Verse of the Day

Author: David Short

  • January 3, 2016

    The Power of the Incarnation!


    Psalm 85 (84 LXX)


    O Lord, You were pleased with Your land; You turned back the captivity of Jacob;
    You forgave the transgressions of Your people;
    You covered all their sins.
    You ended all Your wrath;
    You turned from the wrath of Your anger.
    Turn us, O God of our salvation,
    And turn away Your anger from us.
    Will You be angry with us forever,
    Or will You prolong Your anger from generation to generation?
    O God, You will turn and give us life,
    And Your people will be glad in You.
    Show us Your mercy, O Lord,
    And grant us Your salvation.
    I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me,
    For He will speak peace
    To His people and to His holy ones,
    And to those who turn their heart to Him.
    His salvation is very close at hand to those who fear Him,
    That glory may dwell in our land.
    Mercy and truth met together;
    Righteousness and peace kissed each other;
    Truth arose from the earth,
    And righteousness looked down from heaven.
    For the Lord will give goodness,
    And our land shall yield its fruit.
    Righteousness shall go before Him
    And establish His footsteps as our pathway.

    Encouraging Words

    Why, oh why, would our God, the creator of all, especially all of mankind, use the incarnation of His Son as the means by which to save us all for eternity? Because as long as we were created beings, created from the soil of this earth, we would remain separated from God, the Creator, the Divine. But through the incarnation, through God Himself becoming man, mankind has been given the divine opportunity to see the Image of god. And through that Image, our Lord Jesus Christ, we will come to be in the presence of our God throughout eternity. Glory be to God!

  • January 2, 2016

    Saint of the Week
    St. Hesychios the Priest

  • December 29, 2015

    Doing all for His glory!


    1 Corinthians 10:31

    Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

    Personal Challenge

    Every moment of my life, every thought, every action, every inaction, can be used to glorify God. Or it can be used to distract from Him and His glory. the choice is mine. It is a choice that I must constantly be making. Thank You Lord for giving me the Holy Spirit so that I can have help in these choices.

  • December 28, 2015

    Bearing one another’s burdens!


    Romans 15:1-3

    We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

    Personal Challenge

    Do I truly love my Lord? Am I willing to do whatever He asks me out of that love? Or, is my love for Him in word only so that I can reap some benefit by claiming that I am His? Then, if I do love Him I will bear with my brother in his times of need. This does not mean that I just put up with him. It means that I share in his burden as Jesus did in mine. It means that I put his needs before mine. Am I really ready to live my Christian life this way? Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

  • December 27, 2015

    Taking up our cross!


    Matthew 10:38-39

    And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

    Personal Challenge
    One of the things that I am beginning to learn, especially in times of fasting such as Lent, is that if my Christian walk is all smooth and easy then I have drifted away from my Lord. The truth is that the closer that I am to my Lord, the more at odds I will be with the world. This is taking up my cross. To do this, I must turn my back on the world and all that it has to offer me and pursue my Lord. Only then will I find true life. Glory be to God!

  • December 26, 2015

    Saint of the Week
    St. Porphyrios

  • December 24, 2015

    Striving to be real!


    Matthew 15:7-9

    Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

    ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,And honor Me with their lips,But their heart is far from Me.And in vain they worship Me.’

    Personal Challenge

    It is so easy to slip into the mode of telling others to practice what I preach but to not do what I do. This is something that I must fight off so that my actions reflect what my desire is for following Christ. But in order to do this effectively and genuinely, I must bring my heart into alignment with the heart of my Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

  • December 23, 2015

    I am no longer what I was!


    1 Corinthians 6:11

    And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

    Personal Challenge

    So, what were we before Jesus got hold of us? We did wrong and cheated. We were fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, sexual deviants of all sorts, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, and the list goes on. And I am sure that we all, for I know that I do, will say that we were never as bad as this list. But then, I must remember that I only need to some of this in thought and it is as bad as doing the whole thing. In other words, I was (and still am) totally unworthy of God’s love, mercy, and grace. But Jesus has come along and become my living sacrifice and benefactor. Through Him, and Him alone do I experience salvation from that which I truly deserve. In Him, I was washed through my baptism. In Him, I was sanctified through the giving of the Holy Spirit in the oil of chrismation. In Him, I am justified through my faith. Glory be to Jesus, my Lord and Savior.

  • December 22, 2015

    Selective faith?


    Matthew 9:24

    He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him.

    Personal Challenge

    What a sober challenge this is to us. These throngs of people had been following Jesus, pressing Him to perform one of His miracles in their lives. But look how quickly their tone changes when He steps into a situation that they do not believe He can handle. Not only do the not believe He can do nothing, but they also ridicule Him. How much am I like these crowds? As long as Jesus is doing the things that I expect Him to do my faith is strong and my actions commensurate with that faith. But as soon as He begins to take me into a situation where my faith will be tested and I will be stretched then I forget everything else that He has done and ridicule Him by turning away. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

  • December 20, 2015

    Gaining wisdom through being a fool!


    1 Corinthians 3:18

    Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

    Personal Challenge


    The more I strive to know my God and the more I learn about Him, the more I realize just how much I do not know Him. God’s ways are so far removed from the ways of man that I could acquire all of the knowledge and wisdom of mankind and be farther from God than I have ever been. This is where I continually deceive myself. My pursuit of God should not be based on pursuing the wisdom of men about God, but should be based on becoming a fool in the ways and knowledge of man so that God can fill me with His wisdom. I must become humble before Him and my fellow man if I am to begin the journey of truly knowing God. This is so contrary to the teachings of man. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!