Matthew 22:37:40

Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

Personal Challenge…

As humans we always are looking for the rules…the rules of the game, the rules of the group, the rules of life. Here Jesus gives us the simplest set of rules that you could ever find: Love your God and love your neighbor. Simple rules to understand and yet very complicated to master. Isn’t this what our journey to theosis is comprised of? Learning to give up ourselves and to put God and our neighbor before us…in love.

Psalm 59:16-17 (58:17-18 LXX)


But I will sing of Your power,
And greatly rejoice in Your mercy in the morning;
For You are my protector,
And my refuge in the day of my affliction.
You are my helper; I will sing to You;
For You, O God, are my protector;
You are my mercy, O my God.

Encouraging Words…

What more could I add to this proclamation from the psalmist? Nothing, except that after living 48 years under the wing of my Lord, the psalmist definitely captured the truth about my God.

1 Corinthians 12:7

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:

Encouraging words…

Throughout the letters of the New Testament we are informed of the spiritual gifts that are bestowed on those of us who follow Christ and have been baptized into Him. We are also told that these gifts are not for us, but for the building up of the body of Christ. This verse highlights that the Holy Spirit is manifested in my life through the gift(s) that He bestows upon me. This is powerful and makes it all the more important for me to discern these gifts and live within them…using them for His body.

Psalm 119:37 (118:37 LXX)
Turn away my eyes that I may not see vanity;
Give me life in Your way.

Personal Challenge…

As the psalmist prays so should I. My desire should be that God will help me to look away from those things in my life that would tempt me to turn away from my pursuit of righteousness in my Lord. My prayer should be for His blessing of a life that is founded in His ways.

Hebrews 4:13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Personal Challenge…

Why is it that it is so easy for me to forget that my Lord is ever present? He knows my every thought, my every action. And yet I still do things that I know are wrong, whether in thought or deed, as if no one is watching me. Oh how fortunate I am that He is so loving and merciful. Lord Jesus Chris, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Psalm 63:8 (62:9 LXX)
My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand takes hold of me.

Encouraging Words…

There is a reason to follow closely in the steps of my Lord…the closer that I am to Him the sooner I will be held by Him when He takes hold of me.

Proverbs 17:1

Better is a morsel with enjoyment in peace
Than a house full of many good things and unrighteous sacrifices with quarreling.

Personal Challenge…

This verse does not say that it is wrong to have “stuff” in our lives. It speaks to how I look upon this stuff, how I hold on to it. If my stuff, my motorcycle, my computer, my…, becomes my god then what I do with this stuff becomes unrighteousness and discontent and the environment of quarrelsomeness follows shortly. If I can be content with the small things and learn to hold on to them lightly, as if they are loaned to me to be a caretaker of them, then contentment and the environment of peace and enjoyment follows. Glory be to God for entrusting me to be His steward of His possessions.

Titus 2:9-10

Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

Personal Challenge…

We don’t live in a day and age of bondservants, but we do live in a day and age of employer/employee arrangements. This passage so clearly applies to me and the work ethic that I must have with my employer, managers, and coworkers. I must regretfully admit that this is an area of my life where I do not always “adorn the doctrine of God my Savior in all things.” Lord have mercy on me a sinner. Time to behave like a bondservant of Christ.

Psalm 73:26 (72:26 LXX)

My heart and my flesh fail,
O God of my heart; and God is my portion forever.

Encouraging Words…

As long as I am living in this temporal I will stumble and fall. However, the God of my heart is my protector. He will always catch me and heal me as I run back to Him.