Author: David Short

Deuteronomy 8:2-5

Now you shall remember the whole way the Lord your God led you in the desert, to deal harshly with you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He dealt harshly with you and weakened you with hunger, and fed you with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God man shall live. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your feet become callused these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.

Encouraging Words…

God took His chosen people, the Israelites, through a 40 year sojourn in the desert before He brought them into the promised land. He loved these people. He had a covenant with them and always honored it. And when they turned their back on Him for false Gods He loved them even more and took them through a chastening process. A process of refinement. It is in the midst of these processes that our true heart is revealed. As God’s children under the new covenant ushered in by our Lord Jesus Christ, we too are on a sojourn to the promised land. We too will be chastened and refined so that our true heart will be revealed to us. This refinement is all at the hands of God and covered by His love and protection. He loves us that much. Glory be to God!

Psalm 39:7 (38:8 LXX)

And now what is my patience?
Is it not the Lord?
And my support is from You.

Encouraging Words…

We can find peace and patience in the Lord. Not only is He the provider of our every need, but He also provides us the ability to wait upon Him patiently. If we submit to Him and His precepts, if we humble ourselves before Him, He will guide us through our trials and periods of waiting, patiently and lovingly. Glory be to God!

Luke 6:27-31

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

Personal Challenge…

In the Orthodox church we are getting ready to enter into our season of Great Lent…40 days leading up to Pascha (Easter). This is a time of preparation for the greatness of the work that Christ did to free us all from death. So many people think that Lent is only a time for giving up. Indeed, part of what we do is to fast, but this is only a part of what we do in preparation for our remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. This passage gives a glimpse into part of what our Lord wants from us…love for our brother and sister. Come and see sometime and you will see so much more of what we do for this special season in the church. Glory be to God!

Genesis 24:8

“And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.”

Encouraging Words…

At this point in the scriptures Abraham is sending one of his servants on a journey to find a wife for his son. It is clear through this verse and the ones that follow that Abraham, the servant, and Rebekah’s family all honored and respected a person’s free will. God created us with the ability to choose between right and wrong and then allows us to make that choice. He does not drive us as if we are robots. This is the depth of His love for us.

Genesis 22:10-12

Then Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” He then replied, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him, for now I know you fear God, since for My sake you have not spared your beloved son.”

Personal Challenge…

What does God want from us? He wants our all! He wants us to be willing to give up, to sacrifice, everything that is dear to us, even those things that He has miraculously given to us. If we are willing to do this it will keep us focused on worshipping Him alone and not these things. Abraham’s faith in God was so strong and so deep that he was willing to sacrifice his son, a miracle given to him in his old age, because his Lord asked him to. Am I willing to do the same? Is it my comfortable home, or my regular paycheck, or my motorcycle or car, or my precious time, or what, that God is asking me to set aside for Him? In Abraham’s case all God wanted was to know that he would be willing to give up his son. He did not want his son’s life as a sacrifice, for He knew that through Isaac His own Son would be born and one day sacrificed for all of mankind and creation. Is our God more valuable than our stuff and ourselves? This is the question that He is asking us throughout our lives. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Jeremiah 31:25 (38:25 LXX)

For I have satiated every thirsty soul and filled every hungry soul.

Encouraging Words…

God is the source of all that we need. He meets the thirsts and hungers that are at the depths of our soul. Glory be to God!

Deuteronomy 5:29

Would they had such a heart in them so as to fear Me and guard My commandments all the time, that it might be well with them and their sons forever.

Personal Challenge…

After all that God had done for the people of Israel to lead them out of Egypt and to this point in their journey they were still attached to the things of the world and not able to look to the spiritual world, the kingdom of God, before them. Oh, how much we still do this today. We are also sojourners in a land that is not ours on our way to the promised land. Our Lord wants us to keep our hearts, minds, and desires focused on Him and that promise. We cannot that and also love, cherish, and worship the things of this world. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

1 Corinthians 1:25-29

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Personal Challenge…

God’s way of doing things is so much different than what we would expect. We look for the grandiose and the mighty to be the warriors and leaders for God. And yet He chooses a shepherd boy, the smallest and lowliest of of his family to build His kingdom and to be the forefather of our Lord. We would build His church by great leaders, orators, and influential men, bet He chose uneducated, calloused, and weather-worn fishermen, tax collectors, and other rabble to take His church from 12 scrabblers to what it is today. God continues to work that way today. He wants us to be humble and lowly before Him so that He can use us and so that glory of His great works magnify Him. Am I willing to bow low before Him so that He can use me for His glory? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Isaiah 41:13

For I am your God who holds your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not.’

Encouraging Words…

We have nothing to fear in this temporal life except God alone. And the fear that we put in Him is that of loving respect and awe and not cowering, dread of judgment fear. We can live our lives this way because of who He is and the covenant that we are a part of. Glory be to God!

Psalm 37:3-5 (36:3-5 LXX)

Hope in the Lord, and work goodness;
Dwell in the land, and you shall be nurtured by its riches.
Delight in the Lord,
And He will give you the requests of your heart.
Reveal your way to the Lord,
And hope in Him; and He will do it.

Commands with Promises…

This passage gives us various commands of what we should do, or how we should live, and what the results will be. But before we apply some formula to God and expect Him to respond to us because we act a certain way, or do certain things, or speak the perfect prayer, we must understand how His promises work. We are called, above all, to love the Lord, our God, with all of our heart, soul, mind, and spirit. If we truly do this we begin on the path of humility and submission to Him and His will. As we grow in this humility and love for Him our hopes, our good works, our dwelling in the land, our delighting in Him, our ways that we reveal to Him will all shift to be more in alignment with Him and His will. Then the nurture that we will receive, the requests of our heart that He gives us, and the things He will do in our lives will be so much more different and fulfilling than if we seek our own desires.