April 30, 2018

WORKING WITH OTHERS

Sirach 7:20-21

Do not mistreat a servant who does his work in truth
Nor a hired worker who devotes himself to you.
Let your soul love an intelligent servant;
Do not deprive him of his freedom.

Personal Challenge

I do not own my own business, so I do not have hired workers. I also do not have servants that work for me. However, there is still much truth in this passage that I can learn from. There are many ways throughout my life where I have opportunities to treat those in my life who are doing something on my behalf with love and respect. I have coworkers that are a part of my team and who sometimes take direction from me. Do I mistreat them or deal with them in gruff and ungodly ways? I have loved ones in my life, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, friends and other family members. How do I treat them when I need them to do something for me? In my church activities where I am in different leadership roles, do I lord it over those whom I work with or do I treat them in the way that the scriptures expect me to. I have a responsibility to my Lord and my neighbor to treat everyone with love and respect. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

April 29, 2018

NO EXCUSE

Romans 1:20-21

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Encouraging Words

Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that no one has an excuse for saying that there is no God. Everything is this world screams out in evidence that there is a God, a God that purposely and magnificently created everything that exists. People may try to logic this off to anything and everything that is not related to God, but the arguments always fall apart. Even down to the need for each of us to worship and glorify our creator and Savior we are impelled by a force within us to worship something greater than ourselves. This is manifested by those who reject God but still end up worshipping someone or something else, all to no avail. The beauty of our God is that He loves us so much that He is willing to let us choose for ourselves who or what we want to worship and submit our lives to. His desire is that we worship Him and live our lives in a relationship with Him, but He will never force us to do this. This is my choice. He is my choice! I believe in who He is and what He has done for His beloved creation and I desire to serve, worship and honor Him, all the remaining days of my life. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

April 28, 2018

Saint of the Week

St. Dominic Guzman

April 27, 2018

NO EVIL

Sirach 7:1-3

Do no evil things,
And evil will never overtake you.
Stay away from wrongdoing,
And it will turn away from you.
My son, do not sow on the furrows of wrongdoing,
And you will not reap the same things sevenfold.

Encouraging Words

Sometimes the scriptures are so very crystal clear. Stay away from evil and evil things will not overtake you. Do not sow wrongdoing and you will not reap wrongdoing. Even with this clarity, we still choose far too often to dabble in evil and wrongdoing because it is attractive to our carnal bodies. The good news, the encouraging words, are that Jesus destroyed death and the power that sin holds over us so that we could follow in His footsteps and develop the ability in our lives to say "No!" to evil and wrongdoing. Glory be to God!

April 26, 2018

NOT ASHAMED

Romans 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Personal Challenge

Our challenge is to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ so tightly that we are never ashamed or afraid to share it with those around of. This is becoming more difficult as the world that we live in becomes more hostile toward Jesus and anything that is tied to Him, however, this is where our righteousness both grows and is confirmed, by putting our faith and our lives, in Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

April 25, 2018

FARMING OUR HEARTS

Sirach 6:18-19

My son, from your youth up, choose instruction,
And you will find wisdom also into old age.
Come to her as one who plows and sows,
And wait expectantly for her good fruits;
For in her work you will labor a little while,
Then you will quickly eat of her fruit.

Personal Challenge

I am so thankful that I was blessed with the opportunity to not only grow up in the farming country but to also have been involved in many different aspects of the farming and animal husbandry part of that world. It has made it so much easier to understand many of the scriptures that use images based on farming. Wisdom, or Jesus, as the early church fathers determined wisdom to be, is someone that we must pursue aggressively and passionately throughout our lives. We do not get to know Him deeply by just reading another book or listening to another sermon or podcast. Getting to know Jesus and acquiring His wisdom is like planting and growing an orchard. It takes time to prepare the soil for deep-rooted trees, time to plant the seedlings and nurture them until they are ready to be grafted, time of pruning and nurturing the tree until it is ready to produce fruit, and then spending the remainder of the years continuing to work with the trees until they have run the full gambit of their life, This is what we must do with our own lives, our own hearts, and our own minds. Without this lifelong effort, we will never taste the good fruits of wisdom (Jesus). Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

April 24, 2018

PROCLAIMING CHRIST

Acts 28:30-31

Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Encouraging Words

Paul is such a good example for all Christians to follow. Even though he was still imprisoned, he would not stop doing the very thing that got him there, proclaiming Jesus Christ and His kingdom. Paul never shied away from living openly for his Savior because he knew that he owed everything to Him and that everyone needed to hear the good news. May we all be encouraged and enabled to be Pauls in our lives. Glory be to God!

April 23, 2018

TREASURED FRIENDSHIPS

Sirach 6:14-17

A faithful friend is a strong shelter,
And he who finds one finds a treasure.
There is nothing that can take the place of a faithful friend,
And there is no way to measure his worth.
A faithful friend is a medicine of life,
And those who fear the Lord will find him.
He who fears the Lord guides his friendship rightly,
Because as he is, so also is his neighbor.

Personal Challenge

Our modern culture makes it difficult to find the faithful friend such as the one that is pointed out in this passage. We live in a very individualistic thinking society which makes it challenging to find a friend that is interested in investing in this kind of relationship. We also have the challenge of being a very mobile society in that many of us have moved enough that we no longer have friends around us that we have known for a long time or we live far enough apart that we do not get the chance to see each other often enough to build this kind of relationship. Maybe Sirach had the same problem when he said, "And he who finds one finds a treasure." Nonetheless, it is still a worthy goal in life to seek to build relationships with others with the hope that one day a faithful friendship of this type will result. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

April 22, 2018

RESOLUTE

Acts 21:13

Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Personal Challenge

Just as Jesus was resolute the week before Palm Sunday to go to Jerusalem, knowing full well that He would be put to death, Paul was resolute to return to Jerusalem to preach the gospel of his Lord knowing full well that the people there wanted to take his life. This is the level of commitment that our Lord desires of us, to be willing to give our lives for Him and His message of the good news about eternal life. Living a spiritual life that is grounded in Jesus Christ is not going to be a walk in the park. If we are striving to be like Christ then we will be despised by the world like He was. We will lose friends like He lost friends. We will be persecuted like He was. Am I willing to follow my Lord this way and have my heart broken by all of my loved ones who try to talk me out of it? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

April 21, 2018

Saint of the Week

St. John Chrysostom

April 19, 2018

CONSISTENT SPEECH

Sirach 5:10-11

Be established in your understanding
And let your word be consistent.
Be quick to listen
And give your answer with patience.

Personal Challenge

We were encouraged by our Lord to live our lives openly and honestly. He told us to speak such that our "Yes!" was "Yes!" and our "No!" was "No!". This is a way of being that is getting lost in this age of individualism and the acceptance of relativism. Here the writer of Sirach reminds us to always be consistent in our speech and to let it be driven and established in the understanding that we can only get from our Lord. He also reminds us to be quick to listen, not just to hear the other, but to truly listen to the other in a patient, loving, and humble way so that we can only respond when it is necessary, and then to respond with love. My Lord knows how far I need to go in my life to be able to act this way. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner!

April 18, 2018

RESISTANCE

Acts 20:29

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Personal Challenge

In our modern, self-reliant age, not only are humans focused on being self-reliant but so are our modern-day churches. By being this way, we actually begin to shut God out of our lives and believe that we can do things without Him. Paul was reminding the other early church members and us that we need to be aware that there will be savage attempts to destroy the church and some of those attacks will come from within the church. We cannot resist these attacks on our own. We need to depend on God at all times and trust in Him only and follow His guidance. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

April 16, 2018

HUMILITY IN GREATNESS

Sirach 3:18-19

The greater you are, the more humble you must be,
And you will find grace before the Lord;
Because great is the power of the Lord,
And He is honored by the humble.

Personal Challenge

It is our human nature to strive to do well, to be great at what we do. Unfortunately, our cultural expectation is that the better I get at what I do, the more people should honor me, respect me, pay me for that greatness. This is evidenced all around us in our professional athletes, our politicians, those in the entertainment world, and our workplaces. In many cases, it has even made it into our churches. However, the scriptures inform us that the greater we are in our accomplishments, the more humble we must become if we are to find grace in our Lord. To receive His grace to its fullest extent we need to humble ourselves before Him and our fellow man. Once again, the teachings of our Lord

are so contrary to the ways of man but isn't this what He did for us. He humbled himself being the eternal Son of God and became incarnate in the very essence of that which He created so that He might save us from the grip that death had on us. That is the ultimate gift of love and humility. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

April 15, 2018

CHRIST WITHIN US

Acts 17:28

for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

Encouraging Words
The scriptures start off in Genesis with the creation story. The most valuable part of that story is the truth that we were all created in the image of God. Jesus, the pre-incarnate Son of God, was active in our creation. It is His image that we have been created, and because of this, we have Him within us. As Luke says in the Book of Acts, "for in Him we live and have our being," we are His children, His offspring and through Him being in us we have the opportunity to be like Him, if only we will seek His presence within us with all of our hearts, Glory be to God!

April 14, 2018

Saint of the Week

St. Innocent of Alaska

April 13, 2018

HOLDING ON TO GOD

Sirach 2:1-6

My son, if you draw near to serve the Lord,
Prepare your soul for temptation.
Set your heart right and be steadfast,
And do not strive anxiously in distress.
Cleave to Him and do not fall away,
That you may be honored at the end of your life.
Accept whatever is brought upon you,
And in exchange for your humiliation, be patient;
Because gold is tested in fire
And acceptable men in the furnace of abasement.
Believe in Him, and He will help you;
Make your ways straight and hope in Him.
And acceptable men in the furnace of abasement.
Believe in Him, and He will help you;
Make your ways straight and hope in Him.

Personal challenge

Sirach is reminding us that if our desire is to draw near to our Lord and serve Him, then temptations will come our way to try to prevent us from doing that. We must remain diligent and shore up our own heart for the onslaught. Part of our dealing with this is holding on to Him even tighter. Another part is accepting the struggles that come our way for what they are and continue to press forward. He will be there along the way to help us. Glory be to God!

April 12, 2018

TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

Acts 17:6

But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too."

Personal Challenge

Jason and some of his friends were dragged before the magistrates of the city because of their affiliation with Paul and Silas. The accusation was that they had turned the world upside down by their preaching about Jesus. So, here are the questions that I must ask myself. Am I living my life for Christ in such a way that I could be accused of turning the world upside down? Am I hanging out with the kind of people that could be accused of doing the same? If Jesus is truly the center of my life then I should be able to answer these questions affirmatively. If I cannot answer these questions with a, "Yes!", then it is time that I step up and start living my life for Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

April 11, 2018

A PATIENT PERSON

Sirach 1:20-21

A patient man will hold fast until the proper time,
Then afterwards gladness shall burst forth for him.
He shall conceal his words until the proper time,
And the lips of many will tell of his understanding.

Personal Challenge

I think every person desires to be perceived as a person of understanding. It appears that it is part of our nature. We often get caught up in the trap of believing that this perception comes from showing everybody around us how much we know. In reality, this usually ends up showing the opposite. We are told here in Sirach that our ability to understand that which is going on around us and how much wisdom we have related to that understanding usually shows forth in our patience, in our ability to remain silent in the midst of the chaos until the right time to speak up. This is the sign of true wisdom. Holding fast until the proper time always produces joy and gladness. Glory be to God!

April 10, 2018

SINGING FOR GOD

Acts 16:25

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Personal Challenge

Once again, we see saints from our past showing us how to respond to adversity. Paul and Silas had just been unjustly tried for following and proclaiming Jesus. They had been beaten and chained in stocks within the community prison. Rather than being all despondent and angry at those who had mistreated them, they immediately broke out in prayers and singing hymns. They were praising their loving God for allowing them to be witnesses for their Lord and Savior. They were also being witnesses to their fellow prisoners and the jail keeper that our joy in our Lord far surpasses any consequences that the world around us may try to oppress us with. God wants us to be joyful in Him no matter what the world throws at us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner!

April 9, 2018

PEACE AND SOUNDNESS OF HEALTH

Sirach 1:16

The fear of the Lord is the crown of wisdom,
Making peace and soundness of health to flourish.

Encouraging Words

Aren't we all seeking peace and sound­ness of health in our lives.? Well, here is an age-old prescription for that. Rather than pursuing earthly wealth and earthly knowledge, we should be pursuing the wisdom that our Lord will give us, that wisdom which will only come from Jesus, who is Wisdom incarnated. Then We must treat that Wisdom with the awe and respect the fear) that is deserved. What we recede in return is peace and soundness of health in our lives. Glory be to God.

April 8, 2018

Celebrating Orthodox Pascha (Easter)

Christ is risen from the dead,

 trampling down death by death!

Paschal Greeting in languages from around the world

English – Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
Chinese – 基督復活了！事實上，他復活了！
Serbian – Hristos vaskrse! VAISTINU VASKRSE !
Haitian Creole – Kris la resisite! Vreman vre li leve!
Irish – Críost aiséirithe ! Go deimhin tá sé ardaigh !
Spanish – Cristo ha resucitado! Verdaderamente, ha resucitado!
Thai – Phra khris̄t̒ ca pheìm k̄hụ̂n! Thæ̂cring phraxngkh̒ thrng pĕn k̄hụ̂n!
Arabic – Al-Masih-Qam! Hakkan Qam!
Armenian – K’ristos yareaw ! Iskapes Na harut’yun arrav :
Eskimo Aleut – Kristus aq ungwektaq! Pichinuq ungwektaq!
Ethiopian – Christos Tenestaul! Awon Tenestaul!
Georgian – Kriste aghsdga! Cheshmaritad aghsdga!
German – Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden!
Greek – Christos Anesti! Aleithos Anesti!
Hawaiian – Ua ala hou ´o kristo! Ua ala ´i ´o no ´oia!
Japanese – Kirisuto wa yomigaetta! Hontōni kare wa umaremashita!
Korean – Kristo Gesso Buhwal ha sho sumnida! Chamuro Buhwal ha sho sumnida!
Latin – Christus resurrexit! Resurrexit vere!
Macedonian – Hristos voskresna! Navistina, toj e voskresnat!
Romanian – Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!
Russian – Khristos Voskrese! Voistinu Voskrese!
Swahili – Kristo Amefufukka! Kweli Amefufukka!

April 7, 2018

Saint of the Week

St. Porphyrios

April 6, 2018

TRUE BELIEF

Acts 6:8

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

Personal Challenge

Do those of us today who proclaim that Jesus is our Lord and Savior truly believe that He is Lord of all? Do we really have the faith that He promises to bestow on us when we follow Him in baptism and holy anointing? I regret that I must admit that I do not. All of the Christian faith practices claim the God (the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit) is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If this is the truth, then why are we not seeing, or better yet doing, great wonders and signs like Stephen was doing? Stephen was no different than each and every one of is, except that he was full of faith and power. He believed in Jesus so much that the power of Jesus flowed through him and he performed great wonders and signs. We can do the same but we must be willing to let go of all that we hold dear in this world and pursue Jesus with our all. We must grow in our faith so that He can grow within us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the Sinner!

April 4, 2018

FEAR GOD

Sirach 1:10-11

The fear of the Lord will cheer the heart
And will give gladness, joy, and long life.
For those who fear the Lord, it shall be well to the utmost,

And on the day of his death, he will be blessed.

Encouraging words

We are encouraged throughout the wisdom scriptures (Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, etc.) to fear God for that is the beginning of wisdom. It is difficult to really understand this concept of fear because we immediately perceive it as being afraid of someone or something. One of the definitions for fear in Merriam Webster's dictionary is, "profound reverence and awe especially toward God". This is the definition that the scriptures are referring to when they tell us to fear God. This fear of our Lord will cheer our hearts. It will give us gladness, joy, and long life. It will even give us a blessing on the day of our death. Glory be to God!

April 2, 2018

SUFFERING FOR JESUS

Acts 5:40-42

And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Personal Challenge

That which is going on in this passage does not make a lot of sense to most people now­adays, even people active in their church. Peter and some other apostles had just been arrested by the leaders of the synagogue for preaching about Christ and performing miracles in His name. Their very lives were at risk now for being willing to stand firm on their commitment to their Lord, our Lord. These leaders were ready to put these apostles to death for their belief. However, Gamaliel, a Pharisee and a member of the council came to their defense. He believed that if their message was from God, then there was nothing that they could do to stop it. And if it was not of God, then it would die like so many other movements of their day. The council agreed, yet still, beat the apostles and told them to never speak of this Jesus again. Not only did the apostles continue to speak about Jesus, but they regarded themselves as blessed to have had the honor to have been beaten for Jesus. Would we do this for our Lord today? Or would we choose to harden our churches and our hearts to the outside world under the guise of it being our American right to defend ourselves? Would we choose to love those who would try to harm us because that is what Jesus did and wants us to do, or would we fight back? Would we cherish persecution for living the Christ-like way because we know our rewards are in heaven or choose to protect our earthly possessions and lives because we deem then more precious than our God? These are hard questions to answer. They are hard stands to take because they generate persecution from both our enemies and sometimes our fellow Christians who disagree with these beliefs. But we must still make a choice and for every choice, there are consequences, both temporal and eternal. I have made my choice! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

April 1, 2018

NEVER NEGLECTED

Wisdom of Solomon 19:22

For in everything, O Lord, You have exalted and glorified Your people,
And have not neglected to be present with them in every time and place.

Encouraging Words

Throughout the history of mankind, all the way back to the creation of Adam and Eve, our Lord has never been far from us. He has never abandoned us. Even when Adam and Eve disobeyed God grievously and introduced Sin into His perfect creation, He came looking for them in the garden to fellowship with them. He loves us! He loves us so passionately that even before Adam and Eve introduced sin into the World He had already set the incarnation, death, and resurrection of His precious Son into the fabric of eternity so that mankind would be freed from the stranglehold that death would have on us from that first sin. God has glorified and exalted His people since the beginning of creation and will continue to throughout eternity. This is the God that I worship. Lord Jesus Chariot, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

March 31, 2018

Saint of the Week

St. Porphyrios the Kapsokalyvite