Daniel 3:16-18

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “We have no need to answer you in regard to this thing. For there is a God in the heavens, whom we serve, and He is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace; and He will deliver us from your hands, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image you set up.”

Personal Challenge…

We can hold on to the truth that our God will always deliver us from the challenges here in this earthly life. Sometimes it is a miraculous deliverance such as with these three young men and the fiery furnace. Sometimes it is by taking us home to Himself as the church has seen with so many martyrs through the ages. But in all cases, no matter how big or how small the challenge, the situation, or the enemy, what always comes through as most important is our willingness, our commitment, to stand firm on that hope that we have within us. The hope that no matter what is going on in our lives God is with us. The hope that no matter how big or how powerful the obstacle is that God is bigger and more powerful. He is the all knowing, ever present, loving, merciful God and that He holds us in the palm of His hand. Glory be to God!

Matthew 5:17

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Encouraging Words…

So…is it not the law by which we are judge? Is it not the prophets that kept pointing out to us how far we were missing the mark…God’s mark? Then if Jesus declared that He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets is it not possible to conclude that the judgment that so many Christian faith practices say we fall under have been fulfilled by Christ? Jesus claimed that He came that we might have abundant life, that He was victorious over death. Maybe we should stop looking at God as some angry, judgmental Father and see His true character…Love. Glory be to God!

John 15:19

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Personal Challenge…

Part of dying to the world is recognizing that as soon as we do this we will become enemies of the world. The world does not want to let us go. The world does not want us attracting others away from it. This means that when we choose to separate ourselves from the world things will heat up and we will begin to see just how much the world hates us. If we are not feeling this heat then maybe we have not really left this world behind.

John 12:25-26

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Personal Challenge…

Do we really love our Lord and desire to serve Him fully? Then the best way to do this, the only way to do it fully, is to give up our life fully and completely for Him. We need to die to ourselves and this world in order to be able to give our all to Him. This is certainly not easy, but more and more possible each time we allow the Holy Spirit to do His work within us. Glory be to God!

Matthew 18:1-6

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Personal Challenge…

Why is it that so many of us who convert from western Christianity to eastern Christianity spend so much time trying to amass great volumes of knowledge about eastern Christianity? Is it because in the west we pride ourselves in the church on how much we know about God, the church, and our history, and that we have brought that baggage into our eastern practice of our faith. Jesus Himself tells us that we must be like a child if we are to truly be great in the kingdom of heaven. This means focusing on, and living out, the virtues of a child, humility, dependence, lowliness, simplicity, obedience, and a willingness to love and be loved. It is difficult to have these virtues growing and developing in our lives if we are constantly pursuing knowledge. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 14:11

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Personal Challenge…

We are reminded over and over and over again in the scriptures during our liturgy, and through the teachings of our church fathers, that desires us to approach Him with a humble heart. He promises us that if we humble ourselves before Him and our fellow man, or neighbor, that He will exalt us. As with everything else in life we must pay the price, or the clues, to get the benefits. Our humility in this earthly life will be rewarded throughout eternity, however if we choose the path of exaltation throughout this life our reward throughout eternity will be humility. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Colossians 1:9-12

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Encouraging Words…

As Orthodox we believe that the saints who have gone before us are standing in the courts of our Lord petitioning on our behalf? I can see Paul there repeating this prayer over and over on our behalf that we too might be equipped to do the work of our God. Glory be to Him!

Philippians 4:11-13

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Personal Challenge…

Here we find the key to contentment, the pearl buried in the heart of the oyster of life. Whether life is dealing us a winning hand or pulling the rug out from under us we can choose to acknowledge that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If we try to do it on our own, or to take all the credit for the good things that do come about, we are choosing to unplug from the only source of power that can support us. Jesus is our power! Jesus is our protection! Jesus is our provider! Jesus is our Lord! All glory goes to God!