Isaiah 57:15

The Lord, the Most High who dwells on high forever, the Holy One among His saints, whose name is the Lord Most High, who rests among His saints, and who gives patience to the fainthearted and life to the broken-hearted,

Encouraging Words

As Christians, we do not just follow the teachings of some great man, but we follow the One, true God. He is our Lord, His Most High and is eternal. He loves His saints enough to dwell amongst us. And He gives us patience and life. He is my Lord. Glory be to God!

Isaiah 55:10-11

For as rain comes down, or snow from heaven, and does not return until it saturates the earth, and it brings forth and produces, and gives seed to the sower and bread for food, so shall My word be, whatever proceeds from My mouth. It shall not return until it accomplishes whatever I willed, and I shall prosper your ways and My commandments.

Encouraging Words

This is a promise from our Lord that we can hold on to. God’s Word is so powerful, so penetrating, and it is never wasted. Even though the bearer may ignore it or act as if they have never heard it, the seed has been planted. As parents and grandparents, we can claim this promise, if we have done our part by ensuring that His Word has been spoken, and more importantly, demonstrated, into the lives of our loved ones. That is all that we can do. It then becomes God’s responsibility to bring those seeds to fruition. Glory be to God!

Isaiah 55:8-9

“For My counsels are not as your counsels, neither are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “But as heaven is distant from earth, so is My way distant from your ways, and your thoughts from My mind.”

Personal Challenge

Oh, how often we try to do something with good intentions to please our Lord, just to find out that we have failed miserably. Why is that? The intentions were good. When I have taken the time to dig into these events to find out what went wrong, the answer is usually that I tried to do these things my way, on my own power. This passage reminds us that God’s ways are much more different than mine. Does this mean that I just stop trying? Heaven forbid! It means that I need to stay focused on God, exercising my faith in Him, and seeking His way of doing His work. This means letting go of my preferences and yielding to Him. Glory be to God!

Galatians 1:10

For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

PERSONAL CHALLENGE

We are bondservants of Christ. Even though He has set us free from the grip of sin and death, we have chosen to become His servants, bound to Him eternally. If we have truly done this, then we will stop trying to please our fellow human beings and focus our energies on pleasing God. This will cause us to be rejected by those who choose not to follow God, but that is better than being rejected by God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

2 Corinthians 9:7-8

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Personal Challenge

God desires the best for us. He desires that we receive His love and mercy in the abundance that He is willing to give it to us. He also desires that we be willing to give from that abundance to those in our lives who have a need. However, He wants us to give cheerfully and not grudgingly. If we desire what we have too much to give it away freely then He would rather that we not give at all. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Isaiah 55:1-2

“You who are thirsty, go to the water, and all who have no money, go and buy wine and fat, and eat and drink without money and price. Why do you value at the price of money, and give your toil for what does not satisfy? Listen to Me and eat good things, and your soul will delight in good things.”

Encouraging Words

When the Messiah comes and sets up His kingdom there will be no need for money, for our Lord will meet our every need. He will feed us what is good for us and satisfies completely. In Orthodoxy we believe that Jesus established His kingdom when He became incarnate. We also believe that every time that we partake of the eucharist, that we are partaking of the flesh and blood of our Lord, and that our every need will be met by Him. Glory be to God!

A prayer from the Didache, a first-century writing of the church.

And after you have been filled, give thanks as follows:We thank you, Holy Father, for your holy Namewhich you have made to dwell in our heartsand for the knowledge and faith and immortalitywhich you have made known to us through Jesus your Servant.Glory to you forever!You, Almighty Master, created everything for Your Name’s sake;You have given food and drink to men for their pleasure,so that they might give you thanks.and to us you have graciously given spiritual food and drinkand life eternal through Jesus your Servant.Most of all, we thank you because you are mighty.Glory to you forever!