Proverbs 25:4

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

Personal Challenge

It is too bad sometimes that we live in a society where we have limited or no exposure to how things worked in the days that the scriptures were written. This verse is an example of this. When working with silver it needs to be pounded and worked on to remove the dross from it. This is the same for us. God works in our lives in ways that are often uncomfortable and even painful by allowing us to live in the world. He helps us through our trials which are like the dross on the silver. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Personal Challenge

Why is it that there is so much unrest in the world? Even in our churches where so many claims Jesus to be their Lord, there is a lack of peace. Jesus promised us that we would have His peace. The key is that it is a heavenly peace and not a worldly peace. If we live our lives with our hearts and minds focused on the things and ways of the world then we will miss out on the heavenly peace that Jesus wants to give us. Once again, it becomes our choice to decide where we want to put our focus and Who we want to derive our peace from. Running to Jesus for this will soothe a troubled heart and eliminate fear from our lives. It is a choice followed by continued choices. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 147:3 (146:3 LXX)

He heals the brokenhearted
And He binds up all their wounds.

Encouraging Words

Jesus started off His earthly ministry quoting Isaiah, saying

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

By His own words, He proclaimed that our broken hearts, our sicknesses, our captivity were the reasons that He left heaven and became incarnate. Now that is truly a statement of God’s love for us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Proverbs 23:18

For if you keep these words, you shall have offspring,
And your hope will not depart from you.

Encouraging words

We are encouraged by the author of the proverbs to hold on to the words that are given to us by Wisdom, our Lord. As we take these words, these teachings, into our hearts, they will produce fruit in the form of the virtues and our hope in the Lord will grow deeper. Glory be to God!

John 14:15-17
If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Personal Challenge

Jesus promised to make the Holy Spirit, the Helper, available to each one of us that are baptized into Him. The Helper is within us and always present to guide us through our daily life, We can quench Him by ignoring Him and doing what our stubborn will tells us to do, but that does not remove Him from our lives. We can choose to listen to Him and yield our wills to His and we will see His greatness in our lives. Once again, God gives us the choice to yield to Him or to hold on to our earthly ways and live for us. As Jesus started off this passage, He reminds us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. Yielding to the Holy Spirit and following His leading is one of those commandments. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 146:1-2 (145:1-2 LXX)

Praise the Lord, O my soul.
I shall praise the Lord while I live;
I shall sing to my God as long as I exist.

Proverbs 22:17-19 (22:20-22 LXX)

Incline your ear to the words of the wise and hear my word,
And establish your heart, that you may know they are good.
And if you apply them to your heart,
They will gladden you and at the same time be upon your lips;
That your hope might be in the Lord,
And His way might be known to you.

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to adhere to the modern way of thinking and beliefs that we can be independent of everything and everyone as we live our lives centered on ourselves. However, if we desire to live godly lives, we must shift our focus from self-centeredness to a focus on our God who is the source of life and wisdom. This is the only way to establish our heart on a path to righteousness and godliness. It is never about me. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

John 14:12

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Encouraging Words

Jesus did many amazing things while He was incarnate here on earth. He healed many, raised people from the dead, fed the hungry, walked on water, and returned alive from the grave. And yet He told us that if we believe in Him, then we would do greater things than He did. In the history of the early church, these greater things did happen. People were healed of many sicknesses, some were brought back to life, and the church was spread all across the known world. So, why is this not happening today? The answer lies in Jesus’ own hometown. Elsewhere in the scriptures, we are told that He was not able to perform miracles in His own hometown due to the disbelief of His neighbors. We live in an age of disbelief. We live in an age when so many, even many participating in churches, do not believe in God, Jesus, or the power that they have to work through us. It is our own disbelief that has fettered us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 145:18 (144:18 LXX)

The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.

Encouraging Words

So, the Psalmist promises us that the Lord is near to those who call upon Him. That is good news, especially in times of need. But, there is a little caveat here. We need to seek upon Him in truth. What does that mean? The original text would have used faith rather than truth. We must call upon God with a spirit of faith if we want Him to be near us, or better yet if we want our eyes and minds to be opened to seeing Him since He is always near to us. This is why Jesus could say to so many that He healed, “Your faith has made you whole.” Glory be to God!