Category: Uncategorized

1 Chronicles 16:34 (16:33 LXX)

And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;
And deliver us from the Gentiles
To praise Your holy name,
And boast in Your praises.”

Personal Challenge

Oh, how many times I have called out to my God in times of need and have had Him do things to guide me through the challenges, and then turn my back on Him and go back to doing whatever I want. The response that I am slowly learning to give in these instances is to stay close to Him and praise Him for what He has done. God is so good to us. He created us in His image. He desires that we live our lives in a relationship with Him just as every parent desires to hear their child’s voice. It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of our lives and our world and miss the many opportunities to “walk in the garden” with our Father, our Creator, and our Benefactor. And yet, even though we so quickly run back to doing our own thing independent from our Father, He remains constant. He is continually our rock, our shelter, and our salvation. How much more we can experience His love and blessing if we choose to stay close to Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Mark 2:5

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Personal Challenge

One of the fundamental beliefs of the early Church that we have lost in modern Christianity is the need and power of community. The church of the West has embraced the age of enlightenment and has created an environment and a religious institution that revolves around individualism, Me and my Bible! Me and my salvation! Me and my worship! Me and my…! The early Church and the church of the East have taught and continue to teach, that our salvation is worked out in our community. That is why so many of our prayers use terms such as, “we,” “us,” and “our”. Jesus commends the friends of the paralytic for their faith. He claimed that it was their faith, and the subsequent action that they took because of that faith, that produced the healing and the forgiveness of the sins for their friend. The paralytic had to humble himself and submit to his friends and their belief that Jesus would heal him. So many people that I know, dear friends and acquaintances, often complain that their church does not provide the community that they desire, the desire that God built into each of us. Come and see another way to worship!

Psalms 37:7 (36:7 LXX)

Submit to the Lord, and supplicate Him;
Do not be envious of him who prospers in his way,
Nor of him who transgresses the law.

Personal Challenge

If I live my life with my heart and mind constantly focused on my Lord, then my eyes will not be focused on those around me. It is when I take my eyes off of my Lord, such as Peter did when he was walking on the water to meet his Lord, that I begin to sink into the inclination to be envious of my brothers and sisters around me, There is truly a reason why others in my life are prosperous in their ways or who seem to go through life transgressing against our God and get away with it, but as this verse says, that is none of my business. My own heart, my own mind, and my own actions and thoughts are my responsibility and the consequences of what I do, or don’t do, are mine to bear. If I am truly submitting to my Lord and supplicating Him to be the Lord of my life, then I will stay focused on Him and strive to be like Him.

2 Kings 6:16

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are greater in number than those who are with them.”

Encouraging Words

I have always loved this story in the old testament. Elisha, a prophet of God, and his servant have been pursued by the Syrian army. When his servant looks out of the place of refuge that they have been staying at he sees thousands of soldiers surrounding them and calls out to Elisha in fear and trepidation. Elisha responds with this statement. Elisha sees his world, the servant’s world, our world through different eyes, spiritual eyes. What Elisha sees is a host of heavenly soldiers that far outnumbers the physical soldiers. His eyes have been opened to the realm that surrounds us all every moment of every day. My desire in life is to be able to live my life in such a way that my eyes are opened as Elisha’s were, to be able to see, and hear, and smell, and touch the spiritual realm around me. This is part of the destination through the journey through life towards theosis. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner for I do deserve to be called, a child of God.

Mark 1:35

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Personal Challenge

Here we have the example of Jesus taking time out to do what was most important to Him, isolating Himself from the busy-ness of life and spending time with His Father in meditation and prayer. How can this be? He was fully God and fully man, If He was fully God was He not always in fellowship and communion with the Father? Yes, He was! Then why the need to go off to a solitary place and pay? Because Jesus was also fully man, and that man lived in a fallen world, Jesus still needed to discipline His body to yield to His spirit. Jesus dwells within us when we receive Him and are anointed with the holy oil through our baptism and Chrismation. However, we still have a fleshly body that lives in a fallen world and is driven by the free will that God has created us with. We need these times alone with God in order to commune and fellowship with Him. I regret that I have allowed, and often create, so much busy-ness in my life that I do not spend this kind of time with my Father. I need to make this a priority in my life. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner?

Psalms 37:3-5 (36:3-5 LXX)

Hope in the Lord, and work goodness;
Dwell in the land, and you shall be nurtured by its riches.
Delight in the Lord,
And He will give you the requests of your heart.
Reveal your way to the Lord,
And hope in Him; and He will do it.

Commands with Promise

Sometimes we are given things to do in the scriptures that also tell us what we can expect to see God do if we are obedient. If we put our hope in our Lord, and through that hope permeating us to the point where the things that we do are His works of goodness, all the while doing this in the land that He has given us to dwell in, then we will be nurtured by the riches of that land. This nurturing by the riches of the land does not necessarily mean wealth and prosperity. It may mean peace and joy in our lives. It may mean that our basic needs are being met by God taking care of us. The psalmist goes on. If we put our delight in the Lord, then He will give us the requests of hearts. Once again, though, if I am truly centered and focused on Him then my requests will be for those things that He would want me to have. Finally, if I reveal my desires, my hopes, my wants to Him, then He will guide me on my journey through life to be more like His son. Glory be to God!

1 Kings 22:5

Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Ask the Lord today.”

Personal Challenge

So, who is this Jehoshaphat and why is he important to me? At this time the people of God had been split into two separate and sometimes warring nations, Israel and Judah. Jehoshaphat was the king of Israel and Ahab was the king of Judah. Bottom line, Ahab was not a good guy. He was a really mean leader. At this point in time, the two kings have come together to join forces against common enemies. Jehoshaphat starts this relationship off by suggesting that Ahab should inquire of God on whether or not they should enter into the battle. Ahab has surrounded himself with a host of prophets that all say what he wants to hear. They would never give him advice that might displease and consequently anger him. These are the guys that he used to inquire of God. And of course, they agreed with Ahab’s desire to go to war. There was, however, one prophet whom Ahab hated who told them that they would lose the battle and to not go. He was immediately thrown into jail, they went into battle, and Ahab was eventually killed. It does us no good to only listen to those who would always affirm us, especially when we are making bad decisions. This is not asking the Lord! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

Personal Challenge

Go! Make! Baptize! Teach! These are not passive, couch-potato words. Our Lord finishes His time here on earth with a command to be actively pursuing those who do not know Him before He returns. Jesus came so that all might be saved, He gave up His life so that mankind would be able to live their lives fully as we were meant to. Now for those of us who have chosen to follow Him, He is giving us the charter on how to live our lives. We are to be actively going outside of the walls of our churches and homes, sometimes outside of our own countries, and strive to spread His gospel and make disciples of those who do not know Him. We are to lead them to the foot of the cross and baptize than when they come to their senses of who they are and why they need Him. And we are to teach them how to grow in the likeness of Christ and to do these same things. Jesus then promises to us that He will be there with us as we do His work. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have many on me, the sinner!