Category: Uncategorized

CONFESSION AND CLEANSING

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Personal Challenge

It is such a blessing to know that our God is so willing to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from our unrighteousness. Verse 8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We need to be active in confessing those sins because that is admitting the truth about ourselves. We need to do our part to receive this blessing. So what about those actions that we commit that are clearly against God that we do not confess as sin. Things like being mean and nasty towards our neighbor, not supporting those in need, not loving the foreigner amongst us, and so many other actions that Jesus told us to do. Are these sins unforgiven? Does God in His mercy ignore them? Or is this part of what we will be held accountable for in the last judgment. The key message here is that we must be constantly running to Christ, confessing our sinful actions, and seeking His forgiveness. We need to keep our slate clear before Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

TAKE UP HIS YOKE

Lamentations 3:27-30 (3:24-27 LXX)

It is good for a man when he takes up
A yoke in his youth.
“He will sit alone and be silent,
Because he bears it on himself.
He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And he will be filled with insults.
Yet the Lord shall not reject him forever.”

Personal Challenge

Jesus told us to take up our cross and to follow Him. Here in Lamentations we are told to take up a yoke and be obedient to God. Being a follower of Christ is not a walk in the park. It means being willing to follow Him, even to the cross, because that is what He did for us. We must be doing the things that He did, saying the things that He said, and avoiding the things that He avoided. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Saint of the Week

St. Seraphim of Sarov

LIGHT VERSUS DARKNESS

1 John 1:5-7

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Encouraging Words

Light is such a necessary component of life. Without it there is death. Even in the depths of the ocean, where light cannot penetrate, the creatures that are there, generate luminescence, or light. God is light. He is not just the source of light, He is light. He is the source of all life that thrives on His light. As followers of Christ we must choose to be His light in this dark world. If we choose to walk in darkness, support those who do the deeds of darkness in this world, and cheer on actions of darkness, then we lie about being His followers. Lord have mercy on those who proclaim Him as their Lord and yet relish in darkness. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

WAITING BUT SEEING

Lamentations 3:25-26 (3:22-23 LXX)

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who will seek Him, the Good One.
He will wait for and quietly expect
The salvation of the Lord.”

Personal Challenge

God is always with us. Sometimes our hearts and minds are so full of the world and the issues that it induces in our lives that we feel as if God has left us. It is not so. God has not left us. We have put up barriers that prevent us from seeing Him. This is where the waiting, the quiet expectation, and the seeking of Him in our soul, reveals Him to us. This process, cleanses us of those things that have built the barrier and tears it down. We will once again find the salvation of the Lord. Glory be to God!

SEEN, HEARD, AND TOUCHED

1 John 1:1-3

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Encouraging Words

Jesus is not some figment of someone’s imagination. He was seen by many, both followers and adversaries. He was heard by many, both those who heard His teachings and chose to change the world forever as well as those who chose to reject him. He was touched by many, both those who reached out to Him and those He reached out to. As followers of Christ we believe we can still see, hear, and touch Him as we wait for His return by how we treat the people in our lives. The Christian faith dictates that we act like Christ and do the things that He would do. Anything else is heretical. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

CALLED BY HIS NAME

Baruch 2:14-15

O Lord, hear our prayer and our petition, and for Your own sake deliver us, and grant us mercy before those who have carried us into exile, in order that the whole earth may come to know that You are the Lord our God, for Israel and his descendants are called by Your name.

Personal Challenge

Baruch lived in a day when God’s chosen people had been taken captive and into exile. This was allowed by God because of their sin and refusal to submit to God. He had called them to be light to the world and to bring the world into God’s family. Instead they kept their covenant with God all to themselves and ultimately rejected Him. Sometimes it feels like the church of today, those who say they are Christians, are going down this same path and seeking a king to lead them. This will not end well. We may very well be entering into a time of winnowing where the Church will go through a cleansing of the false followers. This always a painful time for the true followers of Christ. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

NOT SLACK

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Encouraging Words

Jesus promised us that He would come again to take us all into His heavenly kingdom. It has been over 2,000 years since he said that. Many Christians, especially the Christian nationalist of today believe that they are doing things to “force”Jesus to come on their timeframe. It does not work that way. He will come when God is ready for Him to. A key part of that delay is in this verse. God desires that everyone follow Jesus. He is willing to wait so that more people will come to Him. He also waits so that those of us who follow Jesus can strive for repentence and follow Him closer. Thanks be to God!

FIND MERCY IN THEIR SIGHT

Baruch 1:11-12

And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his son Belshazzar, that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven. And the Lord will give us strength and enlighten our eyes, and we will live under the shelter of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and under the shelter of Belshazzar his son, and we will serve them for many days and find mercy in their sight.

Personal Challenge

As followers of Christ, we are called to pray for those leaders that are over us. Even the Israelites of old were told to do the same. They were instructed to pray for their captors that had overrun their land and taken them away in exile. We do this in hope that they will have mercy upon us in their decisions. This can be challenging when the leadership is corriupt and abusive. We can still pray for them, hoping that God will break through their hard hearts while at the same time supporting and encouraging our neighbors. In the love of Christ, we can peacefully and non-violently protest their atrocities, all the while still praying for them. It is a delicate balance to follow. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Saint of the Week

St. Nikolai Velimirovich