Psalm 55:16-17 (54:17-18 LXX)

But I cried out to God,
And the Lord heard me.
Evening and morning and midday, I shall tell;
I shall proclaim, and He will hear my voice.

Encouraging Words…

Our God lives! He hears our voices when we cry out to Him. When should we cry out to Him…always! Whether in good times or bad we are to be proclaiming Him and His benevolence. Glory be to God!

1 Peter 2:1-3

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Personal Challenge…

We cannot claim to be children of God and be living lives that are no different than what goes on in the world around us. We must abandon the formal life, the ways of the world and pursue lives filled with virtue. This comes from feeding on the truth of our Lord found in teachings of the church, both written and spoken, participating in the sacraments of the church, and striving to grow in our Christian life, the image of Christ. This is all a series of choices followed by actions. Glory be to God!

1 Kings 18:17-18

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Are you the one who is troubling Israel?” Elijah answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but rather you and the house of your father, in that you forsook the Lord your God and followed after the Baals.

Personal Challenge…

Oh how quickly we blame God for the events that are transpiring in our lives as the consequences from our own choices. We walk away from our Lord and abandon His precepts and desires for us and then wonder why our lives begin to go awry. Then we start proclaiming, “Oh God, why are you doing this in my life?” It is not God that has done anything to us, but is is us who have turned from Him and are now reaping the fruit of that decision. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Romans 4:5-8

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,And whose sins are covered;Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

Encouraging Words…

1 Timothy 4:10

For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

Personal Challenge…
Are we being reproached and criticized because of our trust in the living God? If not, then maybe we are not living our lives in a way that those around us know that He is our Lord and Savior. Jesus told us that the world will hate us because it hated Him. Sobering thoughts on just how much I do, or do not proclaim my trust in Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Proverbs 17:14 (17:15 LXX)

The foundation of righteousness gives authority to words,
But discord and quarreling precede poverty.

Personal Challenge…

Our words and how we use them have so much more power than we will ever know. If we speak from a place of righteousness, which does not just happen, but comes from a life of humility and rigor in following the Lord, then our words can carry authority and healing with them. If we speak from our worldly perspective, which is typically filled with discord and quarreling, then we bring poverty into the situation and steal life from those around us. The challenge is to spend more time in silent humility, seeking the heart of God, and refraining from speaking until He gives us both His permission and His words. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalm 34:1 (33:2 LXX)

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Personal Challenge…

This is not an option. It is not something that I decide to do based on the conditions of the day or how I am feeling. This is a choice. A positive, even aggressive choice, to focus on blessing the Lord at all times for all that He does regardless of whether I want to to or not. Glory be to God!

1 Peter 2:12

having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Personal Challenge…

We live in a world that is filled with Gentiles, those who do not know the full truth of our Lord God Almighty. It is our responsibility, our calling, to live our lives in such a way that it glorifies our God and points to the lost to them…even when the very people that we are trying to love speak out against us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

2 Timothy 2:14-17a

Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer.

Personal Challenge…

Paul gives Timothy a stern warning to be very careful how he speaks the word of God. It becomes so easy to slip into a state where we think we know so much and start interpreting God’s word the way that we want to. This leads to idle babbling and ultimately heresy. This is why we must observe the scriptures in context of our community, the church, and her traditions and teachings. The farther away her we wander the farther away from the truth we are. May God guide each one of us who proclaim Him as Lord to be diligent in how we present ourselves to Him and those around us and to be workers who are not ashamed of His truth and equipped to rightly divide it.