June 28, 2020

HEALING FOR OUR BODY

Proverbs 3:7-8

Do not rely on your own discernment,
But fear God, and turn away from every evil.
Then there shall be healing for your body
And care for your bones.

Personal Challenge

We all want to have our bodies healed of whatever is affecting them. This becomes more pronounced as each day passes by. In many cases, we do need medical help with some of the maladies that we have, but the writer of this proverb does have a good point. We need God to be our ultimate healer and we need to depend on Him and trust in Him for our healing. Glory be to God!

June 27, 2020

Saint of the Week 

St. John of Kronstadt

June 26, 2020

TRUST

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in God with all your heart,
And do not exalt your own wisdom.
In all your ways know wisdom,
That she may cut a straight path for you;
And your foot will not stumble.

Encouraging Words

Our trust in our God will never go unrewarded. He will give us straight paths to walk and keep us from stumbling if we trust Him with all of our hearts and do not rely upon our own wisdom. He does not promise that our path will be smooth or easy. He promises that it will be straight and that He will not let our foot stumble. In order to get this, however, we must fully trust in Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

June 25, 2020

FINDING GRACE

Proverbs 3:3-4

Do not let almsgiving and faithfulness forsake you,
But hang them upon your neck;
And you will find grace
And provide good things before the Lord and men.

Personal Challenge

We all desire to have grace shown to us, whether we know it or not. As Christians, we trust that God will pour out His grace and mercy upon us through the work of His Son. But as Christians, we should also be desiring to do things that glorify our God and demonstrate our appreciation for His grace and mercy. We should be finding ways to pour out alms on those who need it and to be faithful to God for all the good things that He has done for us As we do this we will see Gods' grace even more in our lives and in turn have more to give to others. Glory be to God!

June 24, 2020

DO NOT FORGET

Proverbs 3:1-2

My son, do not forget my laws,
But let your heart keep my words;
For length of days, and years of life and peace
They will add to you.

Personal Challenge

God is not fickle. He does not just arbitrarily punish us or expect us to do things that He hasn't persistently asked us to do. He desires that we be able to live long, peaceful lives, basking is His love and mercy. All He asks is that we not forget His laws and keep His words in our hearts. Things like love Him, love our neighbor, honor our mother and father, and treat others the way that we want to be treated. All the other stuff flows out of these things. Glory be to God!

June 23, 2020

SEARCHING FOR TREASURE

Proverbs 2:1-6

My son, if you receive the words of my commandment
And hide them within yourself,
Your ear will be obedient to wisdom,
And you will incline your heart to understanding;
You will entrust it to your son as an admonition.
For if he calls upon wisdom,
And you utter your voice for understanding;
If you seek perception with a strong voice,
If you seek her as silver
And search for her as treasure,
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord
And find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom,
And from His face come knowledge and understanding;

Personal Challenge

We have become a people that search for the wrong treasure in all of the wrong places. We pursue wealth in our jobs and our investments. We stockpile toys and stuff that make us feel powerful and in control. We chase after the temporal, which can fade away so quickly. We are reminded here in Proverbs that the true riches of both this temporal life and our eternal life can only be found in God and that we must seek after Him and His treasures to truly be blessed with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Glory be to God!

June 22, 2020

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Proverbs 1:22

“So long a time as the simple hold fast to righteousness,
They shall not be ashamed;”

Personal Challenge

Jesus turned the religious world of His day upside down by telling people that they must become like little children to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Just as the Pharisees and Sadducees of His day we have made Christianity so much more complex than it was ever meant to be. This proverb reminds us to stay simple and to hold on to God's righteousness in order to not be ashamed. If we live this way then God gets all the glory for everything that happens and not us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

June 21, 2020

WISDOM

Proverbs 1:20-21a

Wisdom sings in the streets;
She moves boldly in the squares.
She preaches on high city walls
And sits at the gates of lords.

Encouraging Words

Our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed that His message would be presented to everyone, but that many with ears would not hear. The early Church fathers (those who lived in the first couple of centuries) taught that this Wisdom spoken of throughout the Proverbs was Jesus. If you really want to have fun, read the Proverbs substituting "Jesus" for "Wisdom". This passage reminds us that Jesus is doing everything He can to proclaim His gospel, His Good News to every human being because He wants all of us to be part of His family. Glory be to God!

June 20, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. John Chrysostom

June 18, 2020

BEGINNING OF WISDOM

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,
And there is good understanding in all who practice it;

Encouraging Words

The book of Proverbs is full of great nuggets of knowledge and wisdom. It does start off by reminding us, though, that true wisdom and understanding have a beginning point. That starting point is fearing God and practicing that fear in our lives, every day. All knowledge, all wisdom, all understanding that means anything, begins with Him. Glory be to God!

June 17, 2020

HEAR ME, O LORD

Job 42:4

But hear me, O Lord, that I also may speak.
I will ask You, and please teach Me.

Personal Challenge

Sometimes it may feel like God is deaf and cannot hear our pleas. He is not, God is always present and listening to us. Sometimes He waits to respond to our pleas so that we can keep calling out and hopefully grow in our depth of knowledge of Him and understanding of what we should actually be praying for. He is still listening. No matter what our prayer or plea is about, we should always be looking for what He is teaching us. Glory be to God!

June 16, 2020

WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING

Job 28:28

He said to man, ‘behold, the fear of God is wisdom,
And to abstain from evils is understanding.’

Personal Challenge

In our western, self-centered, self-made culture, we have gotten wisdom and understanding all wrong. We believe that if we accumulate knowledge through books, seminars, and degrees, then we are wise. God tells us that wisdom starts by fearing Him, putting Him and His ways at the center of our lives. He goes on to say that understanding then comes from running from evils and practicing them in our lives. Wisdom and understanding come from God and our living lives that are dependent upon Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

June 15, 2020

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD

Job 1:21 

“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. As it seemed good to the Lord, so also it came to pass. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Personal Challenge

We so often go through this world living our lives as if we are in control of everything that goes on. I hate to disappoint, but we are actually in control of nothing, except how we choose to respond to the events that transpire. Our response shapes us and equips us for the next event. Job had this figured out and deeply ingrained in who he was. God is in control and the more that we yield our lives and will to Him the more we can joyfully go along for the ride that He has in store for us. It is not that we are some mice in a predetermined maze or a robot that must follow it's programming. God knows what is best for us and is guiding us through our journey of life to form us into the image of Christ that He has specifically designed for each one of us. We can choose to go with His plan, His will, and be shaped into that image, or we can resist and fight and eventually be broken and rebuilt into that image. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

June 14, 2020

HEALED

Psalms 146:3 (147:3)

He heals the brokenhearted
And He binds up all their wounds.

Encouraging Words

Have you ever been brokenhearted, wounded so deeply that you felt like you were going to die? Many, if not all, of us, have been here at one time or another. It may have been the repose of a loved one, the loss of love and family through a divorce, The pain and challenges of a severe illness, or any other event that cuts deeply into our hopes and desires. Our world is still a fallen world and painful things happen to us and to those we love. But we do have a hope in all of this: We have a God that feels our pain with us and who treats our broken hearts. He is the great Physician and binds up our wounds. He pours out His love and healing on us. Glory be to God!

June 13, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Seraphim of Sarov

June 12, 2020

PRAISE THE LORD

Psalms 145:1-2 (146:1-2)

Praise the Lord, O my soul.
I shall praise the Lord while I live;
I shall sing to my God as long as I exist.

Encouraging Words

We follow and serve a God whom we can praise and sing to every moment of our lives. Not only does He deserve this from us, but He is worthy of it. We owe everything to Him. The least we can do is praise Him with every breath that He gives us and sing to Him every day that gives us to live. Glory be to God!

June 11, 2020

HE IS NEAR

Psalms 144:18 (145:8)

The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.

Personal Challenge

The Lord is near to all of us who call upon Him, but with a caveat. We must call upon Him in truth. What truth? Even Pilot asks that question of Jesus. "what is truth?" Jesus is truth. He is the source and completion of truth. So the caveat here is that if we want the Lord to be near to us, or better yet for us to be near to Him, then we must call out to Him in Christ. That means we are living in Christ and being His child as we call out. Glory be to God!

June 10, 2020

THE LORD IS...

Psalms 144:8-9 (145:8-9) 

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy.
The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are upon all His works.

Encouraging Words

Sometimes we just need some encouragement in our lives. The Psalmist provides this in his proclamation about our Lord. Our Lord is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy. He is good to all, no matter who we are and if we worship Him or not. He pours out His mercy upon His works, His creation. We are blessed by His love, Glory be to God!

June 9, 2020

HIS WILL

Psalms 142:10 (143:10) 

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your good Spirit shall guide me in the land of uprightness.

Personal Challenge

It can be dangerous to our comfort zone to ask God to teach us to do His will. However, this should be our constant prayer. God knows what is best for us and would like us to follow His journey for us that will lead us to His land of uprightness. If we love Him, this is where we should desire to be. Glory be to God!

June 8, 2020

HEAR MY PRAYER

Psalms 142:1 (143:1) 

O Lord, hear my prayer; Give ear to my supplication in Your truth; Answer me in Your righteousness;

Encouraging Words

Our God hears our prayers. Every single one of them. Whether spoken out loud or spoken within the depths of our hearts, He hears our prayers. He also answers our prayers, but not always in the way that we want. He knows what is good for us. He knows what is good for those around us. His answers come from His truth and righteousness and are therefore the answers that we need. Maybe our prayer should be that He changes our minds and hearts so that we joyfully accept His answers. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

June 7, 2020

OUR MOUTH AND LIPS

Psalms 140:3 (141:3) 

Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth,

A door of enclosure about my lips

Personal challenge

Our mouth can get us into so much trouble or it can calm the storm. Throughout the scriptures, both Old Testament and New, we are told just how powerful and dangerous the mouth and lips can be. Jesus took it farther and told us that what comes out of our mouth is that which resides within our hearts. It is our heart that drives what we think, say and do. If we want to be godly in our thoughts, actions, and most importantly what comes out of our mouth (or keyboard), then we need our Lord to be the one who watches over our heart and put a door over it to monitor what comes out. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

June 6, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Isaac the Syrian

June 4, 2020

TEST, EXAMINE, AND LEAD

Psalms 138:23-24 (139:23-24) 

Test me, O God, and know my heart;
Examine me, and know my paths,
And see if there is a lawless way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Personal Challenge

I must ask myself if I am able to ask God to test and examine me to determine if I am ready to be led by Him. He already knows the state of my heart and the path of life that I am choosing to follow. Am I ready for Him to reveal that to me and take me on His way, His path? My prayer is that He will guide me to this place in my life. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

June 3, 2020

MIND YOUR TONGUE, OR BETTER YET, YOUR KEYBOARD

Psalms 138:4-6 (139:4-6) 

For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether,
The last things and the first things;
You fashioned me, and placed Your hands on me.
Your knowledge has become too wondrous for me;

It has become too overwhelming;

I am unable to grasp it.

Personal Challenge

We have gotten so good at pigeon-holing God and putting Him in a small compartment in our lives. We take Him out when we want to play with Him and put Him back so that we can go on doing what we want to do. We do this more and more today in the social media world. We hide behind the personas we build out there and speak what is truly on our hearts. We do this thinking that God doesn't know what we are up to, but He does? It is time to make a choice. We need to decide are we going to follow Jesus and abandon the things of this world or continue to abandon Him and do what we want. It really is an either-or decision because you can't have both. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

June 2, 2020

DUALITY

Psalms 138:1-3 (139:1-3) 

O Lord, You test me and know me;
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thoughts from afar;
You search out my path and my portion, And You foresee all my ways.

Personal Challenge

We have become a people that live lives of duality. On Sundays, or other days that are convenient for us, we go to our churches and act like we are all godly and righteous. We proclaim that God is love and that we are His. Then as soon as we leave the church we put on our secular persona and spew hatred and contempt for those whom we disagree with, or better yet, who disagree with us. We proclaim that our church life is different from the rest of our life and that we have the right to say and do what we want Good luck with that! God does not just exist inside the four walls of the churches that we go to. He is everywhere and sees everything. He knows the true nature of our hearts. If we choose to follow Christ, then that does not just mean we do what He wants when we want to. We can no longer live dual lives. A Christian life is an all or nothing life. His ways, His teachings, His expectations must inform and shape everything that we do and say. If they do not, then we are not His followers. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!