Proverbs 10:31 (10:32 LXX)
The mouth of a righteous man distills wisdom,
But the tongue of an unrighteous man utterly destroys.
Personal Challenge
What is the indicator of the state, or nature, of my heart? It is that which comes out of my mouth. How I speak to others, or more importantly about others, reveals the righteousness or unrighteousness of my heart and core essence. May it be determined to be a distiller of wisdom.
Psalm 119:117 (118:117)
Help me, and I shall be saved;
And I shall meditate always in Your ordinances
Encouraging words
Jesus is the full compassion of our God and He came to us in the incarnation. Through Him we do live. Glory be to God!
Psalm 89:47-48 (88:48-49 LXX)
Let my substance be remembered, as to what sort it is,
For did You create all the sons of men in vain?
What kind of man is there who will live and not see death?
Will he deliver his soul from the hand of Hades?
Personal Challenge
I have a substance of which I am made. I am not referring to the physical elements that define me as a human being, but of the characteristics and nature of who I am that define me. I do have a choice in this area to follow Christ and be like Him or to deny Him and be like the devil. Whatever choices I make there will be a day that I will stand before my Lord and account for them. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Luke 24:32
And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
Personal Challenge
Does my heart burn within me when I spend tiome in God’s Word? How about when I am in the midst of celebrating liturgy? Or when discussing the Scriptures with my brothers and sisters? If not, then it is time to check the state of my heart. With Jesus being in the midst of all of these activities, and so many more, them my heart should be at a place where He is causing it to burn for Him. Glory be to God!
Titus 3:4-8
But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
Encouraging Words
Works! There is such a heated debate around works. Paul reminds Titus, and us, that it was not our works of righteousness that earned us salvation. It was the kindness and love of God our Savior toward us, and His mercy that we have been justified through and made heirs to His kingdom. It is all about what God did and the fact that we are blessed recipients of His love. However, he does not stop here. He tells us that because of this gift from God we should maintain good works for Him. Glory be to God!
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,But gives grace to the humble.”
Personal Challenge
The note on this passage in the Orthodox Study Bible says,
Humility is the foundation of virtue; it is learned through submission and obedience to godly elders. In submitting to one another, we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.
An interesting, and disheartening, phenomena that I have seen since I converted to Orthodoxy has been seeing how many converts come into the faith and wield and attitude of superiority over others, including their priests and fellow parishioners who have been Orthodox their entire lives. Even converted priests are doing this and expecting others to adopt their version of Orthodoxy. This attitude is not one of humility and submissiveness. Coming from Protestantism, the elder is almost always interpreted to be the leader in the church. Could it not also be used to identify someone who is older in the faith than I, someone who has been on their journey longer, making them more seasoned and, therefore, worthy of my respect? And even if not, being humble and submissive would still dictate that I elevate them above myself. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
John 8:7-9
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
Personal Challenge
Oh, how quickly I find myself reaching for the stones of judgment when dealing with someone who in my mind, and heart, has committed a sin that I have judges as grievous. And then…my loving, non-judgmental, God reminds me that, “He who is without sin…” can go ahead and cast the first stone. My only recourse is to drop the stone and walk away in my own sin. In Orthodoxy, we are taught that we are all accountable for each other’s sins as well as our own. My sins impact you and your sins impact me. If I am truly active trying to live out the second of the two great commandments by loving my neighbor, then I will be active in their lives, loving them, walking through their repentance with them, and allowing them to do the same in my life. This changes the perspective about church family and the need to be loving and caring.
1 Peter 4:10-11
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Personal Challenge
What is the ultimate reason that we do what we do with our lives as Christians? To glorify God! And to help us do this God has given us different spiritual gifts. These gifts are to be used to build up the body of Christ, and, therefore, to glorify God. They are not ours to use for ourselves on to hide under a bushel. Glory be to God!
Mark 12:27
“He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”
Encouraging Words
One mistaken doctrine that is prevalent today is that if we are followers of Christ that we will go to heaven when we die. Jesus taught, however, that when He takes over as Lord of our life we immediately become residents of heaven. He claimed that the kingdom of heaven is amongst us…now. We are aliens in this earthly realm now, or as Paul calls us, ambassadors representing our true home, which is heaven. What a wonderful promise to hold on to as we deal with our daily lives. Glory be to God!
Verse of the Day 