Author: David Short

Psalms 31:1-5 (30:1-6)

In You, O Lord, I hope; may I not be ashamed forever;
In Your righteousness deliver and rescue me.
Incline Your ear to me;
Rescue me speedily;
Be to me a God who protects me,
And a house of refuge to save me.
For You are my strength and my refuge,
And for Your name’s sake You will guide and sustain me;
For You will bring me out from the snare they hid for me;
For You are my protector.
Into Your hands I shall entrust my spirit;
You redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.-

Encouraging Words

Why would you be a follower of Christ? What does Christianity have to offer you? I have heard these questions and many more like them. We all have something or someone that we put our faith in. It is how we are wired, or as a Christian would say, created. I put my faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, just as the author of this psalm did. Why? Because my God delivers and rescues me in His righteousness. He listens to me. He rescues me. He protects me. He is my house of refuge. My strength comes from Him. He guides and sustains me. He pulls me out of the snares of life that have been set for me. He is my protector. He redeems me. I am not ashamed to put my hope in Him and to entrust my spirit to Him. Glory be to God!

John 8:7-9

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Personal Challenge

Have we become a society that no longer has a moral compass, a godly conscience, to guide us? Worse yet, have those of us who proclaim to be followers of Christ lost so much of our understanding of who He is, and what He has taught us, that we are no different than the world around us? God created us to know the difference between right and wrong. He created us with the ability to seek the truth and run from a lie. As true followers of Christ we can learn even more about how to be beacons of light of His truth and shine it into the world. It is time for us to drop our stones and to walk away from those who are perpetrating lies and conspiracies for their own good. It is time for us to be convicted by our conscience and to do the right and godly things, Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 30:11-12 (29:12-13)

You turned my lamentation into dancing for me;
You tore up my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
That my glory may sing praise to You,
And not be pierced with sadness;
O Lord my God, I shall give thanks to You forever.

Personal Challenge

Throughout our lives we will have events that will alter the course of our life journey. Sometimes these are positive. Sometimes they are negative. In all cases, the course is changed and will never be restored. What we can do is turn to our Lord and seek His guidance on the new course. Only through Him will our lamentation turn into dancing and our sorrow be turned into gladness. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

John 7:37-38

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Encouraging Words

It still amazes me that God chooses to use us His, followers, as His means to share His gospel, the good news. We are still sinners and so often mess up in being His emissaries. And yet, He not only trusts us to do this important job, but He gives us what we need to do in it. Jesus promised us that if we believe in Him rivers of living water will flow from our hearts bringing His power to quench the thirst of those in need. Glory be to God!

Psalms 30:5 (29:6)

For there is wrath in His anger,
But life in His will;
Weeping will lodge at evening,
But great joy in the morning.

Encouraging Words

God is characterized as angry against sin and unrighteousness. His desire for His creation, His beloved, is that we live in alignment with His will. This is where we find life. However, another characteristic of God is love. His love for His creation gives us a means by which we can live in alignment with his will. It is His only begotten Son who paved the way for us to have life eternal and the gift of the Holy Spirit to live that life for God and experience His God great joy in the morning. Glory be to God!

John 6:68-69

But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Encouraging Words

As we get to a place in our walk with Christ where we truly see Him as the Son of the living God, and fully give our lives over to Him, we too reach this place where we see that there are no other options but Jesus. He is our Lord and Savior. He is our of life, and life to the fullest. Praise be to God!

Psalms 27:13-14 (26:13-14)

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.

Living in a culture where everything is expected instantly, it becomes easy to apply this mindset to everything including waiting on God to meet our needs. God wants us to rely on Him for all that transpires in our lives. We can choose to believe that we shall see Lords goodness in our lives. We can live our lives on the Lord. We can be courages knowing that He will strengthen our hearts. Glory be to God!

John 6:35

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

Encouraging Words

Jesus promises us that He will away be with us and feed us the spiritual food that we need to be sustained in Him. He is the bread of life. We have the blessing of partaking, physically, in that meal during every service that we eat and drink the eucharistic meal. As we believe in our Orthodox practice, that which is bread and wine, gets transformed into the body and blood of Christ for us to partake of and to be sustained by. Glory be to God!