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Psalms 119:37 (118:37 LXX)

Turn away my eyes that I may not see vanity;
Give me life in Your way.

Encouraging Words

This is a powerful prayer that we can all say on a regular basis. Asking God to protect our eyes, ears, and minds from those things that will draw us away from Him can help us to stay on His straight and narrow path, His way. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Proverbs 13:10

Deceitful souls are led astray in sins,
But the righteous have compassion and are merciful.

Personal Challenge

Temptations that show up in our lives are not sins. It is what we do with these temptations that end up in sin or righteousness. If our hearts are not right with our Lord or focussed on Him and what He would desire of us, then the temptations will lead us to sin. We choose to give in to the sin. But if we are trying to live our lives to honor God and keep our hearts and minds focused on Him, then we will flee from the temptations and move closer to righteousness. Again, it is a choice. Lord, have mercy? Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Encouraging Words

John 3:16! This is probably one of the most memorized verses of the Bible. This is the verse, when I fully came to understand its meaning, lead me to the point of asking Jesus to be the center of my life, over half a century ago. This verse sums up the whole gospel of why God sent His Son to be incarnated as one of us and let Him die on the cross, because of love. It was not until later in my life that I also noticed that verse 17 was needed to complete the story of Gods’ love. God does not judge us like some angry judge wielding the heavy gavel of justice. God has created all of His creation with a right and a wrong. There is an order that is in place that either draws us closer to Him or pushes us farther away from Him. The thing in our lives that pushes us away from Him is our sin. God does not force us to sin. God does not set us up to sin. God created us with a free will, the ability to choose between right and wrong. When I choose wrong or sin, then I am choosing the condemnation, or separation from God, as the consequences. Then verse 16 kicks in and through Jesus, I can repent of this and be forgiven. Glory be to God! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 119:11 (118:11 LXX)

I hid Your teachings in my heart
So as not to sin against You.

Personal Challenge

The truth found in this psalm is that if I am continuing to sin, then I have not hidden enough Gods’ teachings in my heart. The more that I fill up my heart with Him, the less room there is for the things of this world that draw me to sin, Jesus told the prostitute to go and ah no more after He forgave her. This means we do have the ability, through Him, to live a sinless life. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Proverbs 12:18 (12:20 LXX)
There are those who wound with a sword as they speak,
But the tongues of the wise heal.

Personal Challenge

Throughout the scriptures, both old and new, we are warned that the smallest part of our body, the tongue, can be either the most lethal part of our body or the most healing. We each have the choice to use our tongue to strike as lethally as a sword or to apply healing balm to those around us. The choice is driven by what is in our hearts. Today, I choose to be a healer. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

John 2:9-10

When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

Encouraging Words

Jesus had not yet started His ministry here on earth when He and His mother were participating in a wedding. Most likely this would have been the wedding of a family member or a close friend since Mary was so actively involved in the affairs of the host. What is so powerful about this is that Jesus chose this opportunity to perform His first miracle and also chose to take something everyday and ordinary such as water and turn it into the best wine that anyone there had ever tasted. This is how Jesus works in our lives as His children. We are ordinary human beings and He turns us into saints. He takes the ordinary things that we do and turns them into miracles, He takes the ordinary things in our lives, like the tithes and offerings that we give to our churches and ministries and turns them into resources that build the kingdom of God. What a glorious opportunity for each of us to be used by God. Glory be to Him!

Psalms 119:2 (118:2 LXX)

Blessed are those who search out His testimonies;
They shall search for Him with their whole heart.

Encouraging Words

Doesn’t everyone want to receive blessings? We are told here by the Psalmist that if we search out the teachings and testimonies of our Lord with our whole heart then we will receive blessings. This is not some kind of prosperity gospel. The Psalmist knows that the more time that we spend seeking God and the more that we get to know Him, the more that we realize that the only blessings from God that mean anything are those that relate to Him and our spiritual lives. The things of this world such as temporal wealth, fancy toys, big houses, etc., become nothing to us as we embrace the spiritual blessings that God pours out on us. What are those spiritual blessings? Immortality and living in God’s Kingdom. His grace and mercy poured out upon us. Peace and love for those around us. Our attention shifts from being focused on ourselves to focus on Him. Glory be to God!

Proverbs 12:1

He who loves instruction loves perception,
But he who hates correction is without discernment.

Personal Challenge

The early church fathers believed that Godly perception or discernment was the crown of the virtues. We are informed by the writer of the Proverbs that perception comes through instruction. Instruction is not always learning something from a teacher. More often than not instruction comes through correction and discipline. It does not always feel good, but it does produce good results. The sign of a person growing in their relationship with God is a person who cherishes the challenges that life brings them and perceives them as opportunities for growth, opportunities to develop our theosis. No parent enjoys disciplining their child, but we do enjoy immensely seeing our children learn from their mistakes and their bad choices. God is no different in His relationship with His children, which is why He gives us correction and discipline when we sin. So, the moral of this proverb is not that we should be out doing things that are sinful so that we can receive Gods’ discipline, but that we should cherish the discipline that we do receive, knowing that it is coming from our loving Father. Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!