WITH ALL OUR HEARTS

1 Kingdoms 7:3 (1 Samuel 7:3)

Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, if you put away the foreign gods and the sacred groves from among you, and if you prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve Him alone, He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”

Personal Challenge

Being a follower of Christ has nothing to do with wearing a cross or a WWJD bracelet. It is not about bumper stickers or license plate brackets. And, believe it or not, it has nothing to do with saying a one time, one-and-done, prayer and then continuing to act like everyone else in the world. As Samuel told the people of Israel, God expects us to turn to Him with our whole hearts and to serve Him alone. This means loving our neighbor, whether red, yellow, black, or white. It means getting righteously angry at the things that God abhors, such as lying, stealing from the poor, pedophilia, being a bully, and the list goes on. You cannot proclaim to love Christ and behave like the rest of the world. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

DO NOT BOAST

1 Kingdoms 2:3 (1 Samuel 2:3)

Do not boast nor speak of high things;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lord is the God of knowledge;
And God is preparing His actions.

Personal Challenge

One of the characteristics of a true follower of Christ is their desire to be humble. This humility comes from submitting to God and humbly loving our neighbor. This is also shown by boasting in God alone and not one’s abilities, talents, and possessions, for these all come from God and not our own endeavors. God alone has knowledge above all. God alone is our provider. Glory be to God!

REJOICING IN THE LORD

1 Kingdoms 2:1-2 (1 Samuel 2:1-2)

And she said:
“My heart is strengthened in the Lord;
My horn is exalted in my God.
I smile at my enemies;
I rejoice in Your salvation.
Because no one is holy like the Lord,
No one is righteous like our God,
No one is holy but You.”

Encouraging Words

These verses are the beginning of Hannah’s prayer. Hannah lived in Old Testament times when having a child was recognized as God’s blessing upon a woman. Hannah was barren. Late in her life, past the time when a woman was typically able to have children, she went to the temple and pleaded silently with God for His blessing to be bestowed upon her. The priest of the temple saw her lips moving but heard no words. He accused her of drunkeness. After telling her story to the priest he blessed her and asked that her prayers might be heard and answered, sending her on her way. And God responded. Samuel, a great leader and prophet, was born to her and dedicated to the Lord. god hears our prayers and it is up to us to respond with rejoicing and praise. Glory be to God!

THE LORD HAD DEPARTED

Judges 16:20

And Delilah said, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” So he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as before, and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

Personal Challenge

In Old Testament times, prior to the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit would be sent to dwell within certain people in order to empower them to do God’s work. Samson was one of these people. However, he abused this power and ultimately it deported from him. His life was devastated after that. With the work that Jesus did, God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within every follower of Christ. Through His power, we, too, can do God’s work. Our challenge is to not quench the Holy Spirit in our lives. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercyl

IF YOU ARE AFRAID

Judges 7:9-11

On that same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. Listen to what they shall say, and afterward your hands shall be strong and you shall then go down into the camp.” And he went down with Purah his servant to the edge of the camp of the fifty.

Encouraging Words

All too often, people portray God as some angry, judgmental, cosmic being that demands our worship and complicity. This could not be farther from the truth. He is compassionate and loving. Upon the first creation of man and women, he walked with them in the Garden of Eden, conversing with them regularly. In His great love for us. He created us with free will and the ability to follow Him or reject Him. In this passage He is giving Gideon instructions on how to defeat His enemies. He does not force Gideon to do His work but instead gives him an opportunity to address his human fears. This comes from love for us. We have this kind of choice all the time as followers of Christ. Glory be to God!

Saint of the Week

St. John of Kronstadt

THE LORD IS WITH YOU

Judges 6:12

And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty one of the armies!”

Encouraging Words

The “him” that is referred to in this verse is Gideon. Gideon lived in a time when his people were being oppressed by the people of Midia. He was hiding in a wine press and attempting to thresh some wheat for his starving people. He finds out tha he has been selected by God to lead his people out of this oppression and into the glory once promised to them. The early church fathers viewed Gideon as a prefiguration, or image, of Jesus Christ, who came to deliver His people from the oppression of sin and into the heavenly kingdom. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord have mercy!

BE CAREFUL AND DO HIS COMMANDMENTS

Joshua 22:5

“But be very careful to do the commandments and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to adhere to Him, and to serve Him with all your mind and with all your soul.”

Personal Challenge

One of the fallacies in modern day Christian circles is that all that I need to do to be “saved” is to repeat a special prayer and I am done. It is true that we are redeemed by our belief in Christ, however, a critical part of our salvation is our sanctification in Christ. Here is a generic definition of this word:

Sanctification is the act of making something or someone holy, often understood as the process of growing in divine grace and moral purity, particularly in a Christian context. It involves being set apart for God’s special purpose and can refer to both a definitive act and a progressive journey of becoming more like Christ.

(Duck Duck Go Search assist)

In Eastern Orthodoxy, we often refer to this as theosis. The expection, as we see here in Joshua, is that my belief in God Christ in particular, is manifested by my actions. Being a Christian, a follower of Christ, is a verb and not a nown. We are to be careful in our life as we follow Jesus and do His commandments to love God and to love our neighbor. This is an active Christ-like life and not a passive one. It is action and not words or labels. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

Joshua 1:6-9

“Be strong and courageous, for you will divide this land which I swore to your fathers to give them. Be strong, therefore, and courageous to guard yourself and to do as Moses My servant commanded you; then you will not turn away from them, to the right nor to the left. In this way, you will have understanding in whatever you do. The book of this law shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may have the understanding to do all the things written therein. Then you will both prosper, make your ways prosperous, and have understanding. Behold, I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be cowardly or fearful, for the Lord your God is with you in all things, wherever you go.”

Command with a Promise

Throughout the scriptures we find instructions of what
we are to do in our lives as followers of Christ which are followed with a promise of what the results will be for following those instructions. Once again, we can use this story of Joshua as an image for what we are to do. We are to be strong and courageous in our relationship with Christ as we strive to conquer sin in our lives. In this we turn from those things that will lead us astray and stay true to our calling. We can hold on to the teachings in the scriptures and the saints that have gone before us and claim the rewards of righteousness in Christ. We can do this through the help, grace, and mercy given to us by God. Glory be to Him!

NO OPPOSITION

Joshua 1:5

No man shall be able to oppose you all the days of your life, and as I was with Moses, thus I will be also with you. I will not forsake you nor disregard you.

Encouraging Words

Joshua has been considered a type, or image, of Christ in the Old Testament by the early church fathers. What does this mean? We are to look at the stories about him and his life and how they point us to the reality of Christ. Here, Moses is a representation of the old covenant, which is the law. He cannot enter into the new kingdom and is handing the baton to Joshua to conquer the new land that was promised to His children. He represents the image of the new covenant moving forward. That image points to Christ, the new covenant, who has conquered death, and is continuing to conquer sin for us as He builds His new kingdom. This is the story behind the story! Glory be to God!