Author: David Short

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.

Matthew 6:30

Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Personal Challenge…

Why is it that we can trust our God to give us eternal live, to save us from the pits of hell, and yet not trust Him to meet our every need as He has promised us? Is it because deep down we do not really trust Him for anything and we just call out Him for “fire insurance”? Is it because we get too caught up in doing it all our way and relegating God to the back seat? Is it because we are focusing on our WANTS and not our NEEDS and angry at God for not giving us what we want? God does not lie. He has promised us in His scriptures and through the traditions of the church that He will take care of us. What we need to do is trust Him and ask Him to show us what our needs really are and to teach us to be thankful for that. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Jeremiah 32:27 (39:27 LXX)

Psalm 27:13-14 (26:13-14 LXX)

I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be courageous, and strengthen your heart,
And wait on the Lord.

Personal Challenge…

Waiting on the Lord is never an easy thing to do. sometimes it is part of our theosis, growing in the image of God.

Deuteronomy 4:31

for the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you nor annihilate you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers, which He swore to them.

Encouraging Words…

We so easily apply our limited and temporal perspective to the things of God, which are far beyond what we can comprehend and of the spiritual realm. When we hear of His mercy, His promise to never forsake us, His remembrance of the covenants that He has made with humankind we apply our experiences in our lives to this and look at it through the filter of the times that we have been abused or abandoned or mistreated or had love taken away from us. This is where faith steps in. Faith in the Almighty loving God. Faith in the work that Jesus did while being God in human form. Faith in His promises and covenants. Through this faith we begin to see God’s mature and that He keeps His promises. Glory be to God!