Author: David Short

John 15:5

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Personal Challenge

It is not enough to know about Jesus. Even the demons know about Him. It is also not enough to know Him. Even Satan knows Him. What is necessary is that we abide in Him, live our every thought and breath in Him. This takes self-sacrifice. This takes a commitment to Him and a willingness to put our self to death for Him. Until we do that willingly and completely, we will produce no fruit, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 37:7 (36:7)

Submit to the Lord, and supplicate Him;
Do not be envious of him who prospers in his way,
Nor of him who transgresses the law.

Personal Challenge

More guidelines on living a godly life. We are to submit to our Lord and make supplication to Him for our needs. A godly life always starts by putting God first. Then we are to go through this life without being envious of others, especially those who appear to be prosperous. We also do not want to be envious of those who transgress the laws of God, which in today’s culture filled with leaders of the world who seem to thrive on these transgressions and then plea for mercy because they feel that they are being persecuted when they get caught. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy, mercy!

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Encouraging Words

Peace! Isn’t that something that all humans are seeking? Peace within our own hearts and minds. Peace around us with those that we love and know. Peace in the world. The kind of peace that Jesus gives to us addresses all of these aspects of peace and much more. His peace is all encompassing and not like any other that we might find in this earthly realm. What we do with His peace is what makes the difference for everyone around us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 37:3-5 (36:3-5)

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.

Personal Challenge

The psalmist gives us some very valuable steps to build our relationship with God. The challenge is to develop the discipline to do this on a regular basis. We start by putting our hope in God and working goodness to those around us in that hope. We then dwell in the land that He has given us, both the physical land and the spiritual, being nurtured by His riches and blessings. We can then truly delight in Him, cherishing Him and how He blesses us. From there we can reveal our way, our desires, our passions, to Him, trusting that He will lead us on His paths. Glory be to God!

John 14:23-24

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”

Personal Challenge

Jesus is the living Word of God. When He tells us to keep His word, what is He saying? He wants us to be obedient to Him, to love our God as He does, to love our neighbor as He does, to do the works that He calls us to do. We do not do any of this to earn His favor or to purchase our ticket to paradise. We do this because we love Him and appreciate all that He does for us. By living this way, we will truly experience God’s love, we will have God Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, make their home with us. If we choose to not keep His words, then that is an indicator that we do not love him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 36:7 (35:8)

How You multiply Your mercy, O God!
The sons of men shall hope under the shelter of Your wings.

Encouraging Words

We are so blessed that our God loves us, His entire creation, so much. We can always put our hope in Him and His mercy, knowing that just like the mother hen, He will shelter us under his wings. Glory be to God!

John 14:15-17

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Personal Challenge

This passage tells us about the Holy Spirit that Jesus prayed to the Father on our behalf for. The Holy Spirit is such a critical part of our life in Christ. However. He starts off with an expectation of us. If we love him? This sounds so simple, but it goes so much deeper than just saying that we love him. He expects active love from us. We do this by keeping the two commandments that He gave us: loving God and loving our neighbor. This is how people will know that we love God! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 35:22-23 (34:22-23)

You saw this, O Lord; do not keep silence;
O Lord, do not be far from me.
Arise, O Lord, attend to my judgment,
My God and my Lord, to my cause.

Encouraging Words

I love how David so transparently expresses his feelings and his needs in his psalms. It is no wonder that God called him a man after His own heart. We all have those times where we feel all alone. We can cry out to God just as David did. We can plea with God to not be far from us and to be there to judge our causes. Glory be to God!