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1 Samuel 2:1-2 (1 Kingdoms 2:1-2 LXX)

And she (Hannah) said:
“My heart is strengthened in the Lord;
My horn is exalted in my God.
I smile at my enemies;
I rejoice in Your salvation.
Because no one is holy like the Lord,
No one is righteous like our God,
No one is holy but You.”

Personal Challenge

Hannah is such a great example of a godly person who has been waiting for all of her life for a special gift from God, a child. And when she finally gets her prayers answered in her old age she immediately vows to give her child back to God. Shortly after her son Samuel was weaned and able to walk she took him to the temple and gave him over to the priests to raise him as a man of God. I have never been a mother, but as a father, I know how much I love my children and how much I miss them now that they are adults and off raising their own families. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been for Hannah to let her son go. This act shows how much she loved her God. Sometimes God lovingly answers our prayers just long enough for us to feel His love and to give us a chance to give back from the answered prayer so that we can also experience the act of loving Him. Sometimes this means letting our children go.

Judges 16:20

And Delilah said, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” So he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as before, and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

Personal Challenge

Isn’t this the state of so many of us who claim the name of Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We act as if we are such good and righteous followers of Jesus, especially on Sunday’s and yet we dabble with things in our life that can so easily lead us into sin thinking that we can withstand their snares. This is how Samson lived his life around Delilah. He had so many indicators that she desired to cooperate with his enemies and betray him. Yet in his arrogance he continued to live his life in a way with her that would one day lead to his demise. We must watch how we live or lives. We must remove ourselves from those things that will tempt us to sin. We must do everything we can to remain in the arms of our Lord so that we can withstand the temptations of our enemy and keep from falling away. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Deuteronomy 29:28

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Encouraging Words

Once again, I am reminded that God is God and I am not. God is eternal, I am finite. He is omniscient, I am so very limited in my sphere of influence. He is omnipotent, I am frail and feeble. And the list goes on and on. However, God in His divine wisdom has allowed us, His created children, to know so e of His mysteries. He has done that through His Son, the living Word, through writings and teaching of those who have gone before us, through our traditions, and many other ways. But there is so much more that He has not revealed because we do not need it. This drives us to faith, to trust in Him, to say each time we participate in our liturgy, “I believe…”. God knows those things that are mysteries to us and I am happy knowing that. He will reveal to me what He thinks I need to know. Glory be to God!

Numbers 18:1-3

Now the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the sins of the holy things, and you and your sons with you shall bear the sins of your priesthood. You shall also bring your brethren, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, to yourself, and they shall be joined and added to you, and minister liturgically with you and your sons with you before the tabernacle of testimony. They shall perform your guard duties and the duties of the tabernacle, but they shall not come near the holy vessels and the altar, lest they die—they and you also.

Encouraging Words

I am sometimes asked why am I still interested in old-fashioned practices such as our liturgy every Sunday. My answer is, “Why not?” First of all, our God deserves our total and uncompromised respect, adoration, and worship. We owe Him our everything and yet we so often treat Him as if He was just a commonplace person like you and me. Yes, Jesus became man and remained fully God. He became one of us, yet remained God, and this is all the more the reason to worship our God with awe and reverence. This is why we do our liturgical practices and other traditions, to show Him our love and respect. Glory be to God!

Exodus 36:3-5

They received from Moses all the offerings the children of Israel brought for all the works for making the holy place, and they continued bringing him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the wise men who were doing all the work of the holy place came, each according to the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the work the Lord commanded us to do.”

Personal Challenge

There is so much more wealth at the disposal of the people or the church than there can ever be the amount of work that it would take to use it. When we, the body of Christ, choose to bring our will in alignment with God’s will and give from the great wealth that He has blessed us with, then great things happen. The problem resides in that we so often view the wealth in our lives as ours and that whatever we decide to give to God is some great and glorious gesture of good will. We act as if God owes us because we are so magnanimous in or gifts and tithes to Him. It is truly the other way around. We owe Him everything because He has given all that we have to us. And this does not just apply to material wealth, but to our time, our abilities, our love, everything that already belongs to Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Exodus 19:5-6

“‘Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be a special people to Me above all nations; for all the earth is Mine. You shall be to Me a royal priesthood and a holy nation.’ These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Encouraging Words

In the Old Testament covenant, God promised to set up Israel as a holy nation and a royal priesthood. Unfortunately, they broke that covenant. In the New Testament covenant, Jesu initiated a new agreement with the new nation, the Church, and it is in this new nation that the holy nation and royal priesthood has been accomplished. Glory be to God!

Today, throughout the world, those who practice the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith, celebrated Pascha (Easter).

The Paschal Greeting in languages from around the world is…

English – Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
Chinese – 基督復活了！事實上，他復活了！
Serbian – Hristos vaskrse! VAISTINU VASKRSE !
Haitian Creole – Kris la resisite! Vreman vre li leve!
Irish – Críost aiséirithe ! Go deimhin tá sé ardaigh !
Spanish – Cristo ha resucitado! Verdaderamente, ha resucitado!
Thai – Phra khris̄t̒ ca pheìm k̄hụ̂n! Thæ̂cring phraxngkh̒ thrng pĕn k̄hụ̂n!
Arabic – Al-Masih-Qam! Hakkan Qam!
Armenian – K’ristos yareaw ! Iskapes Na harut’yun arrav :
Eskimo Aleut – Kristus aq ungwektaq! Pichinuq ungwektaq!
Ethiopian – Christos Tenestaul! Awon Tenestaul!
Georgian – Kriste aghsdga! Cheshmaritad aghsdga!
German – Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden!
Greek – Christos Anesti! Aleithos Anesti!
Hawaiian – Ua ala hou ´o kristo! Ua ala ´i ´o no ´oia!
Korean – Kristo Gesso Buhwal ha sho sumnida! Chamuro Buhwal ha sho sumnida!
Latin – Christus resurrexit! Resurrexit vere!
Romanian – Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!
Russian – Khristos Voskrese! Voistinu Voskrese!
Swahili – Kristo Amefufukka! Kweli Amefufukka!