September 15, 2024

BEING SHARPENED

Proverbs 27:17

Iron sharpens iron,
And a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Personal Challenge

Iron is a dull, lifeless metal. If, however, you hone it and sharpen it against another piece of iron, it will begin to shine and take on a life that will cut through many other things. This is an image of us. We are dull and covered with our sinful nature and acts. When we are honed by another who cares for us and challenges us, the dullness of our sins falls away and we become a sharp tool in the hand of our Lord. Glory be to God!

September 14, 2024

Saint of the Week

St. Paisios of Mount Athos

September 13, 2024

IMPARTING GRACE

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Personal Challenge

There are a lot of us that proclaim to be followers of Christ who will have a shocking revelation on our day of judgment. And yes, I include myself in this group... regretfully. Paul entreats us to not let corrupt words proceed out of our mouths (or off our fingertips in this day of social media). We are to only put out words that are good for edification of another, importing grace to those who hear (see) our words. Are we falling prey to the culture of rudeness, demeaning others, and supporting lies and falsehoods? If so, we need to remember that we will be held accountable for our actions. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 12, 2024

BEAT TO CLEAN

Proverbs 25:4

Beat drossy silver,
And it will be made entirely clean.

Personal Challenge

Silver can be a beautiful metal to use to make jewelry...if it is done correctly. At the beginning of the process the silver will be covered with dross. Isn't this like all of us? At the beginning of our walk with Christ, we are covered with our sinfulness. To eliminate the dross, it is pounded and beaten until the dross is brought to the surface and then eliminated. Again, isn't this what the Christian life is like. We are presented with challenges and difficulties that God uses to form and shape us into the image of Jesus. Glory be to God!

September 11, 2024

DO NOT GIVE PLACE TO THE DEVIL

Ephesians 4:26-27

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Personal Challenge

We were created in the image of God that makes us special in relationship with all the rest of creation. God gave us our emotions. He gave us our desires. He also gave us free will to exercise those emotions and desires appropriately and in godly ways. So, our task is to exercise our emotions and desires for God and to not let the devil create a place in our lives, in our hearts, to pervert and abuse these gifts. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 10, 2024

OFFSPRING

Proverbs 23:18

For if you keep these words, you shall have offspring,
And your hope will not depart from you.

Personal Challenge

So, does this mean that if I keep the words of the Proverbs, the wisdom book, that I will have children? Not necessarily. God's wisdom is given to us so that we can grow in the image of His Son. Our hope that comes from God can be one of the offspring in our lives that comes from keeping His word! Glory be to God!

September 9, 2024

WALK WORTHY

Ephesians 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Personal Challenge

We are called to be actively walking worthy of our calling if we desire to be followers of Christ. This means that we live our lives with lowliness humility and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, and endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This is a far cry from what we are seeing in the media today with regards to people proclaiming to be Christians. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have money! Lord, have mercy!

September 8, 2024

WORDS OF THE WISE

Proverbs 22:17-19 (22:20-22)

Incline your ear to the words of the wise and hear my word,
And establish your heart, that you may know they are good.
And if you apply them to your heart,
They will gladden you and at the same time be upon your lips;
That your hope might be in the Lord,
And His way might be known to you.

Command With a Promise

We are given here various things to do in our life following Christ that will result in clear consequences. We are to incline our ears to the words of the wise, hear his words, and establish them in our hearts, knowing that they are good. The results will be that they will gladden us and they, the words, will become our words as well. Our hope will be in the Lord and His way will be made known to us. Glory be to God!

September 7, 2024

Saint of the Week

St. Gregory the Great

September 6, 2024

A PRAYER FOR US

Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Encouraging Words

In the final days of Jesus, He prayed for unity in His Church. Here we have Paol bowing to his knees and petitioning God on our behalf again. He is asking that God will grant, according to His riches, that we might be strengthened in our work for Him, that Jesus Christ will dwell within our hearts, that we will be rooted and grounded in love, and comprehending how much God loves us. Finally, he asks that we might be filled with the fullness of God. What a wonderful petition. Glory be to God!

September 5, 2024

LIFE AND GLORY

Proverbs 21:21 (21:20)

The way of righteousness and mercy shall find life and glory.

Personal Challenge

I believe we all desire to have full lives with some glory sprinkled in there every once in a while. We find here in this Proverb a recipe for that. Live righteous and merciful lives and we shall find life and glory. It also works out that if we are living this way, we will not take advantage of the life and glory that we receive, but we will share it with those in our lives. Glory be to God!

September 4, 2024

FELLOW CITIZENS

Ephesians 2:19-22

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Encouraging Words

It is quite amazing, when you think about it, that because of who Jesus is, and what He has done, that those of us who follow Him, are fellow citizens with saints and members of the household of God. We are no longer strangers and foreigners in His kingdom. This also means that we are now foreigners in this earthly kingdom that we dwell in today. We are His ambassadors and as such must be demonstrating to those around us what the kingdom of God is and why everyone should become citizens there. If we are looking and acting more like citizens of earth (and the United Sates) than we are citizens of heaven, then we are serving the wrong master. Glory be to God!

September 3, 2024

SPEAK THE TRUTH

Proverbs 21:3

To do righteous things and to speak the truth
Are more pleasing before God than the blood of sacrifices.

Personal Challenge

What have we done to our culture and our world? As followers of Christ, for over 2,000 years we have a history of changing the world. It started with one, Jesus, who took 12 men and totally turned the world upside down. We have a long history of men and women who have given their all, including their lives, to change the world by doing righteous things and speaking the truth. How is it that we, so many who claim to be the followers of Christ, have helped create a culture that thrives on lies and falsehoods? How can we claim to be followers of Christ and also engage in things that He would never approve of. All of our sacrifices of going to services and giving to our churches are for naught if we are not doing righteous things and speaking the truth. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 2, 2024

BY GRACE

Ephesians 2:8-10

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Personal Challenge

As followers of Christ, we must always remember that it is by God's gift of grace that we are saved from death and separation from God throughout eternity. There is no work that we can do, no matter how good or noble, that can earn this for us. There is no amount of knowledge that we can acquire, no matter how godly it appears, that can do this for us. We can only boast in Jesus Christ, who He is, and what He has done to make this gift possible. Glory be to God and God alone!

September 1, 2024

RIGHT COUNSEL

Proverbs 19:21

There are many thoughts in the heart of a man,
But the counsel of the Lord abides forever.

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to get wrapped up in our own thoughts, beliefs, and even theology. With so much information readily available to us, some have the tendency to focus on intellectualism rather than just being spiritual and taking our counsel from our Lord. Even Jesus challenged us to pursue Him as a child would. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

August 31, 2024

Saint of the Week

St. Gregory the Theologian

August 30, 2024

BLESSED

Ephesians 1:3-6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Encouraging Words

Our God is blessed and through Him we are blessed over and over again. He chooses to bless us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. His blessings even go to the point of adopting us as His sons and daughters. Glory be to God!