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Mark 13:31

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Encouraging Words

Given that we believe that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God, the Logos, then this verse makes all the more sense. No matter what happens to this physical world, whether it someday be destroyed by fire or flood, Jesus, as the living Word, transcends this physical world, since He is eternal. This is why we put our hope in Him and not just some physical collection of some of His words that are bound between to covers. The Church has given us the written text of the scriptures in order to help us to grow in the image of Christ and to build His body of believers. However, we should never substitute this for Him. The Church has also established that the interpretation and understanding of God’s Word come from within the context of the community of the Church and I do not have the authority to interpret it on my own. We are not individuals in Christ but individual parts of the body of Christ. Glory be to God!

Psalms 55:22-23 (54:23-24 LXX)

Cast your care upon the Lord,
And He shall support you;
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
But You, O God, will bring them down into the pit of decay;
Men of blood and deceit
Shall not live even half their days.
But I will hope in You, O Lord.

Encouraging Words

No matter what happens in my life. whether it be bad choices on my part or bad choices of other people perpetrated against me, I can always cast my cares and concerns upon my Lord and He will support me. He is my rock. He is my refuge. He is my solace. His love for me endures forever and is strong enough, all-encompassing enough, and complete enough to carry me through everything that can, and will, transpire in my life. I chose to put my hope in Him regardless of what others might think or what the world would have me do. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner?

Psalms 55:16-17 (54:17-18 LXX)

But I cried out to God,
And the Lord heard me.
Evening and morning and midday, I shall tell;
I shall proclaim, and He will hear my voice.

Encouraging Words

What more can be said than what the Psalmist proclaims here? We can cry out to our God anytime, I can cry out to Him. When we cry out to Him, He hears us. No matter when we cry out to Him, He is there. Glory be to God!

Ezra 4:59-60 (1 Esdras 4:59-60 LXX)

“The victory and the wisdom are from You, the glory is Yours, and I am Your servant. Blessed are You who granted me wisdom, and I give thanks to You, O Lord of our fathers.”

Personal Challenge

It can be very easy to forget Who is really responsible for our successes in our lives. We usually claim all the glory for ourselves and chalk it up to hand work or diligent studies. Every once in a while we might give some credit to someone who has invested in our lives. Maybe a spouse, or a parent, or a coworker, or a teacher. But all too often we forget to give the credit to Whom it is really owed. It is always our Lord, working in and through us that deserves the recognition for our successes and victories. Everything that we have and everything that we are comes from Him. Glory be to God!

Mark 12:29-31

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Encouraging Words

Can Christianity be condensed down into something as simple as one word? The answer to this question is, “Yes!” It can be defined in its entirety with the word, “Love!”, however, a person that is pursuing God, seeking to be like Christ, will spend their entire life trying to understand how to practice this love and always be reminded that we can never master it. God is love? Throughout the history of mankind, He has never stopped demonstrating His love for Us. Jesus is love! He gave up His position in the heavenly realms to become man and to live a sinless life leading the way for us to do the same. He willingly gave His life for us so that we might be freed from the prison of death. The Holy Spirit is love! He dwells within us to guide us and direct us. God desires that we too strive to live lives of love so that not only do we become like Him, but that through that life we lead others to Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have Mercy! Teach me to love as You do, oh Lord!

Psalms 51:17 (50:19 LXX)

A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit,
A broken and humbled heart God will not despise.

Personal Challenge
Oh, how many times in my life have I gotten caught up in doing things in the name of my Lord believing that I was pleasing and honoring Him. In reality, all that I was doing was pleasing and honoring myself and fulfilling my desires. God doesn’t want the fruits of my labors or any of the things that consume me and my time as much as He desires my heart, a heart that is broken and humble before Him. The sacrifices that the world claims are so special and believe to be so valuable are also of limited value to our Father. As a practicing Orthodox, there are many things that we do in our faith that we believe is for our personal growth and development. We participate in our liturgies, we fast, we give alms and help to the poor, and many other things. It can be easy to get distracted by these things and forget that we are doing them because we love our Lord and desire to serve and honor Him. This is why the sacrifice that our precious Lord desires from us is a broken and contrite heart, a heart that is totally sold out for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner and teach me Your ways?

Mark 12:27

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.

Encouraging Words

Praise God that He is the God of the living and not the dead. Sometimes it seems that all the world cares for is death and not life. Knowing that God cares for the living, both in this life and the next, makes it easier to go through each day. Jesus became a human, led a sinless life, died on the cross, and was resurrected from that death so that He could be victorious over death and the grip that it had over each of us. Glory be to God!