September 28, 2020

GIVING KINDNESS

Sirach 7:32-36

Stretch forth your hand to the poor,
That your blessing may be complete.
Let the kindness of giving be shown
In the presence of all the living,
And do not withhold kindness from the dead.
Do not withdraw yourself from those who weep,
And mourn with those who mourn.
Do not hesitate to visit a sick man,
For by such visits you will be loved.
With all your words, remember the time you will die,
And you will never sin.

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to get wrapped up in our own personal stuff and end up forgetting that everyone around us has needs and issues to deal with as well. There is really no monetary cost to showing kindness to another person, especially those who are down and in need of compassion. Loving our neighbor is one of the two commands that Jesus gave to us. Showing kindness comes out of that love. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 27, 2020

FEAR AND HONOR

Sirach 7:29-31

Fear the Lord with all your soul
And honor His priests.
Love Him who made you
And do not forsake His ministers.
Fear the Lord and honor His priests,
And give them their portion as commanded:
The firstfruits, the trespass offering,
The gift of the shoulder offering,
The sacrifice of sanctification,
And the firstfruits of the holy things.

Encouraging Words

God knows that we, His people, cannot go through life, successfully following His teachings, without someone to guide us. As Jesus so often verbalized in His teachings, we are sheep who are lost without a shepherd. God established a hierarchy for us to function within. Jesus is the head of the church. He instructs and guides the church. He has established the leadership of the church down through the ages starting with the apostles and on down to the level of our local churches where we have priests to be our shepherds. Our roll in this hierarchy is to fear God and to honor those whom He has ordained to be leaders or shepherds. It is not always easy to do this because sometimes we get leaders who abuse their role. We must always remember that God will hold each one of us accountable for that which was our responsibility and that to those whom much was given, much will be expected. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 26, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. John of Kronstadt 

September 25, 2020

SHOW LOVE

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

Most of us do not live in a situation where we have servants who are submissive to us, but we do have many situations in our lives where these verses apply. We may be managers where people report to us and that we must lead others to accomplish our work. We may be parents or spouses, which also leads to times when we are in charge of someone else. Whatever the case, we all have opportunities where others count on us to be their leaders. It is our responsibility to them and to our Lord to serve them as leaders in order to demonstrate Christ to them. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 24, 2020

AVOIDING 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.

Personal Challenge

The guideline for eliminating evil things from our lives is fairly simple and straight forward. If we avoid evil things by not doing evil things, then that evil will not overtake us. If we dabble in evil things, wrongdoings, and sowing sinful seeds, then we will reap the consequences of this behavior, which will be more evil in our lives. We cannot live our lives in a worldly manner and expect heavenly results. Lord Jesus Christ. Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 23, 2020

CHOOSE INSTRUCTION

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

If we truly want to grow in the image of Christ, we must be willing to choose the path of instruction. Being a Christian is not a one-time, static event, but a lifelong series of events of being tried, tested, and molded into the image of Christ. In Orthodoxy, we call this theosis. Glory be to God!

September 22, 2020

A FAITHFUL FRIEND

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

We have become so independent and self-reliant in our current generation that we have lost the concept of faithful friendship. Most of us go through our life with an abundance of acquaintances and "Facebook friends" but no close, intimate, faithful friends. And because of that, we are missing out on so many of the treasures of faithful friendship that these verses highlight. We have lost out on so much more that our lives could have offered. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 21, 2020

HOW DO YOU SPEAK?

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

One of my go-to phrases from our Lord Jesus Christ is, "May your "Yes" be "Yes" and your "No" be "No"". This passage today reinforces that teaching. Our speech should always ring with consistency. We should stand by our word and correct it when we know that we have spoken (or typed/posted) in error. Our word should always be guided by the understanding that God gives us. But maybe the most important skill to develop is patience. We will eliminate many offenses and errors by being patient before we speak, being quick to listen and slow to speak. Glory be to God!

September 18, 2020

BE HUMBLE

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

Wait a minute! Everything that the world tells me, and demonstrates to me, is that I pursue greatness so that I can lord it over others. If I am great, then I deserve to be honored and recognized. This is not how our Lord thinks. Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of all in existence, humbled Himself and became flesh and blood, a human being. He was the greatest of all and was/is the most humble of all. If we desire to be like Him, then we too must become humble, more humble every day of our existence so that He and others will be glorified. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 17, 2020

BELIEVE IN 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.

Personal Challenge

As we strive to draw near to our Lord and live our lives to be like Him, we will be tempted. The enemy does not want us to succeed. We must set our hearts and minds on Him and be steadfast in our commitment to Him. As life closes in on us and we stumble and fall, we must cling to Him even tighter so that we do not fall away. The closer we are to Him, the more that we can accept from this world as it tries to pull us away from Him. These temptations can be used by God to refine us and strengthen us. In all of this, we cannot stop believing in Him, hoping in Him, and trusting that He will make our paths straight. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 16, 2020

PATIENCE

 

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

Patience! Who really wants to learn about patience? We either do not have the time to learn it or the desire to put up with what it takes to be patient. It is indeed a process that takes the rest of our lives, and possibly even the rest of eternity, to truly learn how to be patient. What we so often fail to recognize or remember is that patience brings with it great rewards. We learn how to hold fast with our thoughts and verbalizations until the proper time generating gladness for not putting our foot in our mouths. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 15, 2020

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

Heath can be manifested in many areas of our lives. It can be physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental. All of these aspects of health will be affected positively by our relationship with God. The more that we give our lives to Him, submit to Him, trust Him, the more that He can be active in our lives and give us peace and soundness of health in these areas. He is our crown of wisdom and health. Glory be to God!

September 14, 2020

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

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

In this day of self-glorification and personal aggrandizement, it is hard to find people who understand what is meant by the phrase, "the fear of the Lord" and why anyone would submit to that. It is not about being fearful that some omnipotent being is going to crush us like ants. It is not cowering in the corner in fear like some precious child who has been abused. God is not a bully. He is not angry all the time. He is not always looking for a way to punish us. The fear that we are called to have for Him is awe and respect, a love for Him that puts Him above all else because He first loved us above all else. This kind of godly fear will cheer our hearts. It will give us gladness, joy, and long life. We believe that by loving Him, it will be well to the utmost with our lives and that we will be blessed. Glory be to God!

September 13, 2020

IN EVERYTHING

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 creation and mankind, God has been an integral part of our lives. Even when we have abandoned Him and sought after our own ways and means, He still remains faithful. He continues to exalt and glorify those who are His. Sometimes, because of the fallenness of this world it appears like He has left us, but the truth is that He is still there holding it all together and waiting for us to return to Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 12, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Macarius the Great

September 10, 2020

GOD'S MERCY

Wisdom of Solomon 15:1-3

But You, our God, are kind, true, patient,
And govern all things in mercy.
For even if we sin, we belong to You and know Your might;
But we will not sin,
Because we know that we are counted as belonging to You.
For to know You is complete righteousness,
And to know Your might is the root of immortality.

Encouraging Words

The God that we put our trust in is kind, true, patient, and merciful. He loves us. And when we sin, He grieves for us yet does not abandon or forsake us. He counts us as belonging to Him, not as slaves, but as His children. To know Him is to make us righteous. To trust in Him is our foundation in immortality. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 9, 2020

HIS SPIRIT IS IN ALL THINGS

Wisdom of Solomon 12:1-2

For Your immortal Spirit is in all things.
For this reason You correct little by little those who fall away,
And You remind and warn them of the sins they commit
So they may be freed from evil and believe in You, O Lord.

Encouraging Words

When God created mankind He breathed His breath of life into us. He did not do this with any other parts of His creation. That breath of life is still within every one of us. This breath of life is His Holy Spirit, which dwells within us to correct our paths and constantly point us back to our creator. He is there to shed light on our journey so that we can avoid the pitfalls of sin and be freed from sin. Are we, am I, listening to that still, small voice or drowning it out? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 6, 2020

A LOVE FOR WISDOM

Wisdom of Solomon 8:17-20

When I considered these things within myself
And thought about them in my heart,
That in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
And in friendship with her there is good pleasure,
And in the labors of her hands there is unfailing wealth,
And in the shared training of her company there is discernment,
And in the fellowship of her words there is good repute—
Thus I searched about that I might take her for myself.
As a child I was good by nature and received a good soul;
And much more, since I was good,
I entered an undefiled body.

Personal Challenge

Solomon did not have the blessing of living after the incarnation of Wisdom in our Lord Jesus Christ like we do. However, He lived his life with the hope of what would be coming someday. This passage is packed with so many things that we are blessed with in Jesus Christ. Kinship with Him gives immortality. Labors with Him provides unfailing wealth. We receive discernment in His training. By staying in fellowship with His words we find and retain good repute. If we search for Him as if we are searching for the greatest of treasures or rewards, we will find Him. Through Him, we can become undefiled bodies. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 5, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Ephraim the Syrian

September 4, 2020

NOTHING MORE VALUABLE

Wisdom of Solomon 8:7

If anyone loves righteousness,
The products of righteousness are the virtues.
For wisdom teaches self-control, discernment, righteousness and courage,
Concerning which things there is nothing more valuable in the life of man.

Encouraging Words

Loving Jesus with all of our hearts and being leads to a life filled with right­eousness. This righteousness from Jesus produces the virtues of self-control, discernment, more righteousness, and courage. These are all gifts that we can receive on our journey to theosis and they are more valuable than everything in life. Glory be to God!

September 2, 2020

WISDOM IS...

Wisdom of Solomon 7:22-23

So in herself, wisdom is a spirit that is rational,
Holy, only-begotten, manifold, subtle, easily moved, clear,
Undefiled, manifest, invulnerable, loving what is good, keen,
Unhindered, beneficent, man-loving, steadfast, unfailing,
Free from worry, all-powerful, all-surveying,
And penetrating all spirits that are rational, pure, and most subtle.

Encouraging Words

Throughout the wisdom writings of the old testament, we are encouraged to pursue and embrace wisdom. The early church fathers taught that this accounting of wisdom was in reference to Jesus for He is Wisdom. So, following this way of thinking we see all of the characteristics of wisdom pointed out here in these verses as characteristics of Jesus, our Lord. He brings all of these blessings to fruit in the lives of those who love Him and live their lives for Him. Glory be to God!

September 3, 2020

WHAT IS RICHER?

Wisdom of Solomon 8:5-6

Now if riches are a possession to be desired in life,
What is richer than wisdom, who works all things?
And if discernment shows itself in action,
Who more than wisdom is its craftsman?

Personal Challenge

Wisdom and discernment should be two of the greatest treasures that we pursue in life. These can be applied to everything else in our lives. If we acquire them and use them in a godly way, we will see God's hand at work in our lives. Glory be to God!

September 1, 2020

AM I WORTHY

Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16

Wisdom is radiant and unfading
And is easily perceived by those who love her;
For she is found by those who seek her.
She comes upon those who long to know her beforehand.
He who rises early in the morning to seek her
Will not grow weary,
For he will find her sitting at his gates.
For to think deeply about her
Is the perfection of discernment,
And he who keeps watch for her
Will soon be free from worry;
Because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
And she appears to them favorably in their paths
And meets them in every thought.

Personal Challenge

Our early church fathers identified Wisdom in the old testament as a representation of Jesus Christ. Jesus, Himself, told us that if we seek Him, we will find Him, just as Solomon tells us here that if we seek wisdom, we will find her. We are also told in this passage that wisdom seeks those who are worthy of her. I must ask this question of myself on a regular basis. Am I worthy of Christ? Do I love Him? Do I seek Him? Do I long to know Him? Do I rise early in the morning looking for Him? Do I think deeply about Him? Do I keep watch for Him? If He is not the center of my every thought, desire, and action, then I am not being worthy of Him and all that He has done for me. And then, He still loves me, cares for me, seeks me out, and through His love and mercy, makes me worthy. Lord, have mercy? Lord, here mercy! Lord, have mercy!

August 31, 2020

LISTEN, YOU WHO ARE LEADERS

Wisdom of Solomon 6:1-3

Listen therefore, O kings, and understand;
Learn, O judges of the ends of the earth.
Give ear, you that rule over multitudes,
And take pride in yourself over a multitude of nations.
For power was given to you from the Lord,
And your lordship from the Most High,
Who will make a careful search of your works
And examine closely your plans.

Personal Challenge

Whether we are followers of Christ or not, we have been put in positions of leadership by the grace of our God. It may be a governmental position, or a work-related one, or one related to our volunteer work, or even that of being a parent. God has put us in that position and God has expectations of how we are going to honor that role, honor Him in that role, and be kind to those whom we are leading. To whom much is given, much is expected. Glory be to God!

August 30, 2020

LIVING FOREVER

Wisdom of Solomon 5:15-16

But the righteous live forever,
And their reward is with the Lord;
And their care is by the Most High.
Therefore they shall receive a kingly dwelling of dignity
And a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord,
Because He will shelter them with His right hand
And protect them with His arm.

Personal Challenge

I believe it is innate in every human being to desire to live forever. This is why we do so much with exercising and beautification. God created us to be eternal beings, to live with Him forever in His Kingdom. He also created us with free will, and we exercised that free will by choosing to seek knowledge and life separate from Him. The consequences of this choice have been death and separation from Him and His Kingdom. Jesus rectified this. It is only through Him that we can live the kind of righteous life that these verses call for. Glory be to God!