March 25, 2020

THIRST

Psalms 62:2 (63:1)

O God, my God, I rise early to be with You;
My soul thirsts for You.
How often my flesh thirsts for You
In a desolate, impassable, and waterless land.

Personal challenge

Does my soul really the thirst for my God? Not as much as it should. Our God has given His all for us, why shouldn't we give our all to Him? Now is the time to rise early so that we can be with Him. Now is the time to thirst after Him so that He can quench that thirst. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

March 24, 2020

HOPE IN HIM

Psalms 61:9 (62:8)

Hope in Him, all you congregation of people;
Pour out your hearts before Him;
God is our helper.

Encouraging Words

Oh, how appropriate are the words of the Psalmist of old in the midst of today's pandemic. "Hope in Him, all you congregation of people." He is our only hope. He is our salvation, in this and in every other situation that we find ourselves in. What an opportune time in our lives to turn our hearts and minds to Him, to love Him, and to show His love to our neighbor. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

March 23, 2020

MY PROTECTOR

Psalms 61:7-8 (62:6-7)

For He is my God and my savior,
My protector; I shall never be moved.

In God is my salvation and my glory;
He is the God of my help, and my hope is in God.

Encouraging Words

Here we are in the midst of a pandemic with unprecedented requirements for an entire country to shelter in place and to socially distance ourselves from each other. Life is a whole lot different than we are used to. To some, this is becoming a time of worry and concern. My suggestion in times like this is to read the Psalms. Over and over and over again, we are reminded how much God cares for us, saves us, and protects us. He is my protector and I have nothing to fear. Glory be to God!

March 22, 2020

PATIENT ENDURANCE

Psalms 61:6 (62:5)

However, be submissive to God, O my soul,
For my patient endurance is from Him.

Personal Challenge

We are hearing a lot nowadays about how difficult it is to have our actions and interactions with others restricted. It is indeed challenging to not be able to do what we have always done; go where we want to go, when we want to, and just be free to do our own thing, but it is for our own good and for the good of our neighbor. Throughout the history of mankind, people have been restricted this way, not because of a global pandemic, but because they were oppressed or hated by those who ruled over them. Maybe we should learn from this to be more compassionate and caring toward the oppressed, the marginalized, the shut-ins around us, and every one of our neighbors. This is one way to be submissive to God and to receive His patient endurance.

March 21, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Ephraim the Syrian

March 18, 2020

SUBMISSIVE

Psalms 61:2-3 (62:1-2)

Shall not my soul be submissive to God?
For from Him is my salvation.
For He is my God and my savior,
My protector; I shall be shaken no more.

Personal Challenge

Isn't this something that no one wants to do? We say that we love God, but surely He will not ask us to submit to Him. He promises to be our salvation and our protector. But do I really have to submit to Him to receive these promises? Didn't He give us free will so that we could choose to do what we want? He did give us free will, but He desires that we be submissive to Him by choice so that He can work in our lives. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

March 17, 2020

SING PRAISE

Psalms 60:9 (61:8)

So I will sing praise to Your name unto ages of ages,
That I may pay my vows day to day.

Personal Challenge

Sometimes it is difficult to be praising the name of God, especially when the world is going crazy around us. It is imperative, however, that we keep our focus on Him at all times so that we can see Him at work in our lives. Let us sing praise to Him unto the ages of ages and to pay our rows day to day. Glory be to God!

March 16, 2020

HEAR ME, O GOD

Psalms 60:2-5 (61:1-4)

Hear my supplication, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I cried out to You
When my heart was discouraged;
You lifted me high on a rock.
You guided me, for You became my hope,
A tower of strength from the face of the enemy.
I will dwell in Your tabernacle unto the ages;
I will be covered with the shelter of Your wings. (Pause)

Encouraging Words

We are not alone. God hears our prayers and supplications. He lifts us up above the cares of this world. He guides us and gives us hope. He shelters us in a tower of strength that the enemy cannot penetrate. He lets us dwell in His tabernacle. What more can we hope for? Glory be to God!

March 15, 2020

PROTECTOR, REFUGE, HELPER, MY MERCY

Psalms 58:17-18 (57:16-17)

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

As we enter into this stage of concern and sometimes fear related to the coronavirus outbreak in our country, it is easy to become enmeshed in the hysteria brought on by those who do not have the hope that we do. It is our responsibility to show the love of Christ to everyone around us. Our hope is in the loving God. Our hope is in the merciful God. He is our protector. He is our refuge. He is our helper. He is our mercy. In this, we can find peace and love for one another. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

March 14, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Seraphim of Sarov

March 13, 2020

UNDER HIS WINGS

Psalms 56:2-4 (57:1-3)

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will hope,
Until lawlessness shall pass away.
I will cry out to God most High;
My God who is my benefactor.
He sent from heaven and saved me;
He gave over to disgrace those who trample me down. (Pause)
God sent out His mercy and His truth,

Encouraging Words

God is in all of His creation. If we slow down and look close enough, we will see Him and His handiwork every­where. The image of us hiding under His wings like a mother bird guarding and protecting her chicks is so powerful for this is how tender He is with us. Glory be to God!

March 12, 2020

HOPE AND PRAISE

Psalms 55:4-5 (56:3-4)

I will not fear by day,
But I will hope in You.
I will praise God with my words all day long;
In God I hope; I will not be afraid; what will flesh do to me?

Encouraging Words

We have nothing to fear for we can put our hope in our God. There is nothing that anyone or anything can do to us that extends beyond the power of our Lord and our place in eternity with Him. Because of this we praise Him and should honor Him all day long. Glory be to God!

March 10, 2020

I WILL HOPE IN THE LORD

Psalms 54:23-24 (55:22-23)

Cast your care upon the Lord,
And He shall support you;
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
But You, O God, will bring them down into the pit of decay;
Men of blood and deceit
Shall not live even half their days.
But I will hope in You, O Lord.

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to fall for the lies of our enemy and shift our hope from our God to the things of this world, this temporal life. We can cast our cares, every single one of them on our Lord, for He will support us and protect us. God even cares about the little, minuscule things in our lives because He cares for us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

March 8, 2020

I CRIED OUT

Psalms 54:17-18 (55:16-17)

But I cried out to God,
And the Lord heard me.
Evening and morning and midday, I shall tell;
I shall proclaim, and He will hear my voice.

Encouraging Words

Sometimes we come to those places in our lives where all that we can do is to cry out to our God. I have been there, more than once. The encouragement in this passage is that God does hear us. He hears us and responds. He loves us and cares for us. Glory be to God!

March 7, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Seraphim of Sarov

March 6, 2020

OUR SACRIFICE

Psalms 50:19 (51:17)

A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit,
A broken and humbled heart God will not despise.

Personal Challenge

What does God really want from us? Does He want us to go through the fast perfectly? Does He want us to attend every possible church service that is available? Does He want our tithes, offerings, and almsgivings? While all of these things are good and worthy of doing, this is not what He really wants from us. He wants us to come to Him with our spirits, our self-centered will, broken and contrite before Him. He wants our hearts to be broken and humbled before Him. Because if we do not come to Him this way, then all of our actions, our sacrifices, are just for show and not for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

March 5, 2020

BLOT OUT MY TRANSGRESSION

Psalms 50:3-6 (51:1-4)

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy;
And according to the abundance of Your compassion, blot out my transgression.
Wash me thoroughly from my lawlessness
And cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my lawlessness,
And my sin is always before me.
Against You only have I sinned
And done evil in Your sight;
That You may be justified in Your words,
And overcome when You are judged.

Personal Challenge

As we, the Orthodox Christians, continue through our journey through Lent, we are continually reminded of how sinful we are and how much we need Ged's mercy. Only through the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ can we be freed from the bondage of death and sin. But our redemption does not stop with His death and resurrection. It starts there and we must willingly and continually run to Him confessing our sins and seeking His forgiveness. If we do not recognize and acknowledge our sins then we are destined to repeat them and live in the swine pits as the prodigal son did. Lent is a time for us to examine our lives, identify our sins, and to confess them to our Lord and to one another seeking mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing. If I have offended anyone, either intentionally or unintentionally, please forgive me! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

March 4, 2020

PROTECTION

Psalms 45:12 (46:11)

The Lord of hosts is with us,
The God of Jacob is our protector.

Encouraging Words

The more we get to know our Lord, the more we realize that He is always with us. We realize that in those times that we feel like He has abandoned us, that is really us that have abandoned Him. We also learn that because He is always with us, He is also there to protect us out to guide us on this journey through life. Glory Be to God!

March 3, 2020

BE STILL

Psalms 45:11 (46:10)

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations;
I will be exalted in the earth.

Personal Challenge

Sometimes this is the hardest thing to do...being still. We get so caught up in this busy life and all of the trappings of the world around us that we forget to slow down, eliminate all of the noise, and be still in the presence of God. If we want to know Him, we will find Him in those still, quiet times. He does not care about fanfare and regalities. He cares about us and desires to walk with us in His garden as He did with Adam and Eve. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

March 2, 2020

WHY?

Psalms 41:12 (42:11)

Why are you so sad, O my soul? And why do you trouble me?
Hope in God, for I will give thanks to Him.
My God is the salvation of my countenance.

Encouraging Words

These are two, powerful questions that the Psalmist is asking. They are still very pertinent to those of us who proclaim to be Christians. We have been given life, eternal life. Our sins, all of them are promised to be forgiven. And yet, so many of us go through life with forlorn looks on our faces and sad or troubled demeanor's as our daily outlooks on life. We have been set free from death. We have been redeemed by the creator of all. We have been adopted into the family of God. There really is no excuse for being forlorn, sad and troubled. Yes, we will continue to have hard times, but we are not on our own. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

March 1, 2020

MULTIPLIED BEYOND NUMBER

Psalms 39:5-6 (40:4-5)

Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord,
And who did not look into vanities and false frenzies.
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You performed,
And in Your thoughts there is no one who shall be likened to You;
I declared and said, "They are multiplied beyond number."

Encouraging Words

Who is the Lord our God, that we may know Him? Our God is greater than anything in existence because He created all that is. More expansive is He than the span of the universe, for He holds it between His fingertips. The more we get to know Him, the more we realize that we do not know Him. This is why we recognize that the wonders that He has performed are multiplied beyond number. This is why we put our hope in Him and are blessed for doing so. Glory be to God!

February 29, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Basil the Great