Author: David Short

Psalm 117 (116 LXX)

Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
Praise Him, all you peoples,
For His mercy rules over us;
And the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Encouraging Words

God alone is worthy of my praise and worship for He has ruled over me, a Gentile, with His great and divine mercy. He pours out His love upon me when I do not now, and never will deserve it. His love and truth embrace me and hold me near to His heart. Glory be to God!

1 John 4:7-9

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

Personal Challenge

If all of Christianity had to be summed up in one word, that word would be, “Love!”. God loved us so much that He gave us His Son. Jesus loved us so much that He became a man and gave up His life for us. I am commanded to do only two things with my life; love God and love my neighbor. Without this love, I am not His. The challenge is to love relentlessly, expecting nothing in return, just as God does. Lord have mercy on me, the sinner!

Philippians 2:14-16

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

Personal Challenge

So, what light is it that shines through me to those around me when I am living my life for God? It is not me! It is not my good works! Could it be that the light others see when I am living a life that glorifies God is His uncreated, glorious light? If I am living for Him, loving others for Him, caring for others through Him, then I am becoming an icon, a portal, through which others can see God. I become transparent and therefore, disappear so that He can become apparent and appear before others. I must decrease so that He can increase.

1 Timothy 4:7-8

But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

Personal Challenge

So much of the Christian walk comes down to balance. Balancing what we do in our lives so that we are not over-focusing on any one area. Just as the athlete cannot just focus on one form of exercise or practice, but must have a suite of exercises to develop his whole body, so too must the Christian develop all aspects of his walk with Christ to be able to grow in godliness. This included reading and studying the scriptures and teachings of the saints, participating in the worship and liturgical traditions of the church, being a part of the church body through fellowship, cleansing ourselves of the toxins of our actions in the world through confession and repentance, and exercising our faith through prayer, fasting, serving, giving alms and tithes, and whatever else our Lord asks of us. The Christian walk is a marathon and requires diligent and persistent work.

Psalm 143:1 (142:1 LXX)

O Lord, hear my prayer; Give ear to my supplication in Your truth;
Answer me in Your righteousness;

Personal Challenge

Does God answer my prayers? Always! Do I recognize these answers? Not as often as I should! There is a very valuable truth about proper prayer in this little nugget, “my supplication in Your truth”. I can pray and pray for all the things that I want from God. Any many of these things may be good and proper things. But if I am truly walking in Christ, living my life close to Him, being obedient and submissive to Him, then He will reveal to me those things that I should be praying for. I will then be praying in His truth. This is when I truly see His answers in righteousness. This is when I accept His “No” answers as readily as His “Yes” answers. A true Christian life is lived within Him, for Him, by Him, with all abandonment of self and love of this world. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

John 2:9-10

When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now.”

Encouraging Words

Jesus constantly invites us to partake in His special wedding feast. We get to this every time that we partake of the Eucharist. He is the Groom, ad were are both the bride and the guests. He takes that which is plain and bland, our earthly and unrepentent selves, and turns us into new creatures that taste sweet and are aromatic to the lost world. I cannot do this by myself, but only He can. glory be to God!

Acts 4:13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Personal Challenge

If I have truly “been with Jesus”, if I am in an intimate relationship with Him, then I do not have to brag about my educational or occupational accomplishments to be recognized as a bold follower of Him. I have been given the Holy Spirit so that He can impart to me the divine knowledge and wisdom that I need to live for Him, to proclaim Him, and to die for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

2 Timothy 4:18

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

Encouraging Words

I am my Father’s child. As His child, I am always under His protective wing. There is nothing that can take place in my life, either in this current age or the age to come, that He cannot deliver me from. He demonstrated this over and over again with the children of His old covenant and has consistently demonstrated this throughout His new covenant. His deliverance may not always come in the way that I expect it to, but then I am human and only have a finite view of what options of deliverance I think are best. He is infinite, all-knowing, and all-powerful. He always knows the deliverance that is best for me. Glory be to God!