Exodus 15:2

The Lord became my helper and the shield of my salvation;
He is my God, and I will glorify Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

Encouraging Words

Moses, in his wisdom, and because of his relationship with God, was able to prophesy of the incarnation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He was not looking forward to a man that would someday be born that would grow up to be a man that could just rescue his people here on earth. He was looking forward to that day when God Himself would become a man and become our helper and our shield who could rescue us from the hold that death had upon us. Moses lived his life with that hope, that prophecy, at the core of his essence, and through that lived a holy and righteous life. We, today, are blessed that we live in the age where this prophecy has been fulfilled and we too must put our hope in the living God and not the institutions of man to take care of us. God is our supreme leader, not the soon to be president of the United States. God is our shield and protector, not the military or our police forces. God loves us and tells us to love our neighbor, His way, not the way of Black lives Matter or White Lives Matter (or whatever the counter group is). He should be the center of our universe and not us. Glory be to God!

Matthew 6:31-34

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Command With a Promise

Once again we are told what to do, how to live our as Christians, and we are given the promise to go along with the command. So, what is the command? To go through our life, day by day, not worrying about how on basic needs will be met and to set our hearts and minds on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And, what is the promise? Our heavenly Father knows what we need to live our lives and He will provide for those needs. Now once again, this interaction requires my action, my involvement. This does not mean that I can lay around all day and expect God to send everything that I need my way, I must engage in life as a productive person in my society. If I am keeping my heart and mind on God then I will be doing things with a focus on quality and diligence that will generate that which is needed to sustain me. The key here is to not act or worry about how my needs will be met, I trust in my God to take care of me, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and in all other aspects of life. To God be the glory, not me!

Psalms 11:7 (10:7 LXX)

The righteous Lord loves righteousness;
His face beholds the upright.

Encouraging Words

Have you ever had one of those days where you ended up wondering if it was all worth it? Trying to live a good life, loving those around you, making difficult choices with others in mind, giving in to the needs of others, and just trying to do what you know deep down is the good and godly thing to do is not easy. When you live your life this way you feel like a fish swimming against the flow. But there is one promise that we can hold onto. Whether or not we ever get an acknowledgement about trying to live our lives this way from another doesn’t matter. What does matter is that God sees all and loves us and our attempts to glorify Him through our attempts to be upright and righteous. Thank you, Father. Glory be to You?

Exodus 8:11

But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, his heart was hardened; and he did not heed them, as the Lord said.

Personal Challenge

Using today’s logic and English language we record the story of Moses and Pharaoh as God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and not giving him a chance. This is not how God operates. God created us with free will and gives us the ability to choose how we want to respond to everything in our lives. So how do we reconcile this interpretation? We go back in time to where those who were closer to the original writings of the texts that have been handed down to us. John of Damascus (675-749 CE) shared in one of his commentaries on this passage that “It is customary for Holy Scripture to call Gods’ permission His action” (taken from the Orthodox Study Bible). Pharaoh consistently chose to harden his heart, even though God, working through Moses, gave him multiple opportunities to change his mind. And because God cannot violate His own creation, His own laws that He has put in place, He allowed Pharaoh to harden his own heart. The lesson in this for me is to continually ask the question, “Am I hardening my heart?” Do I consistently ignore the warnings that God lovingly gives me so that I can have my own way? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner?

Matthew 6:30

Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Personal Challenge

Faith is so much more than just believing in who Jesus is. We have come to a place in our Christian practices that all that I have to do to be a Christian is to say that I believe that Jesus existed. There is so much more to being a Christian than this. Practicing a living, working faith in our lives is one of those things. Here we are told by Jesus that I must trust God in every aspect of my life, every minute detail. God promises to take care of me and to meet my every need. Do I truly believe that or do I strive on my own to meet all of my needs? Do I give of my abundance to those who need it more than I do or do I save it for a rainy day? Do I tithe and give back to God first or hold out until I have done everything that I want to do and give what is left over to God. Faith of this sort means being willing to take risks, to go on that short-term mission trip, to be loving and friendly to that offensive neighbor, to stand out in the crowd because I am willing to proclaim my Lord’s name. Faith is a verb, not a noun! To God be the glory.

Psalms 10:17-18 (9:38-39 LXX)

The Lord hears the desire of the poor;
Your ear heeds the readiness of their heart,
To judge the orphan and the humble,
That man may no longer increase his great boasting upon the earth.

Encouraging Words

Have you ever wondered why people always seem to gravitate to the underdog and root for those who are in a place of desperation? Well, we are erected in the image of God and this is where His heart and His attention is constantly focused. Even though He is the God of all and holds all of His creation in the palm of His hand, He still hears the desire of the poor and heeds the readiness of their heart. And as the beatitudes teach us, this poorness is not just poorness in physical wealth and possessions, but also poorness in spirit. This poorness in spirit reminds us that we are nothing without Christ. It teaches us that even though we have great physical wealth in this temporal world, if we do not have the living Son in our lives, then we are truly poor. His desire is for us to replace that poorness with His eternal wealth and then to share that abundantly. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Exodus 3:5

So He said, “Do not come any closer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

Encouraging Words

I have always perceived this verse as calling out how holy God is and the need for me to humble myself when I come into His presence. In this case, this is done be Moses removing His shoes so that he can stand on holy ground. But there is another aspect to this action as well, Here is the note on this verse from the Orthodox Study Bible:

3:5 Moses was to remove his sandals. This indicates that nothing dead is to stand between God and man, for He is the God of the living (AmbM).

This note comes from the teachings of Ambrose of Milan, one of our early church fathers. Here I am being taught that my relationship with God can be so intimate that He wants nothing to come between Him and me. In this case, He is asking Mose to remove his sandals, which are from a dead animal, so that he can stand on the holy ground, touching it with his flesh. This could also apply to the need to take off other items that are dead in order to be fully in God’s presence. Sin is one of those garments that I wear that must be taken off and discarded through the blood of Christ so that I can stand in the presence of God. Glory be to God!

Matthew 6:14-15

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Personal Challenge

So reading this passage brings to my mind the question, “ls God’s love conditional?” Clearly, the answer to this question is a resounding, “No!”. God’s love is not conditional. Throughout the scriptures and the teachings of our church fathers, it is very clear that God loves us unconditionally, without a doubt and without any limitations. However, what this passage teaches, as well as others, is that God’s forgiveness of my sins is conditional. What? ls this heresy? It is not. Jesus teaches us that forgiveness is cooperative. I must go to God, confess my sin, seek forgiveness, and repent in order to receive His forgiveness. And, as this passage teaches, if I am unwilling to give my neighbor forgiveness when they have offended me, then the forgiveness that I am seeking from God will be hindered. How can this be? God is all powerful, isn’t we? He can overrule my unforgiveness, can’t He? Yes, in both cases, but if I am holding out on forgiving another, most likely my heart has become hardened and I am not really going to God to seek forgiveness of my own sins. Here is where that cooperative part kicks in. I must be willing to love my neighbor enough to forgive them, otherwise, I am not loving God enough to seek His forgiveness. If I cannot humble myself before another enough to forgive them, then I will not be willing to humble myself before God to seek, and receive, His forgiveness, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!