Deuteronomy 31:8

But the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not be afraid, nor be terrified.

Encouraging Word

Deuteronomy finishes out with the transition of the leadership of the nation of Israel from Moses to Joshua, In this transition, Moses encourages Joshua multiple times on who God is and how God will be always present and always active in the lives of the people who follow Him. In this verse, we are reminded that God goes before us and paves the path of our lives. The psalmist repeated this in Proverbs 3:5-6 when he said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” My God is not some fickle, big man in the sky, distant, judgmental, dictator that has given me all kinds of rules to follow and who never gets involved in my life. He is compassionate and merciful. So much so that He sent His only begotten Son to be born of a virgin, to live His life as a human being, to die a vicious death after living a sinless life, and then come back to life destroying death. Jesus makes my path straight. He goes before me. He is with me. He never leaves or forsakes me. So I am never afraid or terrified. Thank You, God!

Matthew 15:7-9

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Personal Challenge

It can be so easy to slip into the mode of being a hypocrite. I know that I must constantly watch how I live my life so that what I do matches what I say. And believe me, I miss the mark more than I hit it. Jesus asks that we be different than the world around us. He asks that we love one another, even those who are our enemies. He asks that we put Him first and that we give of ourselves and our abundance to those in need, such as the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the destitute. It is easy to say that I am a follower of Christ and then go on living my life as if I am the king sitting on the throne of my heart. This is what He was challenging in this passage. This is the ultimate of hypocrisy. It is an entirely different thing to live my life in such a way that I never have to say that I am a follower of Christ, but that everyone I meet in my life recognizes by my actions that Jesus is the King sitting on the throne of my heart. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 27:13-14 (26:13-14 LXX)

I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be courageous, and strengthen your heart,
And wait on the Lord.

Encouraging Words

What did Jesus mean when He said that the kingdom of heaven is now? Many of our early church fathers believed, and taught, that the incarnation of Jesus ushered in the new age and brought us into the kingdom of heaven. Couldn’t this be an answer to this psalmist’s plea to be able to see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living? I, personally, like this teaching because following it forces me to my life, today and every day, as if I am living in Heaven. It means that I must always be looking for, and waiting for, my Lord to appear and show Himself, It means that I can go through my day being courageous and with a strengthened heart because I know that I am alive in Gods’ kingdom. It also means that I must look at everyone around me as if they too have been invited into God’s kingdom and treat them with the love and respect that my Father would want me to give to my neighbors in heaven. Can I do this? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be valiant and strong, do not fear nor be afraid of them, nor be terrified before them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes before you and with you and among you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

Encouraging Words

Life can be tough. At times it can feel like we are all alone standing before a mighty dragon that must be slain. But we who proclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior know that He is on our side and will never forsake us. People sometimes challenge me and ask me how I can believe this stuff. My answer is always that I have seen God’s presence in my life and the lives of others. As I continue to study the lives of the saints who have gone before me, the presence of God in His children’s lives becomes more and more evident. This presence always gives the one who participates in it the strength and courage, even in the midst of the worst, life-threatening situations. We celebrate the martyrs of our church because they stood firm on their belief in God and their acknowledgment of the truth that they knew about spending eternity with their Lord. This is true faith, true belief in our Lord and His love for us. Glory be to God!

Matthew 14:27

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Encouraging Words

Every human life will encounter those situations where the storms ensue. Sometimes these storms are just small events that put out a few dribbles here and there but do not even rock the boat. Sometimes they are massive systems that last for long periods of time and threaten to sink the boat and carry us to the bottom of the sea. No matter what the extent of the storms that enter our lives, we, like the apostles in their boat on the storming lake with no Jesus as a passenger can call out to Jesus to save us from the waves, the raging winds, and the vicious downpours. Sometimes, like in this occasion, Jesus comes into the midst of our storm in some other-worldly way. He always starts by encouraging us, calming us down, and showing us that we have nothing to be afraid of. He then reaches into the midst of our storm and guides us, just as He did to Peter so that we can navigate through the storm. All of this needs us to be willing to recognize Him for who He is, to call out to Him, and to do what He tells us to do, even if it is to join Him by walking on water to Him. Glory be to God!

Psalms 27:8 (26:8 LXX)

My heart speaks to You; my face seeks You;
Your face, O Lord, I will seek.

Personal Challenge

David was considered a man after God’s own heart. This verse gives us a glimpse into some of the reason for this. David loved his God beyond compare. He gave his all fort his God, and even when he sinned greatly, he always ran back to his God seeking forgiveness and restoration. So, why is this passage such a personal challenge for me? I know the true depths of my heart. I know that I so easily get caught up in the busy-ness of life and the attractions of this world, and so often turn my mind, my eyes, my ears, and my heart away from my Lord. I do this all too often and sometimes delay far too long, returning to Him for forgiveness and restoration. If God was truly the center of my life, my all, then I would spend more time speaking to Him, seeking Him, and fellowshipping with Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Deuteronomy 29:28

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Encouraging Words

One of the things about Eastern Orthodoxy that I immediately fell in love with is how we deal with the mysteries of God. So many Christian faith practices spend so much time trying to explain the mysteries that God has given us exposure to. How can God be three persons in one? How can God become incarnate in the womb of a virgin? Who does God really save? In Orthodoxy, we recognize that God is God and we are not. It is okay that there are mysteries that have not, nor never will be revealed to us because only God can comprehend them. I do not have the capability to understand these things. If we continually pursue trying to know and eventually “own” God’s mysteries we take the chance of entering into, or worse yet. creating, heresies. The early church fathers were very comfortable leaving the mysteries of God to God and focusing on spreading His Gospel and love to their world. Should we not be doing the same today? Thank You, Father, for the truths that you have deemed me worthy to receive.

Matthew 13:44

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Encouraging Words

God created us, all of us, in His image. Part of the result of the fall of man into sin is the separation from God. This separation has created a hole in our soul that can only be filled by God. For some people, finding God and His Kingdom becomes a pursuit. They know that they need Him and pursue Him. For others, they wander through life with no inkling that the void that they keep trying to fill with earthly things can only be filled by God, Himself. These are the ones that this verse highlights. God, in His love and grace, hides in the paths of the lives of these people, great treasures that they might stumble upon and find God and the great treasure that He has to offer. The next step is the critical one for both of these people. Whether we pursue God or stumble upon the treasure that He set out for us in order to find Him, in both cases our only response is to give everything that we are or have in this world away so that we can seize hold of God and not have any obstacles between us and Him. He is the only treasure worth keeping. Glory be to God!