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James 1:12

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Encouraging Words

Having temptations showing up in our lives does not mean that we are not being good Christians. To the contrary, it means that we are striving to be like Christ. It is when we give in to the temptation that we are sinning. One measure of our progress on our journey to theosis is how well we endure the temptations. It is this endurance the leads to the crown of life promised to us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

James 1:5-6

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

Encouraging Words

God does not leave us alone in our trials and tribulations. He stands ready to give us the wisdom that we need to make it through to the other side. However, we must be willing to recognize that we do not have the wisdom that we need and we must be willing to humble ourselves before our God seeking Him to give us the wisdom needed. God does not skimp in the wisdom that He gives us. He gives it to us liberally and without reproach if we pursue Him in faith and asking without doubting. We can have confidence in Him and His promises. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Hebrews 13:17

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Personal Challenge

Obedience, something that we all struggle with all of the days of our lives. It starts with having to obey our parents, then our teachers, then our employers. Somewhere in that constant shift of who we have to obey, we also realize that we have to obey those who are governing us, whether it be the police officer enforcing traffic laws or elected government officials. It is this last group that this verse is so often applied to. But what about our religious leaders. The Orthodox church is a hierarchical church. The priest presides over the local parish and has the final say so there. But he is submissive to the bishop who presides over the diocese and the local parishes that comprise it. Finally, the bishops, collectively form the synod who collectively guide the jurisdiction. And they, like all of us in the Church, are submissive to our ultimate Head, Jesus Christ. In our modern age of individualism, we have a tendency to pick and choose who we submit to and obey. We believe that we have the right to set the rules and expect others to abide by them. In respect to this verse, we are truly mistaken if we believe this. We are told to obey those who rule over us and to be submissive to them. We do that because they are being held accountable by God to be good shepherds and spiritual fathers to us. We should not make their jobs any harder than it already is. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Hebrews 13:15-16

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Personal Challenge

What is one of the more critical forms of sacrifice that our Lord wants from us? It is the sacrifice of praise to Him. But we must not stop there in this verse. What qualifies as a sacrifice of praise to Him? It is not just what we do during our liturgies and worship services on Sunday’s. The fruit of our lips, all of the time, is our sacrifice of praise. Does my language carry put-downs or derogatory and cutting remarks toward people, all people? Then that is not a sacrifice of praise to God. Do I express anger in my conversations, talk about others, tell off-color jokes, or anything else that I would be embarrassed about if I looked over my shower and saw Jesus standing there. Then that is not a sacrifice of praise to God. Do I do any of these things on Facebook, or Instagram, by email, or any other means by which I can say, “Nothing came out of my mouth.”? Then I am still not offering a sacrifice of praise to God. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Forgive us of our sins!

Hebrews 12:28

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Encouraging words

We believe that the Kingdom of God is unshakeable. It cannot be breached by the enemy and it cannot be infiltrated. We also believe that the Kingdom of God exists today and that we are citizens of it even though we are ambassadors in temporary tents in this world. It is this belief that drives out all fear and trepidation with the things that are happening in this world. Through this belief, we too can be unshaken. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Encouraging words

Every time that I step into an Orthodox church, I step into the presence of all of the saints that are presented in the icons around me. No, we do not worship these saints or the icons that are written about them. No, these are not graven images. God, Himself, is the ultimate iconographer in that when He created mankind, He created us in His image. When Jesus took on human form and became God incarnate, He became an icon of God the Father for He said, “He who has seen me, has seen the Father.” The icons of the saints that we surround ourselves with bring them into our lives and us into theirs. That is what this passage is telling us. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses that are there with us while we run this race of life. They are rooting for us, coaching us, interceding for us so that we might end the race well and hear, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.” Glory be to God!

Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Personal challenge

Our faith is not only in God but also in the promises that He gives. We must be careful to not make those promises more important than God. God had promised Abraham that his offspring would be numbered greater than the sands on the beach. He saw the beginning of that promise when very late in his life, God gave him His only son, Isaac. Then, when Isaac was a young boy, God asked Abraham to do the unthinkable, to offer him up as a sacrifice to show God how much he loved Him. This was hard for Abraham, but he had so much faith in God and the promise that God had made to him, that he saw through the death of his son to the promise that a great nation would rise up through Isaac. His faith made it possible for him to be willing to do the impossible, just as God’s love for us was able to take Him to the point of having His son die for us. Glory be to God!

Hebrews 11:13-16

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Encouraging Words

The saints that have gone before us have shown us what it is to both live and to die in faith. Many of the modern preachers teach that by putting our faith in Jesus we will get what we desire now, in this present life. This is the prosperity gospel and it is a lie, a heresy. We do not put our faith in Jesus for things of this world. We put our faith in Him for that promised Kingdom which is not of this world. We do not stop there. We also choose to not look back to the things of this world that we have left behind, for if we do, we will be drawn back to them. Our hope is in Jesus. Our hope is in His Kingdom to come. And we are willing to go to the grave knowing that this hope will be fulfilled someday after this life. We are willing to die in our faith. Glory be to God!