Matthew 25:34-40

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Personal Challenge

Honestly, our entry into the kingdom of heaven has little to do with how many books about God or our religion that we have read, or with how many different positions that we have held in the leadership of our church, or in how much we tithe, or how well we fast. Jesus makes it very clear that what is important to Him is how much we do for our brother, sister, or the stranger in need around us. He also points out that if we are doing these truly from our heart and not as acts seeking praise and affirmation, then we will not even recognize that we have been doing these things. We do not earn His favor by our works but we do His works because of the favor that He has bestowed on us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 34:18 (33:19 LXX)

The Lord is near those who are brokenhearted,
And He will save the humble in spirit.

Encouraging Words

How wonderful it is to know that our God cares for us, especially for those who are brokenhearted. Life can be very difficult and sometimes we may feel all alone in the midst of our struggles. But we can always rest assured that God keeps His promises and here He promises to be near to those who are brokenhearted. Jesus taught us that there are two commandments for us to follow. They are to love our God with all of our heart, soul, and spirit and to love our neighbor. Is it not possible that as we love our neighbor we become God’s presence in their lives, especially when they are brokenhearted? Once again, our relationship with God plays out by what we do with our lives. When we live our life with humble spirits it becomes easier to invest in the lives of our neighbors. As we invest in the lives of our neighbors as loving representatives of God, we bring Him into their lives as well as our own. What a powerful way to get to know God deeper and to grow in our own theosis. Glory be to God!

2 Samuel 24:24 (2 Kingdoms 24:24 LXX)

Then the king said to Orna, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with something that costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

Personal Challenge

David points out to us here a challenge faces many modern day Christians have become accustomed in our lives to having everything so easy and so instantaneously. But if we are to truly worship our God and glorify Him with our lives, then there will be work and sacrifice involved. David had just been confronted about a sin that he had recently committed. Part of his penance after his confession and repentance was to build an altar to his God and to worship Him there, The owner of the land where David was offered to give him a piece of the land so that David could build the altar. But David refused because be knew that if he took the easy way out and did not sacrifice personally for his God that he would quickly forget his sin and do it again. It is not that God needs or expects us to sacrifice for His gain. He owns everything. The sacrifice is for our own benefit. So, the question to ask is how much am I willing to give up for my God? Is my relationship with Him more valuable than everything in my life? Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Encouraging Words

Jesus is eternal. He has been since before the beginning of time and He will be forever. The Jesus that became incarnate was, is, and will always be that same Jesus that was begotten by the Father. There is no way that I, a finite human being, will ever be able to comprehend what this means or how it works, but that is okay. In Orthodoxy, we believe that there are many mysteries of God that only He has the answer to, and that is okay. What is most important here is that Jesus, who is the Living Word, will never pass away, no matter what happens to me or the heavens and earth that I live in. Jesus was there when all that we know as our physical heavens and earth were created. He was there when Adam and Eve were created because it was His image that they took on. He was there when Noah was told to build the ark; when Moses talked to the burning bush and received the ten commandments, and this list goes on and on. Jesus is here with us now and promises to be here always. What more do I need to press through each day? Nothing more than faith in Him. Glory be to God!

Psalms 34:12-15 (33:13-16 LXX)

Who is the man who desires life,
Who loves to see good days?
Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
Shun evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
And His ears are open to their supplications.

Personal Challenge
Don’t we all have a desire deep in our hearts to have God hear our prayers and to be open to addressing our supplications? The Psalmist provides for us here some things that we can do in our lives that will help this to happen. The first is to watch our tongues and keep it from speaking evil and our lips from uttering anything that is deceitful. The next is to shun evil, which is really much more than just avoiding it and to strive to do good with our lives. We are often told that all that we need to do is pray to God and then He will do all of the work, but the truth is that if I desire a full life and would love to see good days then I must live my life in a way that encourages this towards those around me. God’s involvement in my life requires my involvement in His kingdom. As I do this and live my life this way then the petitions that I make to Him will be in alignment with what He would typically want for me. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

2 Kingdoms 22:2-3 (2 Samuel 22:2-3 LXX)

And he sang: “O Lord, my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
My God will be my guardian, in whom I will trust;
My defender and the horn of my salvation,
My protector and the refuge of my salvation;
You will save me from unrighteousness.”

Encouraging Words

David was referred to as a man after God’s own heart. This passage gives us a glimpse into David’s heart and mind and how he viewed his God. An attempt by King Saul to kill David had just been averted as well as he was just delivered from an attack by his enemies. And this was David’s response. He attributed all of this to the work of God. He lived his life in a way such that he believed that everything good that happened to him came from the hand of his God. He saw God as his rock, his fortress, and his deliverer. He ran to God as his guardian in whom he put all of his trust. He even saw his God as the only way that he would be protected from his own unrighteousness. Maybe this is why he was called out as a man after God’s own heart. Surely, this is a way of life to be emulated. Glory be to God!

Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Personal Challenge

People have challenged me before that they do not want to be a Christian or go to a church because it is all based on rules of what I can do or not do, what I can believe or not believe, or that is so judgmental. My only answer to that is, “Hogwash!” Jesus clearly states to the young, rich man here that there are only two rules that we must follow if we are to claim to be Christians. They are to love God…completely, and to love our neighbor…unconditionally. If we live our lives this way then everything that we do in our journey of faith is not rules or commandments to follow but joyful sacrifices that we choose to offer up to our Lord and for our fellow man. We tithe and give offerings because we are so blessed. We fast and do almsgiving because it helps us to take our eyes off of ourselves and focus on God and our neighbor. We attend liturgy and vespers so that we can be in the presence of our Father and in a relationship with the people in our community of believers. This is what being a Christian is all about.

Psalms 34:7-11 (33:8-12 LXX)

The Angel of the Lord shall encamp around those who fear Him,
And He will deliver them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who hopes in Him.
Fear the Lord, you His saints,
For there is no want for those who fear Him.
Rich men turned poor and went hungry;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Encouraging Words

Our loving and merciful God does not just lay down a whole bunch of laws for us to follow and then withdraw from us knowing that we will never be able to measure up to His expectations. God created mankind in Adam and Eve so that He could walk with them and commune with them in the garden. He only had one rule to follow and when that was broken so was the opportunity to have this intimate communion with God. Jesus, the Son of God, one third of the Trinity, restored the ability to commune with God once again. This passage of the Old Testament points forward to the time that Jesus would come and reestablish our relationship with God. So, why would we not, as children, run to Him, listen to Him, and learn as He teaches us how to fear our Lord and be in relationship and communion with Him once again? Glory be to God!

1 Samuel 16:7 (1 Kingdoms 16:7 LXX)

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Have no regard for his outward appearance, nor for the maturity of his stature, because I have refused him. For man does not see as God sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord sees into the heart.”

Encouraging Words

God’s way of doing things is so different than how we do things. We always look at the outward appearances of people to make judgments of who they are. God always looks at the heart of people for He knows that is what represents our true nature. In this situation, Samuel has been told to go to Jesse and crown one of his sons as the next king. Jesse had eight sons. Seven of them were stout, strapping men who surely met the qualifications of being a king. And Samuel even kept trying to choose one man after the other with God telling him each time that the selected man was not the one chosen by God. When Samuel and Jesse ended with these seven men and none of them were chosen they were extremely frustated. As Samuel was getting ready to give up he asked if there were any other sons. Reluctantly David was brought forth. He was the youngest son, a shepherd, and definitely not someone that looked like kingly material. But God knew Davids’ heart and chose him as the king and the rest is history. The moral, look for people’s hearts and not the external appearances.