October 14, 2016

LIVING FAITH

Matthew 8:13

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Personal Challenge

Talk about practical, living faith. The centurion knew that Jesus would be able to exercise His power of healing from anywhere and at any time. He knew that Jesus was not bound by time on distance. He believed this so deeply that He did not want to infringe upon Jesus and the work that He was doing by asking Him to come to His home to heal his servant. This centurion was not any different than all of the rest of us except for the amount of his faith. As I look at my own life I must ask myself whether or not I have this kind of faith. This is the kind of faith that can truly move mountains. And as we can see from the behavior of the centurion it is possible for every one of us to exercise this kind of faith. Glory be to God.

October 13, 2016

LIVING IN GOD'S PRESENCE

Psalms 16:11 (15:11)

You made known to me the ways of life;
You will fill me with gladness in Your presence;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Encouraging Words

Yesterday, the verse from Leviticus reminded me of the promise that God made to live amongst us and how encouraging that is as I walk through the journey of life. Today, the psalmist makes it clear that God not only lives amongst us, but that He also teaches us what we need to know while we are on this journey, and that He will also fill us with joy and gladness as we dwell in His presence. What another wonderful promise from our loving, merciful Father. But it doesn't stop there. This promise continues on through eternity as we are told that we will be spending the remainder of eternity at His right hand experiencing and participating in His pleasures. I am so thankful that my faith practice, the Eastern Orthodox Church, teaches that this Kingdom of God, the eternal Heaven, began the day that Jesus became incarnate. I do not have to wait until I die to see the new heaven and new earth that Jesus referred to. He brought it into existence and my journey through this physical life includes the journey through my spiritual life as well. Glory be to God!

October 12, 2016

ABBA! FATHER!

Leviticus 26:12

I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.

Encouraging Words

I am never alone on my journey through life. God has promised that He will walk amongst His people and be our God. And He never breaks His promises. He even went so far as to become human Himself and physically walked amongst us showing us how we could live our lives so that we could be even closer to Him. So, why is it that at times it feels like He is nowhere around? Is He playing some kind of cosmic, mystical game of hide-and-seek? No! if I take the time to truly search my heart and my life in these times I will find that is me that is playing hide-and-seek. God's presence here amongst us is spiritual and even mystical. The more that I let the physical world occupy and control my life, my mind, and my heart, then the farther I am away from that spiritual connection. with God. He is always there. He is always present. He never changes. So it is up to me to keep putting to death the things of this earth so that there is room in my life for the spiritual, It is when I do this that I can run and jump into the arms of my heavenly Father and joyfully say, "Abba!" Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and the one doing the hiding!

October 10, 2016

BUILDING ON THE ROCK

Matthew 7:24-25

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."

Personal Challenge

So, given the current situation that we are in across our country with two political candidates who are both obviously antithetical to what Christianity tells us to look for in a leader, what are we to do as we exercise our right, privilege, and responsibility to vote. First of all, none of the candidates (all four of them) are the Rock that we are to build our house on. Only Jesus can fill that role. Second, none of the candidates (all four of them) are perfect candidates, for they, just like all of the rest of us, are humans and therefore have sin in their lives. So, what are we to do? The first thing is to do our research to understand who of the four candidates will best represent us in the role of president. This research must go past the mainstream media for they have their own agenda. Secondly, we should spend time assessing our own hearts and seek to understand where we are in our relationship with our Lord as we move into the next step. At this point we can and must spend time in prayer, seeking our Father's guidance on who He would have us cast our vote for. Who has demonstrated integrity and can be measured by the fruit of their labors throughout their lives? If the preponderance of the fruit looks rotten, smells rotten, and feels rotten, then it is rotten. This is not an easy election season, but we have never been told that living a Christian life is going to be easy. We must remember though that casting a vote is more than doing it to prevent someone else from getting into office we should cast a vote for the person that God has shown us to be the best candidate. Exercising this responsibility in a thoughtful, prayerful, and godly way is part of hearing the words of Christ, doing them, and building our house on the Rock.

Oh, and by the way...if you do not profess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and strive to live your life for Him, then you can forget this whole line of thinking...it doesn't apply to you. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have merey! Lord, have Mercy!

October 9, 2016

WHO HOLDS THE REINS

Psalms 16:7-9 (15:7-9 LXX)

I will bless the Lord who caused me to understand;
Moreover, until night my reins also instructed me.
I saw the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
Therefore my heart was glad,
And my tongue rejoiced exceedingly;
My flesh also shall dwell in hope.

Encouraging Words

There is a very interesting phrase is this text "until night my reins also instructed me." Any form of training or instruction comes in the form of having the student constrained by reins so that the teacher can direct them to that place where the teaching can have its full effect. What a powerful image of seeing how God uses everything in our lives, both good and bad, both praise and correction, to guide us through our lives as a horseman would guide his steed by pulling on the reins. God does this in a gentle and loving way if we listen to Him. If we resist, then He must pull all that much harder to get us where He wants us to go. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner!

October 8, 2016

Saint of the Week
St. Porphyrios

October 7, 2016

GIVING BEYOND THE NEED

Exodus 36:3-5

They received from Moses all the offerings the children of Israel brought for all the works for making the holy place, and they continued bringing him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the wise men who were doing all the work of the holy place came, each according to the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the work the Lord commanded us to do.”

Personal Challenge

It amazes me how much can be accomplished in this world when God's people act in alignment with His will. In the day of Moses, he was asked to build a tabernacle for God so that God could dwell amongst His people. Moses put the call out for the materials needed to the people of God and set aside the craftsmen to do the construction. In short time the craftsmen had to ask Moses to tell the people to stop because they had much more than the could ever use. Today's modern church has yielded so much to letting the governments of this world take care of those in need that we no longer understand the principles of God about giving to Him so that His work can be completed. Missionaries go unfunded or have to operate on shoestring budgets. Churches must go into major debt to build their facilities. People impacted by major disasters go untaken care of while we, the members of the body of Christ see to our own wants. Lord, have Mercy! Lord, have Mercy! Lord, have Mercy!