Jeremiah 36:5-7

Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands; and be multiplied and not diminished. Seek the peace of the land into which I carried you captive. Pray to the Lord for them, for in its peace you shall have peace.

Encouraging Words

I love how much of the Old Testament is an image of New Testament times. As Christians, we are exiled in a land that is not our own. We are ambassadors here waiting to be called to our real home. But until that time, just as the people of Israel were told by Jeremiah to be productive citizens in the lands that they were exiled to, we are told to be productive citizens where we are placed. We are to be lights of love, joy, and peace and not beacons of gloom and doom. We are to be encouraging and pointing those around us to the promise of a better kingdom and not people that tear others down. We do have a promised land that we are headed to, but are also recipients of the promise of life today. Glory be to God!

Jeremiah 23:23-24

“I am a God who is near,” says the Lord, “and not a God afar off. Can a man hide in secret, and I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

Encouraging Words

So, where is God when we need Him the most? He is right here with us. It is usually the condition of our heart that keeps us from seeing or feeling Him in our lives. God is everywhere, always. Some early church fathers even taught that if we were to descend into the depths of hell, He would be there, because that is the first place that Jesus went to upon His death. He went there to free the captives and to break down the gates of hell so that it could never hold us captive again. These fathers also taught that if I desire to know my God fully then I too must descend into hell. How do I do that? By becoming active in the lives of those around me whose life is filled with hell. The downtrodden. The depressed. The broken. The addict. The homeless. The poor and even the rich. The person whose lifestyle or belief or whatever is unacceptable to me. Really, is all of my stuff acceptable to God? What must be acceptable to me is that every person is created in the image of God and if I want to profess Him as my Lord then I must love my neighbor as He does. Unconditionally! Totally! Sacrificially! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, THE sinner!

2 Chronicles 33:12-13

Now when he was in affliction, he sought the face of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him. And the Lord received his entreaty, heard his cry, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

Encouraging Words

God always responds to, and restores, those who come to Him with a humble and repentant heart. Why is it though that we so easily depart from His ways and His presence and go our own ways? When He created us He gave us the ability to choose. His desire is that we choose Him and His ways. But when sin entered the world we began to neglect Him and chose to put our own selves at the center of our universe. The only way to correct this choice is to return to Him as Manasseh did with a humble and repentant heart. He will do the rest. Glory be to God!

2 Chronicles 32:7-8

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid of the king of Assyria, nor before all the nation with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him are arms of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to save us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Personal Challenge

Isaiah 58:9-10

Then you shall cry out, and God will hear you. While you are still speaking, He will say, ‘Behold, I am here.’ If you take away your fetter and the pointing of the finger, and the word of grumbling, and if you give bread to the hungry from your soul, and satisfy the humble soul, then your light shall rise up in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as midday.

Personal Challenge

To be able to someday live a righteous and holy life, one where my life shines as a beacon of Christ into the lives of everyone around me, I must life an active and participative life for my God. Righteousness, holiness, and salvation are not about a single point in time or a “sinners” prayer that I uttered some time in my past. Being godly, being righteous, being saved is a past, present, and future state in my life. I am to be doing the work of my Lord so that He can be doing His work within me. Glory be to God!

2 Chronicles 30:18-20

Most of the people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not cleansed themselves, but they ate the Passover contrary to what was written.

But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, even though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.” And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

Encouraging Words

In the Orthodox Church, we practice fasting. We fast from meat, dairy, and various other items every Wednesday and Friday, during Lent, and other times throughout the year. We do not do this in a legalistic way…at least it is not intended to be that way. We go so far as to teach that I am responsible for my plate only and not my brother or sister’s plate. We also teach that if a someone offers me something that would break my fast, I take it because the love for my neighbor is a high calling than keeping the fast. So, why do we fast? Just as an athlete exercises and practices to improve their skill at their game, so do we as we fast. Think about it. The original sin committed by Adam and Eve was breaking a fast. God told them to abstain from eating from the forbidden tree, and to this day we all have the challenge of putting things before God. Food can be one of those things. If I can develop my “muscles” of saying, “No!” to that which my body, or more likely my mind, craves, then I can begin to say, “No!” to the other passions in my life. By exercising one muscle I also exercise others. The fasting will not get me into the kingdom of God, only Jesus can do that. It will not earn me any brownie points with God, heaven knows that I am worthless in relationship to Him and only Jesus can host me into the presence of God. I fast so that I can focus more on my God than on me. I fast so that I have more that I can give to my neighbor who is in need. I fast so that I can sacrifice my desires and take up the cross of Jesus and glorify Him. God blesses us because of the state of our hearts, not the rules that we follow.

Isaiah 57:15

The Lord, the Most High who dwells on high forever, the Holy One among His saints, whose name is the Lord Most High, who rests among His saints, and who gives patience to the fainthearted and life to the broken-hearted,…

Encouraging Words

Our God, Our Father the Most High, does not sit on some throne somewhere separated from His subjects as is so often depicted in worldly images of Him or presented in earthly kingdoms. He is surrounded by His saints. Of course, they are worshiping Him along with the angelic hosts, but they are in His presence, which means that they are alive in the spirit. Glory be to God.

Psalm 84:1-2 (83:2-3 LXX)

How beloved are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts.
My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh greatly rejoice in the living God.

Personal Challenge

Is this truly the case for me? Does my soul long and faint for the courts of the Lord? Do I desire to be in His presence more than anything else in my life? Do my heart and flesh greatly rejoice in Him? Unfortunately, I must answer that this is not the case most of the time. I am so caught up in the trappings of this earth and the busy-ness of life that I have become distracted from Him and the blessings the He desires to bestow on me. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!