Mark 12:29-31

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this:‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Personal Challenge…

How can it be that even when we live our lives in the midst of a crowd, surrounded by people, people that we know and people that we may not know much about bur are trying to befriend, that our lives are full of loneliness. We live in times where people live such independent lives. We live in times where we often live thousands of miles from our families and loved ones, parents, children, grandchildren, and siblings. Even though we have so much technology to help us connect it is still not the same as being in the same room holding them, laughing with them. I am so thankful to have a wife who loves me and is my friend. With her by my side and me by hers we are able to live a life built on love. I am also so thankful for wonderful children and grandchildren, those nearby and those far away and am so proud of them. We are so blessed to have them as such important parts of our lives. Even with such a wonderful family we still desire to be in community, to be in relationship with those God brings into our lives.

As I read through these verses today I was reminded that our Lord also lived His life lonely in the midst of the crowd. He left His Father and same to live amongst us. He gave of Himself to mankind and demonstrated how to live out these two great commands. And even after that He was rejected, falsely accused and ultimately killed. If we are to live our lives in the image of Christ, attempting to be like Him, is it not possible, even very probable, that our lives might be lived lonely in the midst of the crowd?

Loving the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves…sacrificially and completely. And for me and my household, living our lives that begins with love for our LORD, love for each other, love for our children, and love for those whom God brings into our lives.

Micah 7:7

But I will look to the Lord. I will wait for God my Savior, for my God will hear me.

Encouraging Words…

The God of creation, life, and eternity is not fickle. He does hear His people and is our salvation. How much hope people like Micah had because they could only look forward to the coming of their Savior. Ho much more hope we have because we live in the age of salvation where our Lord has come and set up His kingdom. What joy and peace we can realize because we have been given the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Counselor. How important it is for us to be sharing this Good News with those who are lost around us! Glory be to God!

Proverbs 15:32-33 (15:37-38 LXX)

He who rejects instruction hates himself,
But he who gives heed to reproofs loves his soul.
The fear of God is instruction and wisdom,
And the beginning of glory will respond to it.

Personal Challenge…

We as modern day Americans hate to be told what to do. We have the right to pursue our happiness. We are entitled to health and wealth. However, the expectation of our Lord is that we will be humble before Him, that we will put others before ourselves, that we will give of our wealth and time to those in need. It is expected that we will need instruction and reproof because through that we will grow in the image of Christ. Do we want to see God’s glory in our lives? Then if we do we must adhere to His rules, His truths, His expectations and not those of the world. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Psalm 36:7 (35:8 LXX)

How You multiply Your mercy, O God!
The sons of men shall hope under the shelter of Your wings.

Encouraging Words…

Have you ever had one of those days when it feels like the weight of the world is bearing down upon your shoulders? Is it because of a loved one who is sick or not doing well? Is it because of a relationship that is broken? Is it because those around you don’t seem to understand you or care about you? There are so many things in our lives that can hurt us and weigh upon us. Here is one of those comfort verses that we can run to. Our God loves us beyond what we will ever be able to comprehend. He loves us unconditionally. And in that love He pours out His mercies upon us. We can hide under His wings as a chick hides under His mother’s wings. And if we choose to release our worries and hold onto Him then the cares of the world will be held from us because they will fall upon His back. Glory be to God!

Philippians 2:1-4

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Command with a Promise…

We are given here a very powerful instruction or command for receiving consolation in Christ, comfort of love, fellowship of the Spirit, and affection and mercy. We are commanded to live in loving and other-focused fellowship with one another. This starts in our home and our immediate church family. However, these same practices can be applied in our places of work, in our communities, basically in all aspects of our lives. This is so counter to what our culture teaches and presses us to do and be…individuals looking out for our own good. If we live our lives doing nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, esteeming others better than we esteem ourselves, looking out for the interests of others, and doing all of this with a desire to be like-minded, having love, and being of one accord, then we will see the kingdom of God unfold around us.

Isaiah 55:8-9

“For My counsels are not as your counsels, neither are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “But as heaven is distant from earth, so is My way distant from your ways, and your thoughts from My mind.”

Encouraging Words…

Throughout Old Testament times the prophets provided visions into the future through parables and other methods. Upon the fulfillment of the Old Testament covenant by our Lord Jesus Christ He ushered in a new age, an age in which Christ gave us parables that clearly explains many aspects of the kingdom of God. This verse reminds us that God’s ways are so much more than we will ever understand. Jesus also made it clear that as we live our lives for Him and in Him He will reveal more and more to us. Glory be to God!

Isaiah 58:11

God shall be with you continually, and you shall be satisfied as your soul desires. Your bones shall be enriched, and you shall be like a well-watered garden and like a spring of water that does not fail. Your bones will arise and be enriched like a green plant, and they shall inherit generations of generations.

Personal Challenge…

What a blessing our Father pours out on us through the sending of the Holy Spirit. We have God’s presence with us every moment of our lives and in that presence every need, every desire, can be met. However, we so often look to meet our needs and to satisfy our desires on our own with the things of the world and consequently sin and then move away from our Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner and help me to always rest in Your arms and seek the filling of my needs and the fulfillment of my desires in You.

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Encouraging Words…
Tomorrow, January 6, the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of Epiphany (a manifestation or revelation) or Theophany (a manifestation of God). We started the feast today with the blessing of the waters. We celebrate this in remembrance of the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan river. Jesus did not need to be cleansed of any sins because He was sinless. This is why John resisted doing this. But Jesus made it clear that He was doing this to make the purification of humanity His own. This was also an opportunity for the entire trinity to appear (theophany) before mankind. How fitting it is that Jesus would use baptism as the means to start His ministry of salvation, because water is essential for the existence of everything in creation. Through His blessing of the water of the Jordan He blessed all of creation and initiated regeneration to all.

1 John 1:1-3

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Encouraging Words…

In the days of the Old Testament those who were holy and righteous in the eyes of God were fortunate to be blessed by theophanies (an appearance or manifestation of God) of Christ. Abraham entertained three men, one of which appeared to be the pre-incarnate Christ. Jacob wrestled with the pre-incarnate Christ and earned His favor. And there were others as well. We, however, have been blessed to live in the age of the new covenant, an age ushered in by the Incarnation of God, an age when He walked amongst mankind and provided for us our salvation and victory over death and sin. Glory be to God!

Daniel 2:45

Whereas you saw the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, it ground to powder the clay, the iron, the copper, the silver, and the gold. Thus the great God has made known to the king what must come to pass after this. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.

Encouraging Words…

One of the largest hurdles that I have had to overcome on my journey into Orthodoxy was the understanding of Mary’s role and place in the church. I know that this is a controversial subject and it was so even in my own mind as I recalled all that I was taught before. It has been great learning more and more about the “Eastern” way of thinking and how our early church fathers viewed the Old Testament and the teachings of Christ and the apostles. This is so important to me because if you really want to understand how something works or why things are done certain ways you must get as close to the original source as possible. The early church fathers believed that the Old Testament was full of typology (interpretation of certain historical events as “types” that prefigure events to be fulfilled through the Incarnation of the Son of God, and in His life and ministry as confirmed in the New Testament (Orthodox Study bible, p. 190)) and that there were many “types” of Mary prefigured. Some of these include the burning bush, the fiery furnace in Babylon, the one here in Daniel, and many more. If one reads the Old Testament through this grid (typology) then the truths of God become all the more evident.

Well, back to Mary. Only God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are worthy of our worship. We venerate (regard with great respect) her as we do the saints that have gone before us. We acknowledge that by the grace of God and the mystery of His power Mary was able to carry God within her body. As the bush in the desert was able to contain the fire and not be consumed, or the fiery furnace contained the three young men and the pre-incarnate Christ, Mary was able to carry God within her and not be consumed. This verse “types” Mary as the mountain from whom the stone was cut that carried the law handed to Moses and the ultimate completion of that law…Jesus Christ. There is so much more that could be said here, but this is enough for today. Glory be to God for His mysteries are far beyond our understanding and yet He continues to include us in them.