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Psalm 31:1-4 (30:2-5 LXX)

In You, O Lord, I hope; may I not be ashamed forever;
In Your righteousness deliver and rescue me.
Incline Your ear to me;
Rescue me speedily;
Be to me a God who protects me,
And a house of refuge to save me.
For You are my strength and my refuge,
And for Your name’s sake You will guide and sustain me;
For You will bring me out from the snare they hid for me;
For You are my protector.

Encouraging Words…

We live in two worlds, two domains, at the same time. Our physical body is in this earthly domain and yet at the same time there is the spiritual domain around us as well. Our Lord, our God, dwells in both realms. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords in both realms. And it is He who surrounds us and protects us. It is He who is our refuge, our guide, our sustainer, and our protector. We must yield to Him, submit to Him, and humble ourselves before Him so that He can guide us through our time here on earth. Glory be to God!

Psalm 33:18 (32:18)

Behold, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,

Encouraging Words…

One of the many blessings of being in that stage of life where I have had children and now have grandchildren in my life is that I can see the description of God’s love for His children in verses like this one from the perspective of a parent. As my children were growing up, and now with my grandchildren, I watch them like a hawk, especially when out in crowded spaces. This watching comes from love and a desire to protect them. This is what God, our Father, does for each of His children. Glory be to God!

2 Peter 1:2-4

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Encouraging Words…

“That through these you may be partakers of the divine nature…” By the grace of our Father and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ we have been adopted into the family of God. Through this adoption we may partake in the divine nature. Just as children take on the traits and characteristics of their parents so can we take on the image of our God. We cannot become Him, but we can become more like Him, which is what we mean by theosis.

As Cyril of Alexandria stated: “We that are made worthy to participate in Him [the Holy Spirit] through faith in Christ are brought to perfection as participants of the divine nature, and are said to be born of God, and on that account are given the title gods, not flying up to the glory above us by grace alone, but as already having God indwelling and taking lodging in us, according to what is set forth in the Prophet, ‘I shall dwell among them and walk about in their midst’ (Lv 26:12; 2Co 6:16)”

Galatians 5:13

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Personal Challenge…

By the grace of God the Father, the work of God the Son, and the presence of God the Holy Spirit in our lives we have been set free from the shackles of the law. In this freedom, this liberty, our sins are forgiven and we are no longer constrained. In this freedom, however, we are admonished to not use it for our own good, meeting our own fleshly desires, but to use it to love our neighbor and seek their good.

Psalm 42:1-2 (41:2-3)

As the deer longs for the springs of waters,
So my soul longs for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before the face of God?

Personal Challenge…

Shouldn’t this be the desire of our every thought and breath…to long for our God and thirst for Him above all else? As we progress on our journey through life and in our growth in theosis our desire to be with God should grow more deeply and pervasive in everything we think and do. As we grow this way our actions will reflect Him more and more. Glory be to God!

Psalm 62:6-7 (61:7-8)

For He is my God and my savior,
My protector; I shall never be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
He is the God of my help, and my hope is in God.

Encouraging Words…

We do not need to rely on our own capabilities or resources to make it through life. We do not need to rely on others or institutions either. We can rely on God who is our protector, our salvation, our glory, our help, and our hope. Through Him and His presence in our lives we will know how to make it through times of bad as well as good and how to deal in godly ways with others and the institutions that we share our lives with. Glory be to God!

Psalm 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…

We live in an age where everything is temporary and thrown away. It is so easy then to put our trust into these temporary things; our job, our knowledge, our pension, you name it, and look to the temporary for permanence. All of this will some day be burnt up as chaff. It is our God, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end that is the only one that we can put our trust in and give our submission to.

Proverbs 25:4

Beat drossy silver,
And it will be made entirely clean.

Personal Challenge…

Silver is a beautiful, precious metal when it has ben purified and all of the dross, or foreign material, pounded out of it. We humans, formed in the image of God, are beautiful, precious beings and must also have the dross, or in our case, sinful passions, pounded out of us. We are not totally depraved. We are beautiful diamonds covered in the slime and muck of sin and impurities from living in a fallen world. Our Lord is the perfect silversmith, or diamond cutter, who is constantly cleaning us up and chipping away at the dross in our lives. We can do our part in this refinement as well by being spiritual athletes, running the race, and practicing by prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and loving our neighbor. Glory be to God!

Psalm 51:17 (50:19 LXX)

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

Personal Challenge…

God desires that we offer up to Him our heart more than the works of our hands. It is from the humble heart and the broken spirit that our true actions come. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Isaiah 12:2

Behold, God is my Savior and Lord. I will trust in Him and be saved by Him. I will not be afraid, for the Lord is my glory and my praise. He has become my salvation.

Encouraging Words…

Just as Isaiah could call out to His Lord in praise thousands of years ago so can we today for He is the same God from ages to ages. The difference is that we have the hope that Isaiah looked forward to in the incarnation of God as man…Jesus Christ. We have the hope realized in God as man and are a part of the new covenant with God our Father. Glory be to God!