Verse of the Day

Category: Uncategorized

  • November 17, 2020

    TURN TO GOD

    Joel 2:12-13

    Now says the Lord your God, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting and wailing and with mourning; rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is merciful and compassionate. He is longsuffering and plenteous in mercy and repents of evils.

    Personal Challenge

    It is the state of our hearts that is important to God. Even though our faith practice calls upon us to fast, pray, worship, and do other things in our lives in order to develop godly habits and disciplines, it is most important to discipline our hearts. God has told us through the scriptures and through the Living Word, Jesus, that God looks at the hearts of men and not their outward appearances and actions. God wants us to turn to Him with our whole heart and to have our actions, all of them, flow from that heart that belongs to Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

  • November 16, 2020

    HE DELIGHTS IN MERCY

    Micah 7:18

    Who is a God like You, removing wrongdoings and passing over the ungodliness of the remnant of His inheritance? He does not keep His anger as a witness, for He delights in mercy.

    Encouraging Words

    It amazes me how many Christians call for God to be judgmental and apply their form of justice to those with whom they do not agree with. If we call for His justice and His judgment, we must then expect Him to apply that to us as well. Lord, have mercy! I am so thankful to be a part of the Eastern Orthodox church. Our foundations were laid long before the Western church adopted the concepts of a legalistic and judgmental God. We believe that God will exercise the judgment of all in our final day, but that He will, more importantly, exercise His mercy upon us because of the work that His Son Jesus did to redeem us. This is our hope and our plea. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

  • November 14, 2020

    Saint of the Week
    St. Ephraim the Syrian

  • November 15, 2020

    LOOK TO THE LORD

    Micah 7:7

    But I will look to the Lord. I will wait for God my Savior, for my God will hear me.

    Encouraging Words

    Sometimes life can be tough. For some people, life feels like it is always tough. No matter whether we are in good times or in those rough times, we can always look to the Lord knowing that He will hear us. This gives us what we need to navigate these tough times and relish the good. Glory be to God!

  • November 13, 2020

    WE HAVE BEEN SHOWN

    Micah 6:8

    He has shown you, O man, what is good. Or what does the Lord seek from you but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to be ready to walk with the Lord your God?

    Personal Challenge

    Throughout history, people have asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?” we have it wired within us that we have been separated from our creator and that we need to be saved from the grip that death has upon us. So, what must we do to be saved? It is not about what we do, but about Who we proclaim as our Savior. He has been revealed to us, so we have no excuse. We grab hold of Him and do not let go. Then the doing follows that because we love Him and want to show our gratitude to Him. He wants us to live just lives, to love mercy, and to walk in His ways. Glory be to God!

  • November 12, 2020

    SEEK GOOD

    Amos 5:14a

    Seek good and not evil so that you may live, so that the Lord God Almighty will be with you.

    Personal Challenge

    So, what does it mean to seek good and not evil? I know that I can proclaim that I am not doing evil things like murdering someone or robbing banks or beating my wife. Is this where the definition of evil ends? Not really. Am I being disruptive and decisive in my ways and language, whether in person or on social media? Am I choosing to participate in those dirty or harmful jokes and memes? Am I lording it over other people like a bully? These are just a few of the ways that I can seek evil. If I am not truly and sincerely showing love for my neighbor, especially those that I disagree with or perceive as my enemies, then I am seeking evil. To seek good is to strive to do what Jesus would have me do. It is to desire to walk in His footprints and live as He lived, even unto death for another. This is a hard path to take but the one that leads to a life where the Almighty Lord God is with us. Glory be to God!

  • November 11, 2020

    VICTORY OVER HELL

    Hosea 13:14

    “I will deliver them out of the hand of Hades
    And will redeem them from death.
    Where is your penalty, O death?
    O Hades, where is your sting?
    Pity is hidden from My eyes.”

    Encouraging Words

    There is no place that exceeds the reach of our Lord Jesus Christ in the redemption of His church. Even the depths of Hades have been breached by His love and mercy, redeeming the captives that were once there. So, when we proclaim that God is omni­present, present everywhere, at all times, that means that He is present in heaven, on this earth, and in hell, wielding His power, His mercy, and His grace. Glory be to God!

  • November 9, 2020

    FRUIT

    Hosea 10:12


    Sow to yourselves in righteousness;
    Gather in the fruit of life;
    Light for yourselves the light of knowledge;
    Seek the Lord till the fruits of righteousness come upon you.

    Personal Challenge

    We often read in the Scriptures about the fruit of our labors. We can judge the nature of a tree by the type of fruit that it produces. We are the same. What is the fruit that we are producing in our lives? Is it bitterness or sweetness? Is it division or unity? Is it falsehood or truth? And these contrasts go on and on. Hosea reminds us that if we sow ourselves as seeds in righteousness then we will produce the fruit of life. We will be measured by the fruit that we produce. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

  • November 6, 2020

    MERCY

    Hosea 6:6

    For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
    And the knowledge of God
    More than whole burnt offerings.

    Personal Challenge

    Our God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is merciful. He puts up with us as we continue to seek after our own ways and our own desires. He patiently waits for us to turn to Him and to share His truths with others so that they might turn to Him as well. He desires that we show mercy to those around us. He desires this more than seeing us practice the traditions of our churches which often turn us into legalistic people. He desires that we know Him more than offering all kinds of sacrifices to Him hoping to earn His favor. Jesus left us two commands to live by. They are to love our God and to love our neighbor. This is how we learn to be merciful. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

  • November 5, 2020

    PURSUE GOD

    Hosea 6:3

    Let us know, let us pursue
    That we might know the Lord.
    We shall find Him ready as the daybreak,
    And He will come to us
    As the early and latter rain to the earth.

    Personal Challenge

    Throughout the scriptures, we are encouraged to pursue God as if He is an evasive creature that tries to hide from us. However, the scriptures also teach us that God is ever-present and waiting for us. Which one is it? I will go back to the scripture that calls upon us to pursue God as a hunter tracks the game that he is pursuing. It is not that God is hiding from us at all. He is everywhere. He is in our loved ones. He is in our neighbor whom we are commanded to love, He is in the beauty of His creation. Just as pursuing the deer in the wilderness, the pursuit is not about the deer revealing itself to us, it is about us learning more and more about that deer, its characteristics, its behaviors, its essence, until we see the deer where it has always been. Our pursuit of God is about us changing to be able to see Him where He is already all around us. This is how we should pursue Him. Glory be to God!