KEEPING THE WORD OF GOD
Luke 11:28
But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Personal Challenge
Wait a minute! Do you mean that all of this stuff that I hear about God in the sermons that I sit through, all of the things that I read about in my Bible studies, all the things the Jesus talked about in the Gospels, are things that I am supposed to do? Do you mean that when Jesus told us to love God and love our neighbor, that it applied to me? When He said that if I look at a woman with lustful eyes it was the same as going to bed with her or when I was angry with my brother it is the same as murder? How have we come to this place in our Christian faith practice that we spend all this time learning about God and yet do nothing with it? Jesus does not want us to just be pupils, He wants us to apply His teachings in our lives all of the time. Being a follower of Christ means putting our own lives and our own ways behind us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner!
Saint of the Week
St. Isaac the Syrian
ONLY GOD IS GOD
Psalms 92:15 (91:16 LXX)
So as to proclaim, “The Lord my God is upright,
And there is no wrongdoing in Him.”
Encouraging Words
One of the consistent errors that is often made is perceiving and describing our God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit, in human terms and constructs. Humans are not perfect. We are not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, all loving, all merciful, or any of the other myriad of descriptors that we apply to God. So as we begin to ascribe our human characteristics to God we begin to cross a line where we can begin to think that God also thinks and acts like humans. This is not the truth. God is upright and there is no wrongdoing or sin in Him. Jesus became fully a human being so that God could join with His creation, but as a human He never sinned, which opened the door for us to live sinless lives. Unlike so many other religious beliefs that are based on the works and teachings of sinful, broken men, Christianity is based on the only human who ever walked the face of this earth without sinning or wrongdoing. That is what sets Christianity apart from all other belief systems the strive to fill the void in us that was created when Adam and Eve sinned. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
THE PATH TO WISDOM
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,
And there is good understanding in all who practice it;
Personal Challenge
It is not what I know, but Who I know that gives me wisdom and good understanding. Fearing, trusting, respecting, submitting to, and loving my God, is what sets me on the path of the wisdom.
HEART CHECKUP
Luke 11:23
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Personal Challenge
I must always be checking the state of my heart and the fruit of my labors to make sure that all is for my Lord and none is for me, As we live immersed in the fallen world, it is a constant challenge to resist becoming a part of the world and living for the world. Jesus makes it very clear that if I am not doing my acts of work and service for Him, then I am doing them against Him. A heart check every once in a while is a good thing to do. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
MY GOD HAS BLESSED ME!
Psalms 91:14-16 (90:14-16 LXX)
“For he hoped in Me, and I will deliver him;
I will shelter him, because he knew My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will hear him;
I am with him in affliction,
And I will deliver and glorify him.
With length of days I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”
Encouraging Words
I am not alone on this journey called life. My God has blessed me with wonderful loved ones to be on this journey as well as many friends and acquaintances. But He has not stopped there. My God is intimately involved in the lives of everyone, especially those who choose to claim Him as Lord. If I put my hope in Him, He will deliver me through whatever storm comes my way. If I strive to know Him, He will shelter me. When I call upon His name, He will hear me. When I am in the midst of affliction because I still live in a fallen world, He will deliver me and even glorify me. For as long as I live He will satisfy me and meet my needs, and most importantly show me His salvation. So, why would I not put my hope in Him? Why would I ever want to turn my back on Him and choose the world to be my satisfaction and salvation when it never will? I choose to love my God, to put my hope in Him, and to follow Him as He leads me on that journey through life. Glory be to God!
SILENT BEFORE GOD
Job 42:4
But hear me, O Lord, that I also may speak.
I will ask You, and please teach Me.
Personal Challenge
To truly know God, and to understand Him, we need to come to this place where Job was in our own lives. We need to realize that we are nothing compared to the majesty of God and yet we are everything in His eyes. We need to cry out to God asking Him to be the only voice in our lives, teaching us, leading us, loving us. We can only come to this place in our lives when we realize that there is nothing in this temporal world that can substitute for God, that there is no one in this world that can provide for us other than God, and that we need to be silent in His presence, which is always, and listen for His voice. To be righteous and godly we must abandon all of this world for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
