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Proverbs 9:9-12

Give the opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser;
Instruct a righteous man, and he shall continue to receive it.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the counsel of saints is understanding;
For to know the law is characteristic of a good mind.
For in this manner you will live a long time,
And the years of your life shall be increased.
My son, if you become wise in yourself,
you shall also be wise toward your neighbor;
But if you prove to be evil, you alone will go through troubles.

Personal Challenge

Wisdom and righteousness are both worthy aspects of life to pursue, however, we cannot achieve these on our own. We need our Lord to provide these to us or we will always come up short. How does God get these into our lives? When we give our lives over to Him as our Lord and submit our wills to Him, He fills us with His Son and Holy Spirit which begins the process of gaining godly wisdom. He has provided to us centuries of saints that have gone before us that we can learn from. He has given us His living Word, both in the incarnation of His Son and the canonization by the Church of the written word, so that we can know His precepts. He has given as our neighbor to love and meet the needs of giving us humility. He remains active in our lives leading us in the path of wisdom and righteousness. Glory be to God!

Luke 18:27

But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

Encouraging Words

What kinds of things are impossible for men to accomplish on their own? Being healed of an incurable disease? Being spared in the midst of a significant natural disaster? Having someone anonymously meet your financial need when there is nothing left to pay even buy food? We often think of these big things as miracles and neglect the small things that God does over and over again in our lives. What kind of small things does God make possible in our lives? How about every breath

that we are able to take in? Every beat of our heart? The miracle of modern medicine that provides us medications or treatments for things like cancer? The miracle of birth? And this list goes on and on. God is in every aspect of our lives, whether big or small. His ability to make the impossible possible in our life is there all the time. So, how does this affect my life? By living my life, moment by moment looking for Gods’ active participation in my life, I am blessed to see His hand at work, time and time again. By doing this I find myself looking for ways to submit myself to Him. Glory be to God!

Psalms 111:10 (110:10 LXX)

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord;
A good understanding is in all who practice it.
His praise continues unto ages of ages.

Encouraging Words

Since Jesus is who the word wisdom in the Psalms refers to, then this verse is telling us that the beginning of our relationship with Him comes from fearing our Lord. The concept of fearing someone in our modern day language and culture has become a bad thing. The true nature of this kind of fear is to view our God with a great sense of awe and respect, knowing that He holds the universe, and therefore our very existence, in the palm of His hand. This kind of fear drives us to live our lives in a way that honors and adores Him, not that we are afraid He will angrily punish is, but because we desire to please Him as a child does for his parent. Fearing God this way sets our minds and hearts into a state where we can receive His good understanding, apply it in our lives, and praise Him all the more. In a sense, this creates a symbiotic relationship with our Lord, especially since He dwells within our hearts. Glory be to God!

Proverbs 8:32-34

Now therefore, my son, hear me:
Blessed is the man who shall hearken to me
And the man who shall guard my ways;
Who watches daily at my doors,
Who keeps watch at the doors of my entryways;
For my issues are the issues of life,
And grace is prepared from the Lord.

Command with a Promise

We are told that if we listen to our God, hearken to His voice, guard the ways of our God, and keep watch daily at His doors and entryways, then His grace will be prepared for us. What does this mean? Our Lord has told us that His kingdom has arrived. Jesus established God’s kingdom in our hearts when He came to dwell amongst us. So, doesn’t it make sense that the doors and the entryways that we are being told to keep watch over are the doors of our hearts? It is so easy to get distracted by the things of this world and drop our guard allowing the world to creep into our hearts and lead us into sin. That is why the ability to effectively watch over our heart is to keep listening for His voice and hearkening to His instruction. This is the beginning of receiving His grace and blessings. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 18:15-17

Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

Personal Challenge

Why is it that we, as adults, always make things so much more complicated than they need to be? I think a lot of it has to do with pride. Jesus made it clear to His disciples, multiple times, that in order to inherit the Kingdom of God, we need to become as little children. What are the characteristics of a child? Humility. Sincerity. Trusting. Honesty. Simplistic. Theophylaet of Bulgaria said in respect to this verse,

“A little child is not arrogant, he does not despise anyone, he is innocent and guileless. He does not inflate himself in the presence of important people, nor withdraw from those in sorrows. Instead, he lives in complete simplicity”

This sums up what Jesus desires from us as we choose to follow Him as our Lord and Savior. Our life must become other focused in order to enter into His Kingdom. He desires that we set aside everything that we think we know so that He can teach us what He wants us to know. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy’ Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 110:4 (111:4 LXX)

For the upright, light springs up in darkness,
For he is merciful, compassionate, and righteous.

Encouraging Words

One of the excuses that I have heard as to why a person chooses to not live a Christian life was that they felt that they would miss out on all of the fun things in life. Besides, it was said that we only live once so we might as well make the most of it. I am sorry some people think that way, for it has no truth in it. I have never missed out on having a fun and full life. I have chosen to forgo many of the things that the world deems as fun and I have no regrets. Besides, by trying to live an upright life, I have seen the light of my God spring up in the darkness of this world. I have seen His mercy, compassion, and righteousness poured out so many times, on so many people, and in so many diverse places. God is good! God is loving! And most importantly, those times that I stumble and fall in my journey of life, those times when I turn my mind or heart away from God, He is there shining His light even so much more brightly to bring me back home like the prodigal son so that He can lavish all the more mercy, compassion, and righteousness upon me. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Proverbs 8:17

I love those who love me,
And those who seek me shall find me.

Encouraging Words

How awesome it is to know that our God is not allusive. He desires to be in a loving, caring relationship so much more than we do. If we love Him with all of our hearts and souls then we will see how much He loves us in return. It is not that His love is in response to ours. His perfect, unconditional love is always there. It is that the more that I turn my attention toward Him and my love toward Him, the more I see of His love that is always there for me. I can never out love Him. He promises this. He also promises that if I seek Him, I will find Him. Again, this is not because He is lost or hiding. It is because I have to find my way out of the fog of sin and self that I have created around myself. Actually, what I am actually finding is just how far from Him I am.

Luke 18:13

And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’

Personal Challenge

The scripture is full of reminders that if we desire to be close to our God, we must start by recognizing how far from Him we really are and begin our journey towards Him by humbling ourselves. This accounting in Luke of the tax collector and the Pharisee shows us that no matter how much knowledge we have about God or what position we hold in the church, if we do not have humble hearts, then we will never be able to truly know God. The tax collector knows that he is a sinner and that he has no right to expect anything from God. He humbles himself and recognizes that he cannot begin to approach God in all of His glory, and yet, with this humble heart, He still knows that he needs his God. The Pharisee, however, approaches the altar of God with pride and arrogance acting as if God owes him everything for his piety, even to the point where he demeans the tax collector in his prayer. So, what is the state of my heart? Do I come to my Lord on my knees knowing that God owes me nothing? Am I humble toward my God and my neighbor? Not nearly as much as I should. I too, need to pray the prayer of this man. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 109:21-22 (108:21-22 LXX)

But You, O Lord, O Lord, deal mercifully with me for Your name’s sake,
For Your mercy is good.
Save me, for I am poor and needy,
And my heart is troubled within me.

Encouraging Words

Mercy: compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender on to one subject to one’s power.