2 Maccabees 8:18

“For they trust in arms and bold acts,” he said, “but we trust in Almighty God, who with only one nod is able to overthrow both those who come against us and the entire world.”

Personal Challenge

Why is it that the only time that we call out to God to help us is when we are in the midst of a crisis? Basically, it is our personal, or collective, pride that keeps telling us that we can manage this on our own. Oh, how much we miss out on in our lives by leaving God out of our everyday activities. Oh, how many crises we could avoid by calling out to Him for every decision and every action. Here in the Maccabees passage, they make sure that everyone knows that their entire hope and trust is in their Almighty God. They know that He can be their helper and their protector, as those who are attaching them put their hope in their weapons, their past experiences, and their own pride. May I learn from this group of people how to always involve my Almighty God in my every decision and action.

Luke 10:2

Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Personal Challenge

I do not believe that God only wants us to pray that He will send someone else to do His harvesting in the world. He wants us to be willing to go as one of His laborers if He calls us. Our prayers should be for those who are being harvested, the harvesters, and ourselves so that we know what role He would have us fill in the building of His kingdom. Glory be to God?

Psalms 86:12 (85:12 LXX)

I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
And I shall glorify Your name forever;

Encouraging Words

My God is so good to me. He is so good to His Church. He is so good to all of man­kind, He deserves our thanks and our worship and yet He leaves it up to us to exercise our free will and to worship Him. I choose to give my thanks to Him as the psalmist did. I choose to glorify His name as the psalmist also did. Thank You, O Lord, my God!

2 Maccabees 6:24-28

“For to pretend such things,” he said, “is not worthy of our time of life, lest many of the young should suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year has gone over to a foreign religion, and because of my pretense for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they should be led astray through me, while I earn only pollution and defilement in my old age. For even if for the present I should avoid the punishment of men, yet whether I live or die, I shall not escape the hands of the Almighty. Therefore by manfully giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age, and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and bravely for the venerable and holy laws.”

Personal Challenge

Eleazar was a 90-year-old Jewish leader. He was well known and well respected in his community by both Jews and Gentiles. In this part of Maccabees, the king that has conquered the Jews is forcing people like Eleazar to do things that are clearly against their beliefs and their practices. Just prior to this passage, the Gentile leaders that know and respect Eleazar are telling him to just to pretend to do what the king is demanding of him and then he will survive. He makes it clear that doing the right thing for God, before the people around him, is more important than life itself. As a follower of Christ, a leader of the youth in my parish, and most importantly a husband, a father, and a grandfather, would I be this strong in a time of persecution? Only my God knows. Lord, have Mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 9:23-24

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

Personal Challenge

If the cost of following Christ is denying myself and taking up my cross daily, then what does that really mean that I need to be doing? This is not an easy question to answer. God has created each one of us to be in His image and yet unique. As unique individuals, this means that we each have our own unique cross that we must bear. For some, the cross may be dealing with a lifelong or terminal illness. For some, it may be a passion or desire that we must struggle with on an ongoing basis. In all cases, what we need to take up this cross, willingly and with God’s help and pursue Him as our only source of power to follow Him and become more like Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalm 84 (85 LXX)

O Lord, You were pleased with Your land; You turned back the captivity of Jacob;
You forgave the transgressions of Your people;
You covered all their sins. (Pause)
You ended all Your wrath;
You turned from the wrath of Your anger.
Turn us, O God of our salvation,
And turn away Your anger from us.
Will You be angry with us forever,
Or will You prolong Your anger from generation to generation?
O God, You will turn and give us life,
And Your people will be glad in You.
Show us Your mercy, O Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His holy ones,
And to those who turn their heart to Him.
His salvation is very close at hand to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth met together;
Righteousness and peace kissed each other;
Truth arose from the earth,
And righteousness looked down from heaven.
For the Lord will give goodness,
And our land shall yield its fruit.
Righteousness shall go before Him
And establish His footsteps as our pathway.

Encouraging Words

Glory be to God, for He is good to His children. His 1.he is unfathomable, His Mercy is all encompassing. His grace is fully sufficient. Glory be to God!

1 Maccabees 3:59-60

For it is better for us to die in war than to look upon the evils the Gentiles would bring to us and the sanctuary. But as God’s will is in heaven, so He will do.

Personal Challenge

Am I willing to die for my Lord? To give my life for Him, whether it be physically dying for Him or giving up of my personal wants and needs on a day to day basis? Am I willing to go to war, to battle for my Lord? As a living member of the body of Christ, I am considered a part of the Church Militant. This does not mean that we are out to battle the world and those who believe differently than us. It means that our battle is against those spiritual forces that are counter to our Lord. The battle is also an internal one against these desires and passions within me that well up against that which my Lord desires of me. This is truly the war that my Lord wants me to die in. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Luke 8:16-18

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

Personal Challenge

As a follower of my Lord Jesus Christ, I have received so much. He has shown me so much love and has really asked for nothing in return. That is how much He loves me, So, why would I not shout of His love and mercy from the rooftops? Why would I ever consider hiding my relationship with under a bushel? I will not! I never want to hide from those around me the love that God has for me or the love that I have for Him. I also know that the more love that He pours out on me, the more love that I have to pour out on those around me. I cannot hold onto this treasure as if it is my own, I can only share it and gave it away. What I know is that I can never out give my Lord and all that he pours out on me, so I know that the more that I am given the more responsibility I have to give it away. Glory be to God!

Psalms 84:11-12 (83:12-13 LXX)

For the Lord God loves mercy and truth;
He will give grace and glory;
The Lord’s hand will not remove good things from those who walk in innocence.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who hopes in You.

Encouraging Words

God is truth. God is mercy. So doesn’t it make sense that He loves Mercy and truth? If I love God, then shouldn’t I also love mercy and truth? So, isn’t this what He wants from me, to walk in innocence, mercy, and grace? Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!