Author: David Short

James 1:2-4

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Encouraging Words…

Life is not possible without trials. But what we do with our trials that makes all of the difference in our lives and the lives of those around us. We can walk through these trials with joy knowing that they will produce in us fruit that glorifies God. Glory be to Him!

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Encouraging Words…

The scriptures teach that if we are saved, redeemed by the blood of Christ, the Cross makes sense and that we can grow in Him and He will reveal His mysteries to us. However, for those who have rejected Him and are perishing they thinking the message of the cross is foolish. For those of us who are saved, our responsibility is to be beacons of light into the lives of those who are perishing so that they too might be saved. It is not right to hoard the truths of God and therefore be responsible for those in our lives who do not accept God’s truths.

Psalm 42:11 (41:12 LXX)

Why are you so sad, O my soul? And why do you trouble me?
Hope in God, for I will give thanks to Him.
My God is the salvation of my countenance.

Encouraging Words…

Once again the psalmist reminds us that we have everything that we need and that He is not only the salvation of our souls but even of our countenance. When we feel down, sad, or troubled we can turn to Him for comfort.

John 17:14-17

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Encouraging Words…

When we receive Christ and are baptized and chrismated int His Church we are no longer members of this temporal kingdom. We are immediately adopted into God’s spiritual family. Even though we still dwell in the midst of the temporal and physical world we are now ambassadors here. We are sanctified by God’s truth and now able to be His witnesses to those around us whose eyes and ears are still shut to God and His kingdom. The temporal and spiritual coexist and by God’s power we can live for Him in both.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (36:11-13 LXX)

For I shall consider a plan of peace for you, to give you good things and not calamities. Therefore, pray to Me, and I will hear you. Seek Me, and you will find Me, because you seek Me with all your heart.

Encouraging Words.

So many religions in our world are based on the need for us to do things in order to achieve a certain state. And even then there is no guarantee that the end state can ever be achieved. We who follow Christ, however, are promised that He will hear us when we pray to Him and we will find Him when we seek Him. His desire for us is a life of peace, joy, and freedom. Glory be to God!

Isaiah 43:1-2

And now, thus says the Lord God who made you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I redeemed you. I called you by your name, for you are Mine. If you pass through water, I am with you; and the rivers shall not overflow you. If you pass through fire, you shall not be burned up, nor shall the flame consume you.”

Encouraging Words…

God’s promises are eternal. We, His people, are in good hands at all times. He has redeemed us, His precious offspring of Jacob, His Israel, and will never let us go nor let us be harmed. What more is needed to push through each trial and tribulation?

Psalm 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.

Encouraging Words…

Our Lord will strengthen the hearts of those who hope in Him. He deserves our worship. He deserves our submission. He deserves our all because we receive our all from Him. He is the God of truth and knows our every action, thought, and desire…and yet He still loves us. How can we do anything but fall on our faces before Him in humble worship?

Nahum 1:7

The Lord is merciful to those who wait on Him in the day of affliction, and He knows those who reverence Him.

Command with a Promise…

If we can wait on our Lord and His timing in the midst of our affliction, if we reverence Him while we are waiting, He will be merciful to us in this situation. Isn’t waiting like this the ultimate act of humility? Submitting ourselves entirely to Him, to His timing, and to His solution to our affliction. This type of submission can only come from completely humbling ourselves and allowing God, better yet trusting God, to do the correct thing in the affliction. Aren’t these the mercies that we receive in this case? Glory be to God!

Psalm 113:3 (112:3 LXX)

From the rising of the sun to its setting,
Praise the name of the Lord.

Personal Challenge…

Our spiritual father, the apostle Paul, told us to pray without ceasing. Our Old Testament fathers told us to be constantly studying the law. How do we do this in this modern, time-consuming world? One way is to do what we are taught in the Orthodox church…pray the Jesus prayer regularly until it becomes as our very breath.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

We can do this as an exercise of discipline, with prayer beads or a prayer rope as an aid, or through meditation. It doesn’t matter what practice we use as long as we get to a place where every breath, every thought, every beat of the heart, is bathed in Jesus Christ and focused on praising Him. Oh…I have so far to go on this.