Category: Uncategorized

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God
And keep His commandments,
For this is the whole man.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including everything that has been overlooked,
Whether it be good or evil.

Personal Challenge

Ecclesiastes sums up its discourse on life with these two verses. The entire book teaches about the futility of pursuing a godly life by living within the precepts of the world. If we desire a full life, both now in this temporal domain and throughout eternity in the spiritual domain, then we must fear God and keep His commandments. And what are those commandments? Love God and love our neighbor. The entire body of scripture, traditions, teachings, and examples of the Saints can be summed Up in those six Words…love God and love your neighbor.

John 16:23-24

And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Encouraging Words

Ask and you will receive. Jesus promises us that if we ask of the Father in His name that we will receive what we ask for. This is not some form of prosperity gospel because God is not our great vending machine in the sky, The fundamental truth here is that if we are living our lives in humble submission to Jesus and the will of the Father, then what we ask for will be in alignment with what the Father would want us to have anyway. We would not be asking for anything that would be contradictory to God. We must always remember that as we became children of God we were adopted into His family with all of the rights of a child of His. He will honor our requests, but as His children, our requests will honor Him. Glory be to God!

Ecclesiastes 10:6

The senseless man devotes himself to great heights,
And rich men shall sit in a lowly place.

Personal Challenge

Senseless man? Rich men? This simple passage sounds a little confusing. What we are being taught here is that if we spend our entire life pursuing those things that the world proclaims as great, we will end our lives as senseless and lost people. Our true greatness is not found in that next promotion or that mega-house, or a fleet of cars, boats, and other toys, but in the pursuit of God. If we truly desire to be rich in the sight of God then we will live humble and submissive lives, sitting in the lowly places of this world. This is quite the contradiction of the teachings of this world. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

John 16:13

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Encouraging words

We are not alone on our journey to theosis. Jesus loves us so much the He did not want to leave us alone. He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us through our lives. The Holy Spirit speaks to us on behalf of loving Father. He is always with us. What a blessing. Glory be to God!

Ecclesiastes 7:16

Do not be overly righteous,
Nor be overly wise,
Lest you be confounded.

Personal Challenge

Righteousness and wisdom come from our Lord. They are given to us as a result of living humble and submissive lives before our Lord and loving our neighbor as Jesus loves us. When we start adding our own attempts to appear righteous or to gain much knowledge in the pursuit of wisdom, then we take the risk of becoming like the Pharisees and be overly righteous and wise. This is what sets us up for a fall in our lives. This is because we have become dependent upon ourselves and not on God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner?

John 15:19

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Personal Challenge

Why did Jesus consistently warn us that if we love Him and follow His teachings that the world would hate us? He knew that as soon as we chose to follow Him and His way, then we became foreigners to this world. If we find ourselves fitting comfortably in this world, socially, politically, occupationally, on in any other way, then we must suspect that we are no longer following in the footsteps of our Lord. We have lost our way. Have I become comfortable with what is broadcast on television or portrayed in the majority of movies? Am I at peace with the messages delivered in the news or commentaries of the world? Am I at ease with the images and opinions that the world wants me to accept and not resist? Then I have departed from the teachings and instructions of our God. If I am not different than the world around me, then I have become a part of it. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For there is not a second one to help him up!
If two lie down together, both stay warm,
But how can one stay warm alone?
If one is added strength, two will stand before him,
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Personal Challenge

We live in an age and a society where the loner is praised and individuality is the sought after treasure. However, the early church fathers taught that our salvation can only be fully worked out in our church community. This passage presents this teaching as well. It is so important to have others in our lives that we can count on and learn from, as well as be available to our brothers and sisters to encourage and support them in their lives. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, tale Mercy on me, the sinner?

John 15:15-17

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.

Encouraging Words

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11

To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to give birth
And a time to die;
A time to plant
And a time to pluck what is planted.
A time to kill
And a time to heal;
A time to pull down
And a time to build up.
A time to weep
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn
And a time to dance.
A time to throw stones
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace
And a time to refrain from embracing.
A time to seek
And a time to lose;
A time to keep
And a time to throw away.
A time to tear
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silent
And a time to speak.
A time to love
And a time to hate;
A time of war
And a time of peace.

He made everything beautiful in its time, and He indeed put eternity in their hearts in such a way that man may not find out the work God made from the beginning to the end.

Encouraging Words

Life has a very special way of just plugging along. We often get hung up on the difficult times, the uncomfortable times, those times that we do not want in our lives. But these times do pass and are replaced by the times that we do want and cherish. This is the rollercoaster called life. Enjoy the whole ride. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!