SEEN, HEARD, AND TOUCHED

1 John 1:1-3

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Encouraging Words

Jesus is not some figment of someone’s imagination. He was seen by many, both followers and adversaries. He was heard by many, both those who heard His teachings and chose to change the world forever as well as those who chose to reject him. He was touched by many, both those who reached out to Him and those He reached out to. As followers of Christ we believe we can still see, hear, and touch Him as we wait for His return by how we treat the people in our lives. The Christian faith dictates that we act like Christ and do the things that He would do. Anything else is heretical. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

CALLED BY HIS NAME

Baruch 2:14-15

O Lord, hear our prayer and our petition, and for Your own sake deliver us, and grant us mercy before those who have carried us into exile, in order that the whole earth may come to know that You are the Lord our God, for Israel and his descendants are called by Your name.

Personal Challenge

Baruch lived in a day when God’s chosen people had been taken captive and into exile. This was allowed by God because of their sin and refusal to submit to God. He had called them to be light to the world and to bring the world into God’s family. Instead they kept their covenant with God all to themselves and ultimately rejected Him. Sometimes it feels like the church of today, those who say they are Christians, are going down this same path and seeking a king to lead them. This will not end well. We may very well be entering into a time of winnowing where the Church will go through a cleansing of the false followers. This always a painful time for the true followers of Christ. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

NOT SLACK

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Encouraging Words

Jesus promised us that He would come again to take us all into His heavenly kingdom. It has been over 2,000 years since he said that. Many Christians, especially the Christian nationalist of today believe that they are doing things to “force”Jesus to come on their timeframe. It does not work that way. He will come when God is ready for Him to. A key part of that delay is in this verse. God desires that everyone follow Jesus. He is willing to wait so that more people will come to Him. He also waits so that those of us who follow Jesus can strive for repentence and follow Him closer. Thanks be to God!

FIND MERCY IN THEIR SIGHT

Baruch 1:11-12

And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his son Belshazzar, that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven. And the Lord will give us strength and enlighten our eyes, and we will live under the shelter of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and under the shelter of Belshazzar his son, and we will serve them for many days and find mercy in their sight.

Personal Challenge

As followers of Christ, we are called to pray for those leaders that are over us. Even the Israelites of old were told to do the same. They were instructed to pray for their captors that had overrun their land and taken them away in exile. We do this in hope that they will have mercy upon us in their decisions. This can be challenging when the leadership is corriupt and abusive. We can still pray for them, hoping that God will break through their hard hearts while at the same time supporting and encouraging our neighbors. In the love of Christ, we can peacefully and non-violently protest their atrocities, all the while still praying for them. It is a delicate balance to follow. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Saint of the Week

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

FAITH MUST BE ADDED TO

2 Peter 1:5-7

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

Personal Challenge

Being a follower of Christ is not comprised of just a statement of faith. Our actions must be changing us into the image of Jesus. Peter provides a progression of this change in our lives. We must add to our faith in Jesus, virtue. Virtue refers to the vigor and courage to attain more excellence. To virtue we add knowledge. This is not worldly knowledge but an understanding of who Jesus is by following His teachings. To this knowledge we add self-control, then penseverence, then godliness, then brotherly kindness, then love,. Our end goal as a follower of Christ is to be love to everyone that we come into contact with. Glory be to God!

ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH

Jeremiah 33:6-9 (40:6-9 LXX)

‘Behold, I bring her health and healing for her wounds, and I will show them how to obey. Yes, I will heal this city and bring about peace and faithfulness. I shall return the captives of Judah and Israel and will restore them, even as before. I will cleanse them from all their wrongdoings by which they sinned against Me. I will not remember their sins by which they sinned against Me and withdrew from Me. This shall be for the gladness, praise, and majesty of all the people of the earth, who shall hear all the good things I will do. They shall fear and be provoked concerning all the good things and the peace I shall bring upon them.’

Personal Challenge

God separated out a group of people from all the rest of the inhabitants of the earth and entered into a covenant with them. If they would worship Him as the only true God, love their neighbor, and be a light to everyone else showing God’s love for them, then He would take care of them and give them peace and health. They failed over and over again, and yet God continued to love and protect them. He Then sent His son to establish a new covenant. Follow His Son, love Him, love our neighbor, and be a light to those around us to bring them into His loving arms. We are failing at this again. Lord have mercy! Lord have mercy? Lord, have mercy!

GIVEN TO US

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

Why do you follow Jesus? That is a question that I have heard
more than once. It is often hard to answer in a simple way when you have been following Him for almost 7 decades. What I say say is that the rewards for being His follower are too many to count. This passage gives just a few of them. His grace and peace are multiplied in His followers’ lives. His divine power is given to us in all things that pertain to life and godliness. He calls us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us through His great and precious promises. We may be partakers of the divine nature. We have our part to play in these gifts, but He also helps us to do that. Glory be to God!

NOTHING HIDDEN

Jeremiah 32:27 (39:27 LXX)

“I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Shall anything be hidden from Me?”

Personal Challenge

Just as Adam and Eve hid in the garden of Eden, so too, do we also attempt to hide from God when we do wrong. There is no hiding from the One who is everywhere at all times. It is always in our best interest to run to Him in repentence. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

RESIST

1 Peter 5:8-10

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Command With a Promise

Most modern day people that claim to be Christians will often talk about what a wonderful life they have. Be careful. Being a follower of Christ means going against the ways of the world. Followers are called to be sober and vigilant. We are called to resist the devil and his manipulations of the world. We must be steadfast in our faith, knowing that we will suffer for bucking the tide of a wonderful, worldly life. By living this way, we also know that our God in His grace, will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle us. Glory be to God!