1 John 3:1

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Encouraging Words

What an amazing thing…we are set apart from the world, not because of what we do or say, but because we are loved so deeply by our Lord. In our world today we see so many acts of violence and hatred being performed on a way of proclaiming allegiance to their god. How can this be when God is pure love? Glory be to God!

Luke 21:1-4

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

Personal Challenge

Oh Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, give me the heart of this wealthy, poor widow!

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Encouraging Words

The first time that I selected this verse to be added to my ongoing list of verses was on my father’s birthday. I just now noticed this. My father epitomized this verse. I fondly remember the day that he renounced his alcoholism, repented and never went back to that way of life. He demonstrated to all who would listen to his story that his Jesus was a lover of mankind, our redeemer, and a forgetter of our sins. I love you Dad and thank you for showing me what a living saint looks like. Glory be to God!

Proverbs 10:31 (10:32 LXX)

The mouth of a righteous man distills wisdom,
But the tongue of an unrighteous man utterly destroys.

Personal Challenge

What is the indicator of the state, or nature, of my heart? It is that which comes out of my mouth. How I speak to others, or more importantly about others, reveals the righteousness or unrighteousness of my heart and core essence. May it be determined to be a distiller of wisdom.

Psalm 119:117 (118:117)

Help me, and I shall be saved;
And I shall meditate always in Your ordinances

Encouraging words

Jesus is the full compassion of our God and He came to us in the incarnation. Through Him we do live. Glory be to God!

Psalm 89:47-48 (88:48-49 LXX)

Let my substance be remembered, as to what sort it is,
For did You create all the sons of men in vain?
What kind of man is there who will live and not see death?
Will he deliver his soul from the hand of Hades?

Personal Challenge

I have a substance of which I am made. I am not referring to the physical elements that define me as a human being, but of the characteristics and nature of who I am that define me. I do have a choice in this area to follow Christ and be like Him or to deny Him and be like the devil. Whatever choices I make there will be a day that I will stand before my Lord and account for them. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Luke 24:32

And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

Personal Challenge

Does my heart burn within me when I spend tiome in God’s Word? How about when I am in the midst of celebrating liturgy? Or when discussing the Scriptures with my brothers and sisters? If not, then it is time to check the state of my heart. With Jesus being in the midst of all of these activities, and so many more, them my heart should be at a place where He is causing it to burn for Him. Glory be to God!

Titus 3:4-8

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Encouraging Words

Works! There is such a heated debate around works. Paul reminds Titus, and us, that it was not our works of righteousness that earned us salvation. It was the kindness and love of God our Savior toward us, and His mercy that we have been justified through and made heirs to His kingdom. It is all about what God did and the fact that we are blessed recipients of His love. However, he does not stop here. He tells us that because of this gift from God we should maintain good works for Him. Glory be to God!

John 8:7-9

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Personal Challenge

Oh, how quickly I find myself reaching for the stones of judgment when dealing with someone who in my mind, and heart, has committed a sin that I have judges as grievous. And then…my loving, non-judgmental, God reminds me that, “He who is without sin…” can go ahead and cast the first stone. My only recourse is to drop the stone and walk away in my own sin. In Orthodoxy, we are taught that we are all accountable for each other’s sins as well as our own. My sins impact you and your sins impact me. If I am truly active trying to live out the second of the two great commandments by loving my neighbor, then I will be active in their lives, loving them, walking through their repentance with them, and allowing them to do the same in my life. This changes the perspective about church family and the need to be loving and caring.