Matthew 19:21

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Encouraging Words

So, what does this verse have to do with Christmas some may ask? Jesus was not asking just the rich young man to sell all of his possessions and follow Him. He was asking us all to be willing to give up everything that comes between us and Him in order to truly see the treasure of Heaven. Once again Jesus was not asking us to do something that He was not willing to do Himself. Jesus is God. He is a part of the Trinity. He has been this since the beginning of time when the Father begat Him. He was there when all of His creation was spoken into being. He is the pattern that the human race was made from. He owns the treasures in heaven, and on the earth, and everywhere else. Then on a day over 2,000 years ago He became incarnate through the willingness of some pure, young virgin. He was born in a lowly manger, during a time when the Jewish people were oppressed by the Romans. He grew up a poor man, poured out His love and healing upon the multitudes, and ultimately gave His life for us, all of us. That is truly giving all to the poor. So, it is up to us to do the same… for Him. Glory be to God!

Psalms 33:18 (32:18 LXX)

Behold, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,

Encouraging Words

How can the terms fear and hope be used in the same sentence and still be considered encouraging? One of the unfortunate things about our English language is how we have singular terms that mean multiple things. Take the word love for example. In the Greek, you would find love as agape, philio, eros, or storge, which are all different types of love. The word fear has similar variations. In many of the Old Testament renditions of the word fear, what was originally intended was great awe and respect. This is what I believe the psalmist was referring to. God keeps His careful, loving, merciful watch on those who hold Him in great awe or respect, those who have placed Him at the Center of their lives. It is this God, the loving, merciful God that we put our hope in. We hope for His great mercy to be applied to us even though we never do deserve it. Glory be to God!

Judges 16:20

And Delilah said, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” So he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as before, and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

Personal Challenge

I am sure that many remember the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson, as a young child, was set apart by his parts so that he would grow up being a servant of God. In this being set apart, he lived the life of a Nazarite. Part of this way of life meant that he was trained in the ways of the synagogue, he never cut his hair or partook in alcohol or other debaucheries of the world. As he grew up God touched him in a way that gave him great strength and he performed many great feats against the Philistines who were oppressing his people. All of this is in chapters 13-15 of Judges. Then here in chapter 16, we pick up with Samson falling in love with Delilah, a Philistine harlot. She is persuaded by the Philistines to find out the source of his strength so that they can defeat him and go back to oppressing the Jews. She ultimately seduces him into revealing that the strength is in his hair and after wooing him to sleep cuts it all off leading up to this verse. Not only had his strength left him but so had his Lord. I often write of how my God will never leave His children or forsake them, so how can this be in Samson’s case. If we read the entire story, starting in chapter 13, we find that it was never God that had left Samson but Samson who had left God. How often do the temptations of this world turn my focus off of God and onto myself or the ways of the world? It happens all of the time. I then have a choice that I must make. I can turn away from the temptation and remain close to God or I can entertain the temptation and start moving a little bit away from God. Here is where the spiral into sin takes me and pulls me farther and farther from God until it looks like He is no longer with me. He is still there. It is only I who can no longer see Him through all of the mud and mire of sin that I have covered myself with. What is the answer to this dilemma? Call out to my Lord, repent of my ways, and run back into His arms. As the parable of the Prodigal Son tells us, He will be right there with open, loving arms. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Matthew 18:20

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

Personal Challenge

We are reminded here, by Jesus, that our journey through life as a Christian is not a solo journey. If I desire Christ to be in the midst of my life then I must be in fellowship with other Christians. The Eastern Orthodox teach that I am saved in Christ, but my salvation is worked out in the community of believers who are also saved in Christ. The Western way of Christianity teaches that it is me and my Bible. As long as I have my Bible (and of course the version that I choose) I can determine how God is speaking to me and then act on it accordingly. What is the result of this kind of thinking? A myriad of churches and denominations that cater to individual preferences, Men, and women, who never go to a church because they claim to be in their own, personal church. People who claim to be Christians and reject others who claim to be Christians because of minute differences in their creeds. This is not the way that our Lord wanted His Church to be. He prayed for unity. He told us that we must come together in order for Him to be in our midst. We were created in the image of God, and God, by His very nature, is relational. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Judges 7:9-11

On that same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. Listen to what they shall say, and afterward your hands shall be strong and you shall then go down into the camp.” And he went down with Purah his servant to the edge of the camp of the fifty.

Encouraging Words

Once again, we see Gideon, that guy who was called out as mighty one of the armies, cowering before the odds that he has before him. This time the Lord tells him to sneak down to the enemy’s camp and see for himself what the situation looks like. And as the rest of the story plays out he finds out that the majority of the enemy camp is scared out of their wits about the mighty things that the God of Israel has done through the commander of their armies, Gideon. So, what does this have to do with me and why is it encouraging. My God does not expect me to just blindly trust Him and do whatever He asks of me. He desires that of me, but since He is relational He is willing to let me experience His involvement to the point where I choose to follow Him with full, blind trust. That is how much He loves me and even trusts me. That, to me, is extremely encouraging. God loves me so much and so deeply that He will not force me to do anything against my free will. What a blessing. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner!

Matthew 18:15-17

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Personal Challenge

Once again, the way that we are expected to live as Christians is so much different than the way that the world wants us to live. If we are offended by someone the world expects us to lash back at them, call them names and make them regret what they did. And if that doesn’t work, and even sometimes if it does, then the world expects us to tell everyone that we know, and that they know, how much they offended us. The world even gives us permission to embellish the story if it helps to enhance the offense. In our desire to live in the spiritual realm and not the temporal one, we are expected to behave so much differently as Christians. If someone offends us then it is expected that in the spirit of love for that person we go to them privately and lovingly let them know of their offense. We are also expected to assess the situation first and if our brother or sister is not able to accept this correction then we consider waiting until they are able or depending on the magnitude of the offense consider forgiveness without confrontation. All of this takes humility on our part and love for both our Lord and our neighbor. Glory be to God.

Psalms 31:23-24 (30:24-25 LXX)

Love the Lord, all you His saints,
For the Lord seeks out truth,
And He repays those who act with great arrogance.
Be courageous, and let your heart be strengthened,
All who hope in the Lord.

Command with a Promise

We are told here to love our Lord and to be courageous and He will strengthen our heart. We are also told to let our heart be strengthened, which implies that the reception of the blessings bestowed on us by our Lord are interactive and not just forced upon us. We are also told in this passage that we cannot expect to receive these blessings from our Lord if we live and act with arrogance. Our Lord desires that we live our lives in humility with Him and with those whom He has placed in our lives. If we choose to continue to live arrogant self-centered lives then our Lord, who knows and seeks out the truth will give us our just rewards. In this case, those rewards often force us into a state of humility. Forgive me, O Lord, for claiming to be Your child and yet living my life arrogantly for myself.