1 Chronicles 28:9

“And now, my son Solomon, know the God of your fathers, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing soul; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you forever.”

Personal Challenge…

David reminds us here that a Christian life, a godly life, is a life of action. We are to serve God completely and fully. We are to seek Him aggressively and purposefully if we expect to find Him. He expects us to be active in our relationship wit Him and therefore with those around us.

Jeremiah 30:16-17 (37:13-14 LXX)

Therefore, all who devour you shall be consumed, for all your enemies shall devour themselves. Your sins multiplied because of the abundance of your wrongdoings, thus they did these things to you. But those who tore you to pieces shall be as prey, and I will give all who plundered you as plunder. For I will bring about your healing from a painful wound. I will heal you,’ says the Lord. ‘For you were called Dispersed, for they said, “She is your prey, because no one seeks her.”‘

Encouraging Words…

Sometimes God allows the consequences of our sinful behavior to overtake us so that through it we can be refined and turn back to Him. This is never pleasant, but it it serves to return our hearts and our minds to Him it is worthwhile. Better yet, to not stray from Him and have to be corrected. In all cases we are His precious children and He does what is necessary to keep us on the right path, His path. Glory be to God.

Psalm 25:4-5 (24:4-5 LXX)

Make known Your ways to me, O Lord,
And teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation,
And on You I wait all the day.

Personal Challenge…

Oh, what an easy prayer to say, yet so difficult to practice. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Matthew 13:44

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Personal Challenge…

Do I treat the great and glorious gift of salvation as something so special that I sell all that I have, give up all that is important to me, so that I can have it? How often do I sell my Lord short for my own desires? What a precious gift we have in Christ. A gift that is worth abandoning all for. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

2 Chronicles 14:11 (14:10 LXX)

And Asa cried out to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, with You it is not impossible, whether with the many or with the few. Strengthen us, Lord our God, for we trust in You. And in Your name we go against this multitude. Lord our God, do not let man prevail against You!”

Encouraging Words…

No matter what battle we are fighting, what struggle we are in the midst of, what the odds are against us, if we are striving to glorify our God and His work, He will prevail and carry us along with Him in His victory. We may live in the physical, temporal world, but we also live in the spiritual world and many times the battles and struggles that we find ourselves caught up in are the consequences of these spiritual acts of warfare. The test for us is whether or note we can continue to cling to God through the tough times as tightly as we do through the good times and therefore reflect His glory, His grace, and His love in the midst of the storms. Glory be to God! May we all be Asa’s in this day of our Lord.

John 15:12-14

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

Personal Challenges…

We are called by Christ to become like Him. This can be so difficult when it comes to dealing with people and yet He tells us that if we are to be counted among His friends then we will do what He commands. That means loving our friends as well as our enemies, even to the point of laying down our lives for them. We may never be asked to lay down our physical lives for those around us but what about treating them with love and respect, or not gossiping about them when the opportunity arises, or sympathizing with them and coming alongside them in their need even when they spurn us, and the list goes on and on. I have so far to go in this area of my journey to theosis. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Amos 5:14

“Seek good and not evil so that you may live, so that the Lord God Almighty will be with you. As you have said, ‘We hated evil and loved good.’ And restore justice in the gate that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.”

Personal Challenge…

Every moment of every day we have choices to make…to seek good or to seek evil. We were created with the ability to make this choice (free will) and the capability to choose the good. As we look through the history of the church we see many examples (Hebrews 11 lists many of them) of men and women who have chosen good and were blessed by God. We also have the Holy Spirit to guide us on this journey. As the movie Matrix introduced, we can choose the red pill or the blue pill, but sometimes we may need to choose neither and follow another path, one that we can only see through eyes opened by God. I like the commentary on these verses offered by Ambrose of Milan (340-397 AD)…

“For when a man rules his own self—and that counts for more than to govern others—his heart is in the hand of God, and God turns it where He wills. If He turns it to the good, perfect goodness is His. And so let us be in the hand of God that we may seek the good… that you may live, and so the Lord God Almighty will be with you.” (Orthodox Study Bible, p. 1000)

Exodus 36:3-5

They received from Moses all the offerings the children of Israel brought for all the works for making the holy place, and they continued bringing him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the wise men who were doing all the work of the holy place came, each according to the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the work the Lord commanded us to do.”

Encouraging Words…

Imagine, if you can, what the Church, and the world, would be like if we, the members of the body of Christ, gave so much from our wealth that the leaders had to say. “Stop!” We would be able to send missionaries to all parts of the earth who would not have to worry about where their support was coming from…the Great Commission. We would be able to feed the poor, clothe the naked, and take care of the widow and the orphan, our neighbors…the Great Commandment. The Church would be bringing the kingdom of God to life here on earth. This is God’s will for us, just as it was His will that the early Israelites build His tabernacle. However, He did not force them to give of their wealth, He just asked them to give of their own free will. When we, the children of God, align our free will with His, He does mighty and glorious things.

2 Samuel 22:2-3 (2 Kingdoms 22:2-3 LXX)

And he (David) sang:
“O Lord, my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
My God will be my guardian, in whom I will trust;
My defender and the horn of my salvation,
My protector and the refuge of my salvation;
You will save me from unrighteousness.”

Encouraging Words…

Why would I want to claim Jesus as my Lord, live my life in ways that would glorify Him, and strive to be different than the world around me? David makes it clear in this passage why we would put our trust in God and live for Him. He is our savior from death, He is our victory over eternal separation from God. He is our protector and source of life. Glory be to God!