Psalm 119:147 (118:147 LXX)
And I shall keep Your testimonies.
I arose at midnight and cried out;
I hoped in Your words.
Encouraging Words
My God never sleeps. He is never hidden or absent. If I cannot feel His presence in my life it is because I have moved away from Him. Because of this I can call out to Him at any time and in any situation knowing that He will hear my voice. Glory be to God!
Psalm 118:1-4 (117:1-4 LXX)
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say that He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Aaron say that He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.
Let all who fear the Lord say that He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.
Encouraging Words
Throughout our liturgy we proclaim, “Lord, have mercy!” While quoting/praying the Jesus Prayer we plead, “”Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner!” We do not do this because we believe that God might relax on giving us His mercy. We do this because we recognize how little we deserve His mercy and how much forgiveness we need for our sinfulness. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
Psalm 101:2 (100:2 LXX)
I will sing and understand in a blameless way;
When will You come to me?
I walked in the innocence of my heart in the midst of my house.
Encouraging Words
What better way to start the day than singing out to our God and beginning the day with a clean and innocent heart. We can call upon our God to be with us throughout the day and strive to be blameless as we bathe in His glory, love, mercy, and grace.
Psalm 119:89 (118:89 LXX)
And I shall keep the testimonies of Your mouth.
Forever, O Lord,
Your word continues in heaven.
Encouraging Words
Nothing about our God is temporary or fleeting. He is eternal, and therefore, His precepts and His love for us is eternal. I will never be out from under His wing. Glory be to God!
John 6:68-69
But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Encouraging words
I love how Peter makes it so clear that now that he has truly met Jesus there is nowhere else that he can go. His life will never be the same again. I have found that the more I grow in my relationship with my precious Lord the farther from this world I am drawn, the less the cares and concerns of this world mean to me. There is nowhere else to go except to the fee of Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me the sinner!
Hebrews 2:14-15
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Encouraging Words
Jesus becoming a man, living an earthly life, and dying on the cross as a sinless human was not God’s Plan B. God is divine, uncreated, and always separate from mankind because no man can survive in His presence. So, how is it that we can ever hope to enter into His eternal home of heaven? Through Jesus! Jesus is God incarnate in human form. We can be in the presence of Jesus who is our doorway to heaven. And on top of this, by becoming a man, living a sinless life, being put to death, and rising from that death, He broke the bondage that satan had on us through death. We are free to live forever and to live sinless lives because of Jesus. Glory be to God!
Romans 8:10
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Encouraging Words
Is it possible to be both dead and alive at the same time? Yes, through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within me because I am a child of God. My body, my physical and mortal shell is in a constate state of dying due to the fallen and sinful state of the world. However, the Holy Spirit fills me with spiritual life that will keep me alive through the remainder of eternity. Glory be to God!
Acts 3:19
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
Personal Challenge
Why is it that we talk of becoming a Christian as being converted? It is because in order for me to truly be a follower of Christ I must repent of my natural, temporal self and convert to a spiritually focused, Christ-centered way of being. I must act different, look different, think different, be different. This difference, this conversion, happens throughout the rest of my life as I pursue the likeness of Christ and grow in His image. If I am not different than the world around me then I have stalled on m journey and need to repent and start the conversion process back up. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
Verse of the Day 