October 26, 2020

WE STILL NEED TO DO

Sirach 35:1-3

The man who keeps the law will abound in offerings;
He who heeds the commandments sacrifices a peace offering.
He who returns a kindness offers fine wheat flour,
And he who does alms sacrifices a praise offering.
To forsake evil is pleasing to the Lord,
And to forsake wrongdoing is atonement.

Personal Challenge

All too often I have been reminded that things that I choose to do for my Lord will not earn me a ticket into Heaven. Believe me, I know this. I know that I am saved by His grace only through the work of Jesus Christ. But I also know that the scriptures abound with the reminders that I show my love for God and my appreciation for His grace and mercy by doing those things that please Him. I do them because of His grace and mercy, not to earn it. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

October 24, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Sophrony

October 23, 2020

THE EYES OF THE LORD

Sirach 34:15-17

Blessed is the soul of a man who fears the Lord.
To whom does he look? And who is his support?
The eyes of the Lord are upon those who love Him.
He is a powerful protection and a strong support:
A shelter from the burning heat,
A shelter from the noonday sun,
A guard from stumbling,
And help from a fall.
He raises up the soul
And gives light to the eyes.
He gives healing, life, and blessing.

Encouraging Words

God desires that we be in a relationship with Him. He wants to walk with us as He did with Adam in the garden. If we fear Him, esteem Him as our Lord, then He will do all that is highlighted in these verses in our lives. Glory be to God!

October 22, 2020

OUR HOPE

Sirach 34:13-14

The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live,
For their hope is in Him who saves them.
He who fears the Lord will fear nothing,
And he will not be cowardly, for the Lord is his hope.

Personal Challenge

There is only one whom we should put our hope. That is the Lord. He is the one who saves us. He is the one who redeems us. He is the one who makes it possible for us to fear no one or no thing. Through our hope in Him, we receive life. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

October 21, 2020

WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL

Sirach 33:13

All His ways are according to His good pleasure.
Like clay in a potter's hand,
Thus men are in the hand of Him who made them,
To render to them according to His judgment.

Encouraging Words

We have become stiff-necked people who believe that we are in control of our lives and our destiny. And yet we cannot keep the rain off of our heads when we go out. We cannot change the course of time. We actually have very little in our lives that we really are in control of. Even with these few things, we must always remember that everything, all the way down to the breath we take and beat of our heart, is a gift from God. We are the clay in His Hands. The most important thing to remember as we think of this is that He loves us beyond measure. He desires us to be His adopted children. He will take care of us and bless us. Glory be to God!

October 20, 2020

TRUST

Sirach 32:23-24

In every work entrust your soul to the Lord,
For this is the keeping of the commandments.
He who believes in the Law heeds the commandments,
And he who trusts in the Lord will not suffer loss.

Encouraging Words

There are always two sides to trust. We can put our trust into someone or something. That is one side of the trust equation. That person, or thing, that we put our trust into must then be trustworthy. We are told here to entrust our soul to the Lord. We can trust Him with the very essence of who we are for we know that He is trustworthy. He will take care of us because we are a precious gift in His eyes. One of the ways that we show that we are putting our trust in Him is by keeping His commandments and living His way. What are those commandments? Love God and love our neighbor. It all boils down to these two precepts. He does the rest. Glory be to God.

October 19, 2020

CONTRASTS

Sirach 32:14-17

The man who fears the Lord will receive instruction,
And those who rise early will find His approval.
He who seeks the Law will be filled with it,
But the hypocrite will be made to stumble by it.
Those who fear the Lord will discover judgment,
And like the light they will kindle righteous deeds.
A sinful man will turn aside correction
And find a rationalization according to his will.

Personal Challenge

In life, it comes down to two choices as to where we put our allegiances. We either choose to love God and put our trust in Him or we choose to reject Him and choose to put our hope in anything but Him. If we choose to put our trust in Him, He will give us instruction, we will find His approval, we will be filled with His precepts, we will discover the beauty of His judgment, and we will be able to produce righteous deeds. If we choose to reject Him, we will stumble over the precepts that He has for us and we will turn away His correction and end up separated from Him forever. As for me and my household, we choose to love God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

October 17, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Paisios the Athonite

October 16, 2020

FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER

Sirach 28:2-3

Forgive a wrong done you by your neighbor;
Then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.
Can a man preserve wrath against his neighbor
And still seek healing from the Lord?

Personal Challenge

God has an economy of life that is so much different than the way that the world works. First, He asks us to love Him, then He asks that we love our neighbor. We may ask who our neighbor is and the answer always comes back that everyone is our neighbor, including our enemies. Finally, He asks us to forgive our neighbor, and our enemies, for anything that they have done to us. This is the ultimate act of love for another. This is also where we will see Gods' acts of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness playing out in our lives. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

October 15, 2020

TESTING

Sirach 27:4-7

When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains;
So a man's filth remains in the way he reasons.
As a furnace tests a potter's vessels,
So the test of a man is in the way he reasons.
As fruit reveals how a tree is cultivated,
So a man's reasoning process reveals his heart.
Do not praise a man before he reveals the way he reasons,
For this is the way a man is tested.

Personal Challenge

We see the true nature of things around us by testing them. To get the rocks that we do not want in a batch of soil, we run it through a sieve and discard them. When we are done throwing a pot (shaping it while the day is moist, we put it in a kiln to harden it and burn out any impurities. We plant trees and flowers and wait until they produce fruit before we choose to keep them. The same applies to people. We must be tested to see who we really are and what is really important to us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

October 14, 2020

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

Sirach 25:1

There are three things beautiful to see,
And they are beautiful before the Lord and men:
The harmony of brothers, friendship between neighbors,
And a wife and husband well-adjusted together.

Encouraging Words

It is good to know that God sees some things in the lives of humans as good. We know that His desire for us is unity and not division. Harmony amongst brothers and friendship between our neighbors certainly are beautiful things to have, especially today. We also know that the marriage relationship is very precious in His eyes. For those of us who are married, we definitely know how awesome it is to have a well-adjusted relationship. Glory be to God!

October 13, 2020

SETTING A GUARD

Sirach 22:27

Who will set a guard over my mouth,
And a prudent seal over my lips,
That I may not fall because of them,
And that my tongue may not destroy me?

Personal Challenge

Sometimes it is just plain necessary to put a piece of duct tape across our mouths to force ourselves to keep quiet. It takes a lot of work to build the habit of listening before we speak and then having the discernment to stop at the listening and not speak at all. But I am an American! I have a right to speak my opinion! However, if I am a practicing Christian, I should have forfeited that citizenship of being an American and taken on the citizenship of heaven. That is the Kingdom that I should give my allegiance to. It is that Kingdom that instructs us to put a guard over our mouth and a seal over our lips. Glory be to God!

October 12, 2020

FLEE FROM SIN

Sirach 21:1-3

My son, have you sinned?
No longer add to them, but pray about your former sins.
Flee from sin as you would from the presence of a snake,
For if you approach it, it will bite you;
Its teeth are like lion's teeth, destroying the souls of men.
All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword,
For there is no healing from its wound.

Personal Challenge

If I am on a diet and I know that having a donut will violate that diet, then why do I walk into a donut shop? We are fallen. We live in a fallen world. We sin! Even though Jesus has made it possible for us to sin no more, we must strive extremely hard to avoid sinning. The advice in this passage is provided to help us on our journey to living a life without sin. If we have sin, which all of us have, then pray for forgiveness and do what we can to not sin more. In many cases that means leaving the donut shop and not looking back. We need to flee those situations and opportunities that we know can, and usually will, lead us into sin. These are choices that we must make, and continue to make until the day we die. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

October 11, 2020

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Sirach 20:5-7

There is a man who is silent but is found to be wise,
And there is a man who is hateful because he talks too much.
There is a man who is silent because he has no answer,
And there is a man who is silent because he knows when to speak.
A wise man will keep silent until it is the right time to speak,
But an arrogant and undiscerning man will speak out of turn.

Personal Challenge

I don't think that there is any additional commentary that can be added to these verses. Silence is golden and can keep us out of so much trouble. Glory be to God!

October 10, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Antony the Great

October 9, 2020

BEFORE...

Sirach 18:18-20

Before you speak, learn,
And before you get sick, take care of your health.
Before you make a judgment, examine yourself closely,
And in the hour of visitation you will find atonement.
Before you become sick, humble yourself;
And at the time of sinning, prove your conversion.

Encouraging Words

Sirach is considered to be one of the wisdom books of the Old Testament. Like the Psalms, the Proverbs, and other wisdom books, it is full of guidance on how to live our lives in a godly way. This set of verses offers some sage advice. We are encouraged to learn before we speak, to take care of our health before we get sick, examine ourselves closely before we make a judgment, to humble ourselves before we become sick, and to prove our conversion, our faith when sinning is upon us. Wise words, especially in today's world. Glory be to God!

October 7, 2020

THE MORE I KNOW GOD, THE LESS I KNOW HIM

Sirach 18:4-6

Who will measure His majestic power with a number,
And who will add to this measure
While describing His mercies?
There is no one who can add or subtract,
And there is no who can search out the wonders of the Lord.
When a man completes his search, then he starts over;
And when he stops, he will still be perplexed.

Personal Challenge

We live in the information age. Virtually every piece of information that we would like to ingest is at our fingertips. It is so easy to get caught up in this pursuit of information, the pursuit of knowledge, and end up missing the very object that we are studying. We do this so often with God. We read every book we can lay our hands on, read every blog, and listen to recordings and podcasts in this pursuit of knowledge about God... and yet we miss God. God is not in the information. The information is about God. We need to pursue Him, look for Him in His creation, in our neighbor, and in His body of believers. We can still study about Him, but this must be tempered with living in Him. When we do this we will see God, we will know Him better and deeper. And in this, we will realize that the more we know Him (not about Him, we see Gow title we really do know. Glory be to God!

October 6, 2020

GOD'S MERCY

Sirach 17:24-25

How great the mercy of the Lord is,
And His atonement for those who turn to Him.
For all things are not possible for man,
Because a son of man is not immortal.

Encouraging Words

Our Lord's mercy is greater than anything that we can comprehend or even conceive. He pours out His atonement for our sins when we turn to Him. No person can do this for themselves or another. Only God does this through His Son who died for us. Glory be to God!

October 5, 2020

THE MAJESTY OF HIS WORKS

Sirach 17:5-8

He gave mankind the ability to deliberate,
And a tongue, eyes and ears, and a heart to think with.
He filled them with the skill of comprehension
And showed them good and evil.
He set His eye upon their hearts
To show them the majesty of His works.
They will praise His holy name
So as to fully describe the majesty of His works.

Encouraging Words

We live in a fallen world. This is what our Christian faith teaches us. God created everything to be much better than it is as we see it. That has not changed over the millennia. God sent His Son to become a human, a part of this creation so that He could redeem it and overcome that tragic event in Eden that caused this world to fall. Even though we are fallen with this world, God has still built within each one of us, characteristics that can keep us connected to, and focused on, that unfallen world. We have the ability to deliberate. We are able to taste, see, hear, feel, and smell of His divine creation and know what we are missing. We have comprehension and understanding of good and evil. He placed in our hearts His eye to see the majesty of His works and the ability to praise His holy name and articulate the majesty of His works. We are created in His image and can choose to live in that image or in the fallen image of this world. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

October 4, 2020

PURSUE WISDOM

Sirach 14:20-22

Blessed is the man who practices wisdom
And discourses with insight.
Whoever ponders the ways of wisdom in his heart
Will also reflect on her secrets.
Pursue wisdom like a tracker
And lie in wait on her paths.

Personal Challenge

When I was a youth I participated in the Boy Scouts for many years. One of the things that I enjoyed was tracking, learning how to pursue a deer, or other wild animals as long as possible without scaring it away. The key to this was knowing enough about the animal to be able to find it in its habitat and then to be able to be like it, to think like it, to act like it, so that you could follow it and get up close to it. Although Christ will never be scared away when we pursue Him, this is the process that the writer is referring too. We should pursue wisdom, or Christ, as we would track an animal and lie in wait in His paths to find Him. Glory be to God!

October 3, 2020

Saint of the Week

St. Isaac the Syrian

October 2, 2020

DO GOOD, WHILE YOU CAN

Sirach 14:12-14

Remember that death does not delay,
And the covenant of Hades has not been shown to you.
Before you die, do good to a friend,
And reach out and give to him based on your ability.
Do not let a day go by without doing something good,
And do not let any of your desire for doing good escape you.

Personal Challenge

We all have death in the future. First, it will come with our families, our friends, and our acquaintances, but ultimately it will come to us. We cannot stop this but there is something that we can do. We can do good to those whom we have in our lives while we can. Life is short and we should never pass on the opportunity to show love to another and to give of our ability to those in need. It is never too late to do good. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

October 1, 2020

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Sirach 11:9

Do not argue about a matter that does not concern you,
And do not sit together with sinners when they judge a case.

Personal Challenge

After being told to slow down in our verbal responses and to listen more, the author of Sirach tells us to keep our noses out of everyone else's business. We have come to the place in our society where we do not want anyone telling us what to do, but expect to have the ability, and the right, to tell everyone else what to think and to do. Do we truly want to live at peace with those around us? Then stop sticking our noses in their lives and mind our own business. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 30, 2020

SLOW DOWN

Sirach 11:7-8

Do not find fault before you examine a situation.
First, understand it, and then make your judgment.
Do not answer before you have listened,
And do not interrupt someone while he is talking.

Personal Challenge

This is one area in my life that I know that I need to work on. It is so easy to jump into the middle of a conversation and interrupt the other person in order to express my thoughts. I need to learn to slow down and take the time to examine and understand the situation, or the other person before I jump in to offer my thoughts. I need to let the other person complete their thoughts, assess what has been said, and then determine if I should say anything or not. I need to do this to show love to my neighbor. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 29, 2020

WHO IS RUNNING THIS CIRCUS?

Sirach 10:4

The authority of the earth is in the hand of the Lord,
And He will raise up the right man for an appointed time.

Encouraging Words

How interesting is it that this verse is the one that comes up tonight while I am waiting for the presidential debate to start? Life in our world today has come to the point where it really looks like we are living in the midst of a giant circus. It is important for us to understand that no matter how much we mess up this creation that He has given us, He is still in control. This may not be the way that He wants it to be, but He is letting us live out our free will, and deal with the consequences of our choices and our action. He is running the circus, be He is also letting us decide How each act plays out. We any given the freedom to make our choices as well as the opportunity to participate in the consequences of those choices. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy!