Psalms 54:23-24 (55:22-23)

Cast your care upon the Lord,
And He shall support you;
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
But You, O God, will bring them down into the pit of decay;
Men of blood and deceit
Shall not live even half their days.
But I will hope in You, O Lord.

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to fall for the lies of our enemy and shift our hope from our God to the things of this world, this temporal life. We can cast our cares, every single one of them on our Lord, for He will support us and protect us. God even cares about the little, minuscule things in our lives because He cares for us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 54:17-18 (55:16-17)

Psalms 50:19 (51:17)

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

Personal Challenge

What does God really want from us? Does He want us to go through the fast perfectly? Does He want us to attend every possible church service that is available? Does He want our tithes, offerings, and almsgivings? While all of these things are good and worthy of doing, this is not what He really wants from us. He wants us to come to Him with our spirits, our self-centered will, broken and contrite before Him. He wants our hearts to be broken and humbled before Him. Because if we do not come to Him this way, then all of our actions, our sacrifices, are just for show and not for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 50:3-6 (51:1-4)

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy;
And according to the abundance of Your compassion, blot out my transgression.
Wash me thoroughly from my lawlessness
And cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my lawlessness,
And my sin is always before me.
Against You only have I sinned
And done evil in Your sight;
That You may be justified in Your words,
And overcome when You are judged.

Personal Challenge

As we, the Orthodox Christians, continue through our journey through Lent, we are continually reminded of how sinful we are and how much we need Ged’s mercy. Only through the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ can we be freed from the bondage of death and sin. But our redemption does not stop with His death and resurrection. It starts there and we must willingly and continually run to Him confessing our sins and seeking His forgiveness. If we do not recognize and acknowledge our sins then we are destined to repeat them and live in the swine pits as the prodigal son did. Lent is a time for us to examine our lives, identify our sins, and to confess them to our Lord and to one another seeking mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing. If I have offended anyone, either intentionally or unintentionally, please forgive me! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 45:12 (46:11)

The Lord of hosts is with us,
The God of Jacob is our protector.

Encouraging Words

The more we get to know our Lord, the more we realize that He is always with us. We realize that in those times that we feel like He has abandoned us, that is really us that have abandoned Him. We also learn that because He is always with us, He is also there to protect us out to guide us on this journey through life. Glory Be to God!

Psalms 45:11 (46:10)

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations;
I will be exalted in the earth.

Personal Challenge

Sometimes this is the hardest thing to do…being still. We get so caught up in this busy life and all of the trappings of the world around us that we forget to slow down, eliminate all of the noise, and be still in the presence of God. If we want to know Him, we will find Him in those still, quiet times. He does not care about fanfare and regalities. He cares about us and desires to walk with us in His garden as He did with Adam and Eve. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 41:12 (42:11)

Why are you so sad, O my soul? And why do you trouble me?
Hope in God, for I will give thanks to Him.
My God is the salvation of my countenance.

Encouraging Words

These are two, powerful questions that the Psalmist is asking. They are still very pertinent to those of us who proclaim to be Christians. We have been given life, eternal life. Our sins, all of them are promised to be forgiven. And yet, so many of us go through life with forlorn looks on our faces and sad or troubled demeanor’s as our daily outlooks on life. We have been set free from death. We have been redeemed by the creator of all. We have been adopted into the family of God. There really is no excuse for being forlorn, sad and troubled. Yes, we will continue to have hard times, but we are not on our own. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 39:5-6 (40:4-5)

Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord,
And who did not look into vanities and false frenzies.
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You performed,
And in Your thoughts there is no one who shall be likened to You;
I declared and said, “They are multiplied beyond number.”

Encouraging Words

Who is the Lord our God, that we may know Him? Our God is greater than anything in existence because He created all that is. More expansive is He than the span of the universe, for He holds it between His fingertips. The more we get to know Him, the more we realize that we do not know Him. This is why we recognize that the wonders that He has performed are multiplied beyond number. This is why we put our hope in Him and are blessed for doing so. Glory be to God!