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Proverbs 5:1-2

My son, hold fast to wisdom
And incline your ear to my words,
That you may guard good thinking;
And I command you with the perception of my lips.

Personal Challenge

Contrary to modern, popular belief, salvation is not a one-time event in our lives when we say some canned prayer or answer a call to come up to an altar. Salvation is a process that works out through our entire life. It is a process that requires us to be active in a community of believers because no one is saved alone. Most importantly, as the writer here reminds us we are active participants and workers in our own salvation. We must spend our entire lives holding fast to Wisdom, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. When we take our eyes off of Him we will fall away from Him. We need to listen intently to Him and His teachings so that our own personal thoughts and desires are washed over with His thoughts and desires. This is why we call our life with Christ a journey. It never ends and we must keep moving forward toward Him if we are to fully experience His glory and grace in our lives. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner!

Luke 17:20-21

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Encouraging Words

One of the things that we are hearing about today is thoughts that the end of our days are near. Two Hurricanes back to back, a major typhoon in the process, fires all across the west of our country, a major earthquake by Mexico and Guatemala, and North Korea testing nuclear bombs. For 2,000 years people in the new covenant church have been looking for the return of Jesus and the establishment of His new world. But what we often forget is that for 4,000 years before that, the people of God were looking for their Messiah. We keep missing the point that Jesus made to the Pharisees. When Jesus became incarnate as a human like the rest of us, lived a sinless life, died an innocent death, and rose again, He established His kingdom, the Kingdom of God within the hearts of those who believe in Him. Sure, He also talked about when He would return to set up His new kingdom in a tangible way, but He made it clear that His spiritual kingdom was established 2,000 years ago. Isn’t it time that those of us who claim Him as Lord, start living as members of the kingdom of God! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 104:33-34 (103:33-34 LXX)

I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing to my God as long as I exist;
May my words be pleasing to Him,
And I shall be glad in the Lord.

Encouraging Words

How is it that we can sing to our Lord all the days of our lives and speak words that are pleasing to Him? It is because we are so thankful for all that He has done for us in our lives and for what we know that He will continue to do in our lives. But more important than this, we can do this because of the nature of our God that we are singing to. So many religions are based on angry and vindictive gods or on leaders who strive to bring fear and trepidation into their followers’ lives so that they feel compelled, out of fear, to follow their leader. Our God, the only true and righteous God, is a God of love, pure love. His entire creation sings out to us so that we may know Him, fall in love with Him, and be in a relationship with Him. For those of us who have heard these songs of creation and chosen to follow Him, we find that we cannot do anything but sing to Him every moment of our lives, speak words that are pleasing to Him, and be glad in Him. We still stumble and fall on our journey of life. We still sin, but when we turn back to Him, His love covers us. Glory be to God!

Proverbs 4:23 (4:22 LXX)

Keep your heart with all watchfulness,
For from these words are the issues of life.

Personal Challenge

In this age of abundant access to information, a preponderance of “social” media tools, and a mindset of self-centeredness and open expression, this proverb becomes extremely important to adhere to. It still amazes me how harsh people have become at expressing what they feel they have the right to express. The concept of being gracious to those around us is quickly becoming a relic of the past. The understanding that what proceeds from out of our mouths is what is in our hearts has all but disappeared from society. Even the church and her members have fallen prey to this trend. I am sure this grieves our Lord as He watches His creation devour one another with words, opinions, and sarcasm. It is my own personal responsibility to make sure that I do not go done this path even if I must go against the flow and be rejected for this choice. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 103:17-18 (102:17-18 LXX)

But the mercy of the Lord is from age to age upon those who fear Him,
And His righteousness upon children’s children,
To such as keep His covenant
And remember His commandments, to do them.

Encouraging Words

God’s memory is infinite. There is no beginning to it nor end to it. Since He is ever present, throughout all time, He is in the midst of every moment at every instance of time. How does this work? We do not, nor will we ever know, for it is a mystery. But what this means to those of us who choose to put our lives into His hands is that there will never be a moment in our finite lives that God is not lavishly pouring out His mercy upon us. He is also anointing us with His righteousness. He not only does this to us but to the generations that follow us as a reward for our commit­ment to Him. God loves us this much. God loves me this much. So, if I truly believe this and choose to put all of my faith and trust in Him, and Him alone, then why would I not fear and respect Him? Why would I not strive to keep His covenant with His bride, the church? Why would I not try to keep His commandments and live my life His way and not my way? Glory be to God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Proverbs 3:23-26 (3:26-29 LXX)

That you may walk confidently in peace in all your ways,
And your foot may not stumble.
For if you sit down, you will be without fear,
And if you lie down, your sleep will be pleasant.
And do not be afraid of intimidation when it comes upon you,
Nor of the attack of the ungodly when it comes at you;
For the Lord will be over all your ways,
And He will plant your feet firmly, that you may not be shaken.

Encouraging Words

Continuing with the teaching that the Lord will make our paths straight if we trust in Him, the writer of Proverbs eloquently reminds us of all that God will do in our lives if we keep our minds and hearts focused on Him. He will help us to walk confidently in peace, even if the world around us is in chaos, we will not stumble. We can sit down without fear and lie down in pleasant sleep. We do not need to be afraid of intimidation when the world pours it out upon us or of the attack of the ungodly. Why can we live our lives this way? Because the Lord will be over our ways and He will plant our feet firmly. It is only in Him that our ways will not be shaken. Glory be to God!

Luke 17:15-16

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

Personal Challenge

This accounting of Jesus healing ten lepers is so telling of the state of so many of our hearts. Jesus encountered ten lepers and standing off in the distance they called out to Him for His Mercy and possibly healing. Jesus told them to go to the local priest and show him that their leprosy was gone. They were not healed immediately, but while on the way to the priest their leprosy was healed. Out of the ten of them, only one felt that it was appropriate, or necessary to run back to Jesus, fall at His feet in humility, and thank Him for His act of kindness and mercy. And on top of it all, he was a Samaritan, an outcast in the society in the day of Jesus. How often has my Lord performed a miraculous event in my life, and I just went on as if it was a given that He would be doing this for me? How often have I neglected to abandon what I am doing, that which is important to me, to run to Him, fall at His feet, and thank Him for His love, kindness, and mercy? Jesus loves me! He cares for me more than even I do. He is constantly performing miracles in my life. I cannot thank Him enough for all of this. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord have mercy!

Luke 16:10

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

Personal Challenge

God cares about what we do with what He gives us. Whether it be wealth or health or time or our talents, we are ultimately measured by what we do with them. The more that we do for Him, with what He has given us then the more that He gives us in order to use for Him. It all belongs to Him anyway. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner and please use my feeble attempts to serve you for your good.