Forever! That is a long time when considering that our human existence here on earth is typically less than 100 years. Forever means always has been and always will be. God’s word is forever. We can also say that as His Word, Jesus Christ, is forever. Jesus spoke into existence creation. He spoke to Moses from the burning bush and appeared so many other times in the Old Testament as the preincarnate LORD. He chose to limit Himself with a human body for 30+ years so that He could pave the way for us to live through the remainder of eternity with Him. Forever! Glory be to God!
Let Your compassions come to me, and I shall live; For Your law is my meditation.
Personal Challenge
What do we meditate, or dwell, upon in our lives? Is it the things of the world? Is it God and His precepts and teachings? That which we focus our energies on is that which we become. If we desire the compassions and mercies of God to be prevelant in our lives then we need to hold Him at the center of our thoughts and meditations. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Turn away my eyes that I may not see vanity; Give me life in Your way.
Personal Challenge
In reality, vanity can be determined to be anything that distracts us from following God. Our world is full of these distrations and our heart very easily succombs to their siren call. This is a prayer that we can all use to ask our God to help us to turn our eyes away from these vain distractions and toward Him. This will give us life in His way. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
I hid Your teachings in my heart So as not to sin against You.
Personal Challenge
As followers of Christ, our desire is to live our lives without sin. It is a challenge and ultimately a part of our journey to seek forgiveness for those times that we do sin. One tool that we can employ as we strive to avoid sin is to study the teachings of our Lord and hide them in our hearts. One more example showing that being a Christian is an active choice and non-stop work. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Blessed are those who search out His testimonies; They shall search for Him with their whole heart.
Personal Challenge
Don’t we all desire to be blessed, especially by God? We can be! One way to do this is to be constantly searching for Him and His testimonies with our whole heart. We will find Him and be truly blessed. This means, once again, that being a Christian is a verb and not a noun. It is not a label that we polish up every Sunday when we go to church. It means that we are actively seeking out God and doing his acts of love and mercy every moment of every day. Glory be to God!
This is the day the Lord made; Let us greatly rejoice, and be glad therein.
Personal Challenge
Life is full of challenges and the road to eternity sometimes feels more like a rollercoaster than a paved road. As followers of Christ, we can choose to fret and complain about our road like so many of the world choose to do or we can choose to remember this verse. Today has been made by God and every aspect of it, good or bad, is for my growth and santification. My choice is to greatly rejoice and be glad in this day that I have been given. Glory be to God!
It is good to trust in the Lord Rather than to trust in man; It is good to hope in the Lord Rather than to hope in rulers.
Personal Challenge
Two extremely important actions for every one of us to take in our lives are trust and hope. We truly cannot make it through a day without doing these. It is part of our nature. What is critical to these actions is always the object, or entity, that we put our trust and hope in. We do not put our essential life trust in man for we will surely be disappointed at some point. We do not put our hope in rulers for they too will disappoint, especially when power corrupts them. It is the Lord, and Him alone, that we put our trust and hope in. Glory be to God!
They did not keep God’s covenant, And they did not desire to walk in His law; And they forgot His good deeds And His wonders He showed them
A Quote from St. Basil of Caesarea (350-379 AD)
In our part of the world, most honourable brothers, everything is in a feeble condition. The Church has fallen before the non-stop attacks of her enemies, like some ship in the middle of the sea, pounded by continual batering waves. O that there might be some swift visitation of God’s mercy…
The teachings of our godly fathers are scorned. What the apostles have handed down is vilified. The inventions of modernisers are fashionable in the churches. Instead of being theologians, men are now fabricators of devious new systems of belief. The glory of the cross has been rejected, and the wisdom of this world wins the top prizes. The shepherds are driven away, and in their place dreadful wolves come in, hounding the sheep of Christ. The houses of prayer stand empty; mourning crowds have retreated into the desert. The older folk weep when they compare the present with the past. The younger folk are to be pitied all the more, for they don’t even know what they’ve lost.
All these things are sufficient to arouse compassion in those who have learned the love of Christ. However, my words fall woefully short of the true condition of things. “If there is therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels of mercies” (Phil. 2:1), be awakened, O brothers, to help us! Let zeal for godliness inspire you to save us from this storm! May that celebrated doctrine of our fathers always be confessed among us with outspoken courage…
From The Early Church Fathers, edited by Nick Needham, 2021, page May 27
Here we are again fighting the battle for the true church against heretics trying to reshape it in their nationlist image. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Alleluia. Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; Praise Him, all you peoples, For His mercy rules over us; And the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Personal Challenge
We are encouraged by the Psalmist to praise the Lord. All people, including those who do not know Him, have the opportunity to praise the Lord for His mercy that rules over us. As followers of Christ, we are to be doing this constantly. Whether someone believes in God or not, His truth still endures forever and His mercy is poured out upon us. Thank you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Verse of the Day 