as children of the loving God, can speak these words in our lives as we strive to become like Christ and take up His cross daily. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Joshua 1:6-9

“Be strong and courageous, for you will divide this land which I swore to your fathers to give them. Be strong, therefore, and courageous to guard yourself and to do as Moses My servant commanded you; then you will not turn away from them, to the right nor to the left. In this way, you will have understanding in whatever you do. The book of this law shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may have the understanding to do all the things written therein. Then you will both prosper, make your ways prosperous, and have understanding. Behold, I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be cowardly or fearful, for the Lord your God is with you in all things, wherever you go.”

Encouraging Words

The early church fathers taught that the person of God that was speaking to Joshua here was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Jesus is telling Joshua to be strong and courageous in the face of pending wars and battles because God was with him. Several thousand years later, Jesus, as a human being, would stand before Pilate and His own death sentence and would Himself demonstrate strength and courage, Jesus never asks of us something that He has not already faced when He walked on this earth in a human body like ours. He will give us the strength and courage that we will need to face any challenge. Glory be to God?