September 28, 2023

DESIRING HIS WAYS

Psalms 37:23-24 (36:22-24)

For those who bless Him shall inherit the earth,
But those who curse Him shall be utterly destroyed.
The steps of a man are guided aright by the Lord,
And he shall desire His way.
When he falls, he shall not be broken to pieces,
For the Lord supports him with His hand.

Personal Challenge

God loves us so much. He desires so much for us. He blesses us greatly if we desire Him and choose to walk in His ways, His footsteps. As we walk in His ways, He guides us on the right and true path. When we stumble and fall on His path we will not be broken for He supports us with his hand. The challenge is to choose to follow Him above all the distractions of this world. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 27, 2023

ABIDING IN LOVE

John 15:9-11

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

Personal Challenge

We all have an innate desire to have a life that is full of joy. We so often look around us at the world and its fallen state and feel like there is no joy left. That is not true. When we do this, we are looking in the wrong places. Jesus calls us to abide in His love for us. He wants us to cherish His love for through it we experience the Father's love. Part of abiding in His love is keeping His commandments, which are to express our love toward God and our neighbor. By doing this we become the channel through which others experience both the love of Jesus and of the Father. This is where we experience true joy! Glory be to God!

September 26, 2023

OUR INHERITANCE

Psalms 37:16-19 (36:16-19)

Better the little with the just man
Than the great riches of sinners;
For the arms of sinners shall be shattered,
But the Lord supports the righteous.
The Lord knows the ways of the blameless,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
They shall not be ashamed in an evil time,
And in days of famine they shall be filled.

Encouraging Words

In Paul's letters we are called adopted children of God. In the Roman empire, as it today, an adopted child had the rights and privileges of a natural born child. Through Christ, we gain the inheritance of eternal life. We also gain the ability to not be ashamed in the midst of evil times as we live for our Father. He will always be there for us. Glory be to God!

September 25, 2023

ABIDE IN HIM

John 15:5

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Personal Challenge

It is not enough to know about Jesus. Even the demons know about Him. It is also not enough to know Him. Even Satan knows Him. What is necessary is that we abide in Him, live our every thought and breath in Him. This takes self-sacrifice. This takes a commitment to Him and a willingness to put our self to death for Him. Until we do that willingly and completely, we will produce no fruit, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 24, 2023

DO NOT BE ENVIOUS

Psalms 37:7 (36:7)

Submit to the Lord, and supplicate Him;
Do not be envious of him who prospers in his way,
Nor of him who transgresses the law.

Personal Challenge

More guidelines on living a godly life. We are to submit to our Lord and make supplication to Him for our needs. A godly life always starts by putting God first. Then we are to go through this life without being envious of others, especially those who appear to be prosperous. We also do not want to be envious of those who transgress the laws of God, which in today's culture filled with leaders of the world who seem to thrive on these transgressions and then plea for mercy because they feel that they are being persecuted when they get caught. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy, mercy!

September 23, 2023

Saint of the Week

St. Ignatius of Antioch

September 22, 2023

PEACE

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Encouraging Words

Peace! Isn't that something that all humans are seeking? Peace within our own hearts and minds. Peace around us with those that we love and know. Peace in the world. The kind of peace that Jesus gives to us addresses all of these aspects of peace and much more. His peace is all encompassing and not like any other that we might find in this earthly realm. What we do with His peace is what makes the difference for everyone around us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 21, 2023

HOPE, DWELL, DELIGHT, AND REVEAL

Psalms 37:3-5 (36:3-5)

Hope in the Lord, and work goodness;
Dwell in the land, and you shall be nurtured by its riches.
Delight in the Lord,
And He will give you the requests of your heart.
Reveal your way to the Lord,
And hope in Him; and He will do it.

Personal Challenge

The psalmist gives us some very valuable steps to build our relationship with God. The challenge is to develop the discipline to do this on a regular basis. We start by putting our hope in God and working goodness to those around us in that hope. We then dwell in the land that He has given us, both the physical land and the spiritual, being nurtured by His riches and blessings. We can then truly delight in Him, cherishing Him and how He blesses us. From there we can reveal our way, our desires, our passions, to Him, trusting that He will lead us on His paths. Glory be to God!

September 20, 2023

KEEP HIS WORD

John 14:23-24

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.”

Personal Challenge

Jesus is the living Word of God. When He tells us to keep His word, what is He saying? He wants us to be obedient to Him, to love our God as He does, to love our neighbor as He does, to do the works that He calls us to do. We do not do any of this to earn His favor or to purchase our ticket to paradise. We do this because we love Him and appreciate all that He does for us. By living this way, we will truly experience God's love, we will have God Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, make their home with us. If we choose to not keep His words, then that is an indicator that we do not love him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 19, 2023

HIS MERCY

Psalms 36:7 (35:8)

How You multiply Your mercy, O God!
The sons of men shall hope under the shelter of Your wings.

Encouraging Words

We are so blessed that our God loves us, His entire creation, so much. We can always put our hope in Him and His mercy, knowing that just like the mother hen, He will shelter us under his wings. Glory be to God!

September 18, 2023

IF WE LOVE HIM

John 14:15-17

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Personal Challenge

This passage tells us about the Holy Spirit that Jesus prayed to the Father on our behalf for. The Holy Spirit is such a critical part of our life in Christ. However. He starts off with an expectation of us. If we love him? This sounds so simple, but it goes so much deeper than just saying that we love him. He expects active love from us. We do this by keeping the two commandments that He gave us: loving God and loving our neighbor. This is how people will know that we love God! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 17, 2023

DO NOT BE FAR FROM ME

Psalms 35:22-23 (34:22-23)

You saw this, O Lord; do not keep silence;
O Lord, do not be far from me.
Arise, O Lord, attend to my judgment,
My God and my Lord, to my cause.

Encouraging Words

I love how David so transparently expresses his feelings and his needs in his psalms. It is no wonder that God called him a man after His own heart. We all have those times where we feel all alone. We can cry out to God just as David did. We can plea with God to not be far from us and to be there to judge our causes. Glory be to God!

September 16, 2023

Saint of the Week

St. John Chrysostom

September 14, 2023

TRUTH AND LIFE

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Encouraging Words

Jesus is truth and life made manifest in human form. He is our way to a relationship with the living, loving God. We cannot be in a relationship with God without the work of Jesus. Glory be to God!

September 13, 2023

THE LORD IS NEAR

Psalms 34:18 (33:19)

The Lord is near those who are brokenhearted,
And He will save the humble in spirit.

Encouraging Words

Our God has a special love for those who are brokenhearted and humble is spirit. Jesus reiterated this when He gave us the beatitudes. For us to truly experience the depths of God's love, we too must become brokenhearted for both our sins and for those who do not yet know Jesus. We must also be humble in spirit, submitting to our Lord and to one another to fully see the breadth of His salvation. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 12, 2023

DOING GOD'S WORKS

John 14:12

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Encouraging Words

We must always be careful to not get to a place where we begin to believe that the works that we do for God earn us our salvation. Our salvation is a free gift from Him. We must also not go so far in the other direction that we do no works for Him. If we love Him, follow Him, and appreciate the work that He has done for us, then we delight in doing His work to win more souls to Him. He promises us here that if we believe in Him, He will manifest Himself in us so much that we will do great things for Him. Glory be to God!

September 11, 2023

DESIRING LIFE

Psalms 34:12-15 (33:13-16)

Who is the man who desires life,
Who loves to see good days?
Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
Shun evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
And His ears are open to their supplications.

Personal Challenge

Do we truly desire to live a full life? It is indeed possible. Contrary to the human way of thinking, God has pointed out to us in His scriptures, what things we can do to experience a full life, a life of righteousness. We are told to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit. Oh, how far from that has our society, especially the politicians and those who worships them, has strayed. We are to shun evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it. God wants us to live His ways and not those of the world around us. Glory be to God!

September 10, 2023

Saint of the Week

St. Gregory Palamas

September 9, 2023

A NEW COMMANDMENT

John 13:34-35

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

Personal Challenge

God is love. He sent His son to be incarnate in love. Jesus is love. He came to us, leaving the comforts and glories of heaven in His love for us. The Holy Spirits is love. He dwells within the followers of Jesus comforting and guiding us. It is out of this abundance of pure love that we are commanded to love one another so that we can become like Him. The world does not know that we are followers of Jesus by our words but by our love toward others. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 6, 2023

BLESSED IS THE MAN

Psalms 34:7-11 (33:8-12)

The Angel of the Lord shall encamp around those who fear Him,
And He will deliver them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who hopes in Him.
Fear the Lord, you His saints,
For there is no want for those who fear Him.
Rich men turned poor and went hungry;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. (Pause)
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Encouraging Words

We are guarded and protected on all sides by the Angel of the Lord, if we put our hope in God. Our hope, our fear (awe and respect) is placed in the one, true, living God who claims His followers as His children. He will never forsake us. He has loved us from the beginning of time and will continue to through eternity. By following Him, living for Him, we sill taste and see that He is good. Glory be to God!

September 5, 2023

NO DARKNESS

John 12:46

I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

Encouraging Words

No matter how we look at life, if we look at the world around us, we will see that the world in its fallen state is dark. It is not how God created it to be. And the farther away from God our society drifts, the darker the world becomes. Enter Jesus! He has brought the bright, uncreated light of God into the darkness of the fallen world so that all of us who follow Him will be covered by that light. We do not have to stumble in the darkness anymore. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

September 3, 2023

BLESS THE LORD

Psalms 34:1 (33:2)

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Personal Challenge

We must often spend time searching our lives and assessing how well we are doing as the psalmist proclaims here. Am I blessing the Lord at all times, both in word and in deed? Is praise for Him continually in my mouth? Is that praise also glorifying His creation, especially my neighbor? If not, maybe it is time to reset how I proclaim Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

September 2, 2023

Saint of the Week

St. John Chrysostom

September 1, 2023

SERVING HIM

John 12:25-26

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Personal Challenge

Jesus does not beat around the bush when He describes what He expects from His followers. His love for us is unconditional. His love for mankind is all encompassing. But, if we want to proclaim Him as our Lord, we must live our lives accordingly. Jesus died for us; we are to die to the world so that we can live for him. We are to serve Him and to follow him. By doing this we will receive honor from God. We cannot be a follower of Christ in name only. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

August 31, 2023

LORD, HAVE MERCY

Psalms 33:22 (32:22)

Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
As we hope in You.

Encouraging Words

We serve a God that loves us. He gives us His grace at all times. This is why we can put our hope in Him and ask that His mercy be upon us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!