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Psalms 62:1-2 (61:2-3 LXX)

Shall not my soul be submissive to God?
For from Him is my salvation.
For He is my God and my savior,
My protector; I shall be shaken no more.

Personal Challenge

So, what is salvation? What are we being saved from? Some will say that we are being saved from God’s wrathful judgment. But how can this be if we claim that He is all love and mercy? We are being saved from the sting of death that was given to us from sin. Jesus, our Lord, and Savior, became incarnate, lived a perfect and sinless life, then willingly let His life be taken from Him so that He could die in our place, Then, while in hell, He destroyed the gates that hold us in bondage to death and saved all of mankind, and creation, from death. It is because of this glorious truth that our soul is submissive to God and why we are shaken no more by the evils of this world that try to distract us from trusting in Him. Glory be to God.

Tobit 12:6-7 LXX

Then Raphael secretly called the two of them, and said to them, “Bless God and give Him thanks. Ascribe greatness to Him and give thanks in the presence of all the living for what He has done for you. It is good to bless God and to exalt His name. Make known the words of God’s works honorably and do not delay to give thanks to Him. It is noble to keep hidden the secret of a king, but glorious to unveil the works of God. Do good, and evil will not find you.”

Encouraging Words

Just because someone might say that they do not believe in angels, or God, or Jesus as our Savior, does not make it so. As for me, I choose to believe in all of these and then to live my life accordingly. Throughout the book of Tobit, we find that Raphael, an angel sent by God, is active in the lives of both Tobit and his son, Tobias. Raphael is not controlling their lives or manipulating them because he cannot do that. We are all accountable for our own decisions and never coerced by God or His angels to do something against our will. After spending time with Tobit and Tobias, appearing as a human, he reveals who he is to them and gives them this powerful advice, advice that all of us can learn from. We should continually bless God and give Him thanks for what He does in our lives. We should freely ascribe greatness to Him in the presence of everyone in our lives. We should make known, from the rooftops, His words, His works, and His greatness in our lives and the lives of everyone.

Luke 4:1

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Encouraging Words

When we were baptized and chrismated with the holy oil, we were filled with the Holy Spirit just as Jesus was when He was baptized in the Jordan river. And just as Jesus followed that experience by being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to begin His life as a worker for God, so too, do we get led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness of the world for the remainder of our days. At this point in our journey through life, we are no longer a citizen of this world, but we are citizens of heaven acting as ambassadors for God in this world. We can live each day, each moment, knowing that our true home is in heaven with our Lord. We can know that His heavenly kingdom was ushered into existence on the first Pascha when He destroyed the gates of hell and the hold that death had on us. We are no longer subject to the principalities of this earthly realm because we belong to the family of the living, and life-giving God. Glory be to God!

Psalms 62:1-2 (63:2-3 LXX)

O God, my God, I rise early to be with You;
My soul thirsts for You.
How often my flesh thirsts for You
In a desolate, impassable, and waterless land.

Encouraging Words

Our world that we live in can quickly become a desolate, impassable, and waterless land. Life can be difficult. And sometimes this difficulty feels like it lasts forever. Praise God that we can turn to Him to provide for our needs at all times, whether in prosperity or desolation, in times where all paths seem to be smooth and straight or just plain impassable, whether they be lush and full of green pastures or barren and waterless. My God, our God, is there for as always. He is always ready to meet our needs, in ways that we can never imagine and in abundance that we cannot conceive of. So why would I not rise up early to be with Him? Why would I not keep Him ever present on my thoughts
and prayers throughout the day? Why would I choose to let the busyness of life come between Him and me? To break these obstructions I must develop a hunger and a thirst for Him that permeates my entire being. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Today we participate in the death of our Lord. Today we see Him hang on the cross. Today we wept as our brothers and sisters before us, as we grieve over the humiliation of our God! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Today, the Thursday before Pascha (Easter) we are reminded of Jesus’ last full night alive. A night full of agony and betrayal. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Tobit 4:16 (LXX)

From your bread, give to him who is hungry, and from your clothing, give to the naked. If you have more than you need, do almsgiving, and do not let your eye envy the almsgiving when you do it.

Personal Challenge

As we proceed through our final days of anticipation of our Lords’ death, burial, and resurrection, I am reminded by this verse in Tobit that one of our primary missions in life should be almsgiving. Isn’t this what Jesus did when He gave up His place is the heavenly realms to become man and give His life for us? Did He not come to us and feed our great hunger for a relationship with the living God? Did He not come to us and clothe us who were naked with His cloak of righteousness? This is what He asks us to do with the abundance that we have. He asks that we share with those in need and do it joyfully. Glory be to God!

Luke 3:21-22

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

Encouraging Words

Jesus was amongst us as fully man and fully God. However, as a human being, He did one significant thing that was different than all of the rest of us. He chose, by His own human free will to not sin. So, if He was sinless, then why was He baptized, which at that time represented repentance from sins committed? The early church fathers have a myriad of reasons why Jesus did this, but one that stands out to me is the one that Jesus entered into the waters in order to redeem them and make them holy again. God created all to be holy and righteous. But when Adam and Eve sinned, all of creation was corrupted. Water is our life blood, Nothing can survive without it. When Jesus entered into the waters of the Jordan to be baptized, we believe that He reclaimed both the water and all of creation that is nourished by it, once again as God’s holy and righteous creation. He began the process of ushering Gods’ kingdom of heaven back into existence. Glory be to God!