Luke 24:32

And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

Encouraging Words

Jesus is alive. He is resurrected. He is always present in our lives. We can experience those times, just like these two on the road to Emmaus, where He reveals himself to us in a way that makes our hearts burn within us. The key to being able to see Him when the does this is to be constantly looking for Him as we go through our lives. Glory be to God!

Psalms 18:1-3 (17:2-4)

thus he said:
“I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my foundation, my refuge, my deliverer;
My God is my helper, on Him I will hope,
My champion, the horn of my salvation, and my protector.
I will call upon the Lord and praise Him,
And I shall be saved from my enemies.”

Personal Challenge

The only way to se God, our strength, our foundation, our refuge, our deliverer, our helper, our hope, our champion, our salvation, and our protector, as the Psalmist did, is to spend time with him. 100% of our time! He is always present with us. Are we present with him? He is all these things for us all the time. Do we embrace Him in faith and belief? Do we submit to him so that He can manifest himself to us this way? Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy

Luke 23:34

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots.

Personal Challenge

Forgiveness is a difficult thing to give to another, especially when the offense cuts deep. And yet as followers of Christ, we are expected to forgive freely, asking for nothing in return. This was demonstrated to us by Jesus while He was hanging on the cross. I know that this is an area of my journey to theosis that I must continually work on. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 17:1-9 (16:1-9)

Listen, O Lord of my righteousness;
Attend to my supplication;
Give ear to my prayer that is not with deceitful lips.
From Your face let my judgment come;
Let my eyes behold uprightness.
You tested my heart, when You visited me in the night;
You tried me in the fire, and found nothing unjust in me.
That my mouth might not speak of the works of men,
I held to hard ways because of the words of Your lips.
Restore my steps in Your paths,
That my footsteps may not slip.
I cried out, because You listened to me, O God;
Incline Your ear to me, and hear my words.
Magnify Your mercies,
O You who save those who hope in You
From those who rise up against Your right hand.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
In the shelter of Your wings, You will shelter me
From the face of the ungodly who trouble me.
My enemies surrounded my soul;

Encouraging Words

The Palmist has such a beautiful way of expressing what we could do, day in and day out, to show our God how much we love Him. He also shows us here how much God loves us and does for us throughout our lives. If we are followers of Christ, then we are in a living, two-way relationship with our God. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 21:1-4

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

Encouraging Words

Does God really care about how we much we give? He holds everything in the palm of His hand. He gives us all that we have, including every breath and heartbeat. God is not concerned about how much we give, whether it be money, time, or our love. What He cares about is the state of our heart when we give. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 16:11 (15:11)

You made known to me the ways of life;
You will fill me with gladness in Your presence;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Encouraging Words

The more we spend time with our Lord, the more we get to know Him and the depth of His love for us. In that love He teaches us the ways of life. He fills us with gladness even if the world around us is slipping into chaos. He gives us the pleasures of His heavenly kingdom as we grow closer to Him. Glory be to God!

Luke 19:45-46

Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’

Personal Challenge

It is important for us to know wha the scriptures say, both Old and New Testaments. Jesus so often quoted the scriptures to justify his actions. If we know and follow the scriptures we can be assured that we are being obedient to that which has been given to us as our guidelines. Glory be to God!

Psalms 16:7-9 (15:7-9)

I will bless the Lord who caused me to understand;
Moreover, until night my reins also instructed me.
I saw the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
Therefore my heart was glad,
And my tongue rejoiced exceedingly;

My flesh also shall dwell in hope.

Personal Challenge

Sometimes we encounter difficult times in our lives. This past weeks have definitely been one of these times. We have a choice. We always have a choice. We can either dwell alone in the midst of the difficulty or recognize that our God is always before us and standing beside us in the midst of our hardship. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. We can claim that promise and walk through that difficulty with us as our right hand. We can watch for those people that He will bring alongside us and not take this journey alone. God is so good and we can dwell in hope in Him. Glory be to God.