SPIRIT OF THE WORLD VS THE SPIRIT OF GOD

SPIRIT OF THE WORLD VS THE SPIRIT OF GOD

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, 

but the spirit which is of God” (Cor. 2:12)

     Services both in Orthodox churches, and in private prayers usually  begin with the following prayer to the Holy Spirit, our King, the Comforter and Guide of our Church.

“Heavenly King Comforter, Spirit of truth who are everywhere present and fills all things; Treasury of good things and bountiful Giver of life; come and abide in us and cleanse us from every impurity and save our souls Good One” 

     In this prayer what we ardently and continually seek and pray for is that the Holy Spirit will abide and remain within us forever, for He is our Comforter and Guide, the source of goodness, truth and love. 

     In the Orthodox ceremony of Baptism, within each baptized person, all adverse powers are crushed by the most precious Cross. But in the world these same adverse powers strike out against the human race that does not know Christ.  For in this world of delusion and confusion, they fabricate ideas and teach that man is formed of matter alone, and they seek to seduce all mankind to accept the lie that God did not create man, even though man is the image of God. They attempt to reduce man’s spiritual nature to that of common matter, and they convince many to accept this foul idea. They strip man of his divinely-breathed spiritual nature by which he is enabled to strive for perfection which raises him to the highest heaven. The spirit of the world strips man of his precious treasure, a treasure more valuable and beyond any description. But man deceived by the spirit of this world becomes impious and being without God he becomes like a beast.

 

     The Holy Spirit is bestowed upon Orthodox Christians after triune immersion baptism when we are anointed three times as the Priest says: “the seal of the gift of Holy Spirit”. The above Scripture reading wherein St. Paul recalls this event, saying: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God.” Anointed by God we are far above all royalty; for God dwells within us, and we become of infinitely greater value being sealed as children of the Triune God.  God has established man as the most precious of all creation.

     The spirit of this world is the evil spirit, and the evil spirit opposes the Holy Spirit of God, always seeking to destroy His wondrous plan for the race of man. From this evil spirt comes all the ills of this world. Among them crime,  unbelief, hatred for God, anger,  adultery, murder, fornication, stealing, robbery, lies, false witness, revolution, war, and every other evil. Man is endowed with freedom by God and able to choose good or evil. 

CURSED BE THE MAN 

WHO TRUSTS IN MAN

“Thus says the Lord: 

Cursed be the man who trusts in man,

and whose heart has departed from the Lord”

                                          (Jer. 17:5)

     When a man turns away from trusting the Lord in his heart, it will then become common that he places his confidence and trust in other men or in himself. But if he never placed his trust in God but always in other men or himself, the curse is applicable. We are endowed by the Lord with good intellects and have been given freedom to choose whatever we decide upon. This freedom places a great responsibility on us for our beliefs, actions and choices.. The Scripture says, “Cursed be the man who trusts in man.” Why? Peter heard our Lord say, Will you also go? as people were leaving Him because of His doctrine, Peter asked him. To whom else will we go? For there is no God but the one true God and Jesus Christ is true God and man. Our hearts belong to God and not to ourselves and it is God who endowed us with the ability to love. God should be our very first love for He gives us everything we have, and He desires that we turn to Him, but woe to us if our heart “has departed from the Lord.” There is nothing worse for man than to be under a curse, for its end is eternal death and suffering. All who reject Christ and deny Him obedience and love have placed themselves under a curse.

     To whom will we go? 

Our life is in God’s hands, He gave himself to crucifixion for our salvation.  He died and rose after three days. He sent us His Holy Spirit to comfort us and to remind us of His doctrine.  He created us with His own hands and breathed His own spirit into us, bestowing a portion of His divinity into our souls and bodies. God has indeed greatly honored us and has highly exalted us due to His generosity and perfect love, for He greatly respects and honors his own image, the  creature which  He formed with His own hands – man!

IN OUR PROSPERITY– WE FORGET GOD

IN OUR PROSPERITY– WE FORGET GOD

“I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said: I will not listen”                                                              (Jer. 22:21).

     Prosperity causes us to think that we need nothing else, and in having an abundance of goods. But usually what accompanies prosperity among most men, causes them to forget God, His Kingdom, His laws and death culminating with our final judgment. Today this is happening in Orthodoxy and in heresy, for churches and synagogues are becoming increasingly emptier.  When people forget the church they also forget God, and some just send out a check. The check is  appreciated and important but that alone will not soothe our consciences. God wants each one of us  to come to Him to obey Him and to love Him. personally. Even those who go to church and receive Holy Communion, should first offer themselves with all their lives with all their hearts. For twe mus worship God personally, and  love Him above everything and everybody for He is more than worthy of our love!

     The Scriptural words inscribed above were spoken by God to the Jewish people, but they profoundly also speak to Orthodox people today many of whom say to God: “I will not listen.” How do we listen to the words of God? Through the reading of Divine Scriptures (the Bible) and the hymnology of the Church, the Bishops and Priests also in the Divine Liturgy and other church services, and personally. In many churches the very  important Bishop’s voice fails to proclaim the true words of God and their meaning, nor do they remind the faithful to read the Bible daily.

     Prosperity causes the faithful to place God in the shadows which increases our separation from Him and in turn to live according to the spirit of this world and its immorality andf uncleanness. We are all sinners and when we know God we can have our sins forgiven and strive to avoid them in the future. But those who fail to go to church or holy confession remain in their sins and remain outside of Christian life. For we are not Christians if we do not read the Bible daily, go to church regularly, confess our sins, and conduct our entire life according to the commandments of Jesus Christ, then we cannot call ourselves Christians. If we are not Christians living according to His holy will, then we will live as pagans.

UNBELIEVERS AND IDOLATERS

“They will be put to shame who say to a stick: 

You are my father, and to a stone: You have given birth to me, 

for they have turned their back on Me and not their faces, 

but in time of trouble they will say: Arise and save us” 

(Jer. 2:26-7)

     In the present  time this Scripture reading really has meaning.  For many in the scientific communities strive to demonstrate that there is no Creator and God who made all creation and us. They defame man by claiming that man came from animals, from a sticks or stones. Others claim man came from mineral matters and will return to them again. They do not turn their faces toward heaven and  the true God who created heaven and earth with a specific purpose and gave mankind specific instructions of responsibility. Truly they shall be put to shame when troubles and they are compelled to call for help from God whom they rejected and made Him an object of mockery.

     It is not only science but a large part of humanity who daily eat food, drink water, breath air,  and they do not recognize or give thanks to God who with love supplies everything that man needs.  Day by day they rise up in the morning, go about their business with their many duties and pleasures, eat and drink and then at the end of the day take a welcome rest. They do not raise their eyes to heaven to seek God to give him their thanks. Like the ancient Epicureans, they would say: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” Nor do they seek Him to find out what is their purpose on earth and why they die, how can they live forever, for they seek mostly satisfaction of their material things and various pleasures.

     Forgetting and unbelieving that there is a true God they call creation the creator, some claim that man is born  from nature making him to be lower than nature, being a servant in nature’s chains, a corpse in nature’s tomb. They cannot understand begin to understand a little about the extreme complexity and glorious beauty of creation but they readily deny a creator.

Unbelievers and idolaters do not know how to rejoice in the Lord, how to struggle to do his will and keep His commandments, they are dead before they die. For to be separated from God who is the source of our life is real death. They also degrade God by their unbelief and by worshiping idols in place of God. Idolaters show by their actions that they belief in something because they worship gods made with human hands. Another group of idolaters are those who indulge in various material things as if their was nothing higher or better.

     They all have a common error, for they fail to acknowledge the wonderful and supreme intelligence and divine perfection that is responsible for all that exists. The magnificence of God is partially seen  in His glorious and innumerable creatures, visible and invisible, animals that live on earth, fish that swim and birds that fly, and men that inhabit a good part of the earth. They fail to see themselves, their value and their ultimate and perfect destination. Man is above all creatures that we know, for he is endowed with divine qualities of intellect and feelings, and he rules over all the earth. No other creature resembles man, but man is the image of God. 

     Also in degrading and denying  God they also degrade man materializing him and failing to see that of all creatures on earth, man is superior to them all.  After degrading God and man what is left? Only matter and eventual death. We who are believers in the true God have the most valuable gift to offer others, that gift is eternal life.

     The law of God is not a bunch of do and don’t do commands. The law of God is given to mankind through His Son and His Church. It is designed to form man into His own image and likeness, that is to become gods like God. If the world followed Christ and His Holy Orthodox Church, earth would become heavenly for Christ taught us to do only good and no evil, and for this a perfect moral law has been given. Lying, stealing, killing, adultery, bearing false witness, and every other evil are against Christian law. There is also the positive law, where we become humble and meek, honest and just, feed the poor, assist others, love everyone including unbelievers and idolaters. Everyone keeping the law does so not by compulsion but by free choice.

      There is a penalty to being an unbeliever or idolater for it encourages and worships evil and fails to reward good and this leads to a bad and corrupt society, with injustice, crime, wars, and with much bloodshed. Only Orthodoxy headed by Jesus Christ can offer these good benefits to the human race, for she alone possesses them.

ATTENDING CHURCH MAY NOT LEAD TO HEAVEN

ATTENDING CHURCH MAY NOT LEAD TO HEAVEN

     Probably hardly anyone would disagree that attending Church services is necessary for our salvation, but if we never miss church services in our lives, this will not in itself, bring us into the kingdom of heaven and eternal life. Many believe that attending church services regularly has a good end, but this is a part of our path to salvation. We are called to become sanctified children of God and not children of this world. Christ himself founded the Church, yet He taught many other rules of behavior blessings. He taught things that must be avoided as well as things that are necessary and affect our salvation. To claim that going to church is enough would nullify everything else which is impossible.

He taught that we must keep the written and oral traditions of the Church which instruct us an many things and we are bound to keep and preserve them. The Bible and the oral teaching and traditions of the Church instruct to avoid evils and to perform good words.

     “The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16). If anyone has the spirit of God within himself he will have witness that he is a child of God. Becoming a child of God will cause a person to completely modify his life, depart from all evil and do only good,  and live according to Christ’s commandments. This change is effected by our conscious decision to live as a child of God. If the spirit of God does not dwell in us we cannot be inwardly aware that we belong to God.  Repentance and confession and receiving Holy Communion is commanded to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot continue to do evil, have a foul mouth and then claim to be Christians and children of God. Repentance, confession and communing are part of entire spiritual life.

     If we are not children of God then we are slaves of the evil one and need the Lord’s help to escape. If we are not children of God then we have not become Christians even though we may bare the name. Genuine children of God strive to become purified and holy knowing that this is most necessary. If our souls do not testify to our struggle then we are not struggling and are wandering  from the path leading to eternal life. “We have not received the spirit of slavery” says the Apostle. What is “this spirit of slavery? All that is other than the spirit of God, who Christ God sends to those who love Him. The spirit of slavery is everything that prevents us from being children of God. No one is excluded from the opportunity of becoming children of God which is the spirit of freedom and sonship.

PUNISHING CHILDREN

PUNISHING CHILDREN

“He that spares the rod hates his son;

 but he who loves him chastens him at times” (Prov. 13:24)

      This is a timely subject during the present prevailing opinions that strongly object to the chastisement and punishment of children. Note that it is qualified with the phrase “at times.”The use of the word punishment does not exclusively mean hitting, also there are many other forms.  Like any punishment it can be good and beneficial or at times, especially when parent is angry where it can be abuse. No one can challenge God’s love for man for God is love and the source of love, and in the above  quotation God says: “He who spares the rod hates his son but he who loves him chastens him at times.”  We know that God’s love for man greatly exceeds man’s love for his fellow man, or for his own son. God chastises man with the rod not to harm him but to correct his error and so return him to the right path. St. Paul says: “Whom the Lord loves He chastens and He scourges every son whom he receives.  (Heb. 12:16) 

     How does God chastise?  By using the rod of illness or misfortune, of accident, of hunger and thirst, the failure of crops, drought, floods, death of relatives and friends, or allowing evil spirits to have authority over men. All these rods used by God are outpourings of His love meant for correction and salvation of men. Younger children especially need persuasion and there are times with some children where verbal persuasion is ineffective and  physical punishment may become necessary.

     When chastising their children, parents show that they really love them, being stern but not angry, and their rod is an necessary instrument to correct them. Children are sometimes not sensitive in response to verbal rebuke or chastisement, but all children can feel the sting of the rod. The child’s body is sensitive even though his conscience may not be, thus punishment of the body is at times necessary for correction of the soul. If punishment of the body awakens the spirit with a good response, the chastisement has been proven to be effective.

     A child may remain uncorrected by verbal admonition at certain times.   That is the time when physical punishment can be productive and necessary, because a worst event would be if the child remains uncorrected. Punishment of the body will usually effect the decisions of the spirit in the child. Spanking is but one tool and some children respond better when given writings in the amount of one or more hundred. Such as,  “I will not hit my brother again.”  Quantity and length of writing could be based on the seriousness of the offense.

HATRED OF GOD IS DEATH!

“All that hate me love death” Prov. 8:36

     The Lord utters these words through His Prophet in the book of Proverbs, “whoever hates the wisdom of God also hates God. Instead of loving God he loves death for everything outside of God is death. The Sun and moon, the stars, the clouds, the rivers, the seas, the mountains and the valleys are lifeless, animals and plants, are dead plants that have received life from God. If a person does not love God, not only does he not love Him but also everything that comes from Him. All created things  that exist come from God, so he who does not love the wisdom of God and God himself loves nothing else, for without God love is not possible and everything would cease to exist.

     Without loving God our Creator and Teacher our lives are empty having absolutely nothing, and all that is on earth that we enjoy and love, we do so because God gave us the capacity love Him and all that He made. For loving God includes loving all that He is and has created and glorifying Him for His great wisdom and kindness, and His blessings which he gave to us such as our intellect,  compassion and love. Happy and overflowing with love and joy are those who know God and His many gifts. But wretched are those who receive His many gifts but reject Him as unworthy of their love and even deeming Him to be non-existent. These men by not accepting the one who gave them existence, live outside of Him, are already dead being separated from the life of all.

     “All who hate me love death.” God did not make man for death but for life which is His free choice, for if he who hates the wisdom of God which is one of man’s greatest possessions, He also hates God. Death is separation from God not annihilation as some think for our souls never die. Separation from God forever is the most frightful wretchedness, for God is the source of all goodness and compassion which He continuously bestows upon all mankind. When God formed man He breathed into Him His Holy Spirit and the man, body, soul and spirit, became filled with divine life. The sprit which God breathed energizes the human being and fills Him with live, goodness and happiness.  But the evil and miserable one seeks to captivate his soul by breathing into men his foul and stinking evil spirit. Then He entices men to live in sinful transgressions, and the spirit leaves us, awaiting  their possible return through repentance and confession.

POWER OF WEAKNESS OVER STRENGTH

POWER OF WEAKNESS OVER STRENGTH 

     In this fallen world the strong rule over the weak who are compelled to submit to their authority because of their lack of power. The sword is a powerful weapon used by the strong but it became feeble and weak when used to oppose Jesus Christ and His Holy Church. One reason for this is that although truth may appear to be weak it can never be defeated, for after being maligned and defeated it will always remain being truth. Lies always die but truth is forever.For example, the truth is that the crucified Jesus Christ is almighty God. Death cannot grasp Him, rather He puts death to death. The contradictory lie which distorts this truth is that bad men crucified the Lord thus putting Him to death and He remains dead as Jews believe. The truth is that by death He destroyed death’s authority and power but He arose from the dead on the third day and will never die again. Christ’s apparent weakness is followed by the truth of His godly all-powerfulness.

     Also the enemies of Christ achieve results directly opposite those which they would expect. When they tried to silence the Apostles in order to prevent the growth of Christianity, their efforts  caused Christianity to widen and deepen like a fast flowing river with its roar being heard everywhere, for “their sound went out to the whole universe.”  They tried to dry up Christianity and encountered a flood of believers and martyrs throughout the world.  

     When Christians were seized and held as weak and maligned prisoners, many were mercilessly slaughtered by fire and sword, by torture and hanging. But as each martyr was put to to death for the sake of Christ, they really went to the heavenly kingdom to receive their reward, and each death of martyrs resulted in the countless increase of new Christians, who rushed to be baptized, and became martyrs, thus greatly increasing the size of the Church.  When they attacked the churches in order to do away with Christianity, the Church grew stronger and spread further into many countries.. 

THE WICKED AND UNBELIEVERS

       “The wicked flee when no man is pursuing him; but the righteous are as bold as a lion”          

                                                                         (Prov. 28:1)                                                                                                                               The wicked man is afraid of his own shadow; the shadow of a tree seems to him like an army.  Whenever something rustles the wicked man thinks: “My enemy is coming!” He hears the murmuring of leaves as if it were the clashing of chains. He takes the voice of the birds for the cries of a hunter after a savage; he thinks the very grass is spying on his crime; water itself is a witness against him;  the sun is his judge; the stars are taunting him. My brethren, how many lies are born of fear!  Because fear comes from sin, sin from the devil, and the devil is the father of lies.

     Fear is the first fruit of sin.  When Adam sinned he hid from the face of God. Whn God called to him, he said: “I heard your voice and I was afraid” (Gen. 3:10). Adam did not know fear before he sinned, nor did he hide from the face of God but, on the contrary, always hastened to meet Him. But, as soon as he sinned he was afraid.

     But the righteous are as bold as a lion, for they are without sin and without fear; without sin and without weakness. The sinless are mighty in their power and bold in their courage. The righteous are filled with vigour and fortitude. But it is only the righteous who are like this, for they obey and love the Lord.

     O Lord, You who are without the blemish of sin, preserve us from empty fears, but firstly preserve us from sin, which is the father of fear. To you be glory and praise for ever. Amen.

                                                        (From Prologue #2 P-363. 364).    

     I took the foregoing, just as it was from the Prologue, for it is an important observation and is written perfectly explaining the reason for fear in men’s lives and how to rid ourselves of fears and replace them with happiness and joy.  Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master is good and filled with kindness and deep compassion, and is quick to forgive the sins of man. T\However the Devil is a vicious tyrant who entices us with sugar-coated sins so as to trap the unwary and take them as his prisoner. Man is situated between good and evil and must choose between them throughout his life, for at the end of this life victories are awarded and defeats separate the unfaithful sinners from God and His goodness, leaving us as to be tormented with the evil one.

     If we are faithful to the Lord and love Him with all our hearts and souls, fear will be non-existent in us. The stronger our faith in God the more our souls are filled with happiness and joy, but without God we become victims and prisoners, even though we may think that we are free. So  we must be aware of fears, for they come from our sins, concerning which we must sincerely repent and confess them and then partake holy communion in a worthy manner but with fear of God, faith and love.

     The author of Prologue uses the perfect example of fears in man in the person of Adam who hid from God. Why? Because he sinned and had broken his law. God merely called to him, and he said: “I heard your voice and was afraid.” Since the time of Adam all who sin and without God suffer from many fears, of enemies, of fearful of darkness, of fearful of sickness and especially fearful of death!

Sin is the cause of fear and if we rid ourselves of sin and in faith embrace and love Jesus Christ, every day of our lives will be void of fear, filled with joy and happiness will reign in our souls. Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, however, and is a great virtue which helps us to wage war against all sins and with them confessed all fears are gone while fear of God remains.

     In our times, many people receive the holy Mysteries which can place them in jeopardy if they    unworthily. Because there may be some who to not understand the threat of sin within themselves, but if they cannot see their sins, they certainaly can recgonize their fears, and therefore get help if necessary to confess any sins for where there is fear there is also sin which requires our attention. 

THIS LIFE

THIS LIFE

     A young man and woman marry and later a new baby is born, a new life has come into the world. Life requires life for life cannot be manufactured. From the lives of the father and mother comes a living child. And all humans share a common life which  ends with death. This life is not an accident but is very serious and important, but the godless and unbelievers of this world claim life to be for family caring and entertaining of the body and its delights. They claim that life is short so enjoy it while you can. Bring on the good times, work to make money in order to eat, drink, party, have barbecues, vacations, etc.

     We are living in a basically godless environment where God is not only ignored or put to death, but they deny that He even exists and He is not the creator of the universe. They surmise that  though it lacks intellect it created itself! If there is no God, there is no law, if there is no law neither is their a judge or reward or punishment. If there is no God then when you die you just vanish out of existence. Satan’ deception has done his dirty work very well, for modern man believes only in himself and is become his own judge. Those who do evil all their lives are not punished and those who choose to do only good are not rewarded! What an unjust world to live in and then you die. Modern society slaughters infant babies, not like Herod the baby-killer, for today they kill their own infants. One man fornicates with another man and they call it marriage insulting God and degrading marriage and they offer them marital benefits which were formerly for the married only.

     Those who desire to learn truth must see the folly of getting rid of God by denial. If there were no God they could not deny Him, nor could the idea of God exist. If there is no God, then who created this world? If there is no God why is everything in nature so perfect and orderly? There is air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, weather systems, lakes and streams, woods and plains, trees and flowers. All these things are for man’s enjoyment and use. Who thought of  making man with his high super intellect and with emotions of love for his fellow man and for what is good?

     The godless ones teach that everything just happens. (plenty of effects but no causes at all) and came into being  of themselves, which ideas any intelligent person would dismiss as foolishness or insanity. For everything that exists is an effect with a cause and has a purpose. There is food and drink for birds and elephants as well as for men. Birds need little food and it is there for them. Elephants need large amounts of food and it is there for them. Whose idea was it for elephants and birds? Who thought of forming godlike men? Who thought of donkeys and horses and later automobiles and then airplanes?  How did the fuel for all the millions of vehicles get put in place for future use? If they say man is the cause, they are still foolish, because they reject the real God who created man and declare man to be a god and the cause!

     There can be no effect without a relative cause a very good scientific principle. The question to be answered is who is God? God is not at all like creation for He is uncreated; He is without cause for He is the eternal and original Cause. God is outside of time being eternal. He created time when He established the universe. God cannot die because He is the origin of all life.

     God created man because of love to have creatures share in His good life, a life that is  endless. Creation is a thing of magnificent beauty and was made for the sake of man, Man is God’s most noble and highest creature, destined to become like God. God made man in His own image. He gave man every good gift including the sun and moon and the stars for night live and navigation. 

     What is His reason for creation? If we look carefully we will see that there are numberless creatures, but only one who was above all the rest – that creature is man. He formed man in His image to struggle to become also His likeness. “He will come to judge the living and the dead.” says our Orthodox Creed of Faith. He sent His Son into the world. Jesus Christ is both the Son of God the Father and the Son of man from the Virgin. He came to save sinful man and bring him into His kingdom. Everything needed to know is in the New Testament and available to everyone. The Gospels narrate mostly about Christ and His works. The word Gospel in the original Greek means “the good news.”  Truly this is the only good news man needs to know for it tells him clearly about his future. Those who are disinterested will remain far from all hope in eternal life, but can look forward to eternal death. For there is no excuse, because every man has a conscience to which He should give attention.

     The unbelievers and godless ones commit man to being reduced to nothingness, while the truth is the opposite, for Christ raises man to become like God.

THE TRINITY IN MAN

THE TRINITY IN MAN

     Man is triune being composed of a body and soul and spirit. The body and soul are from the earth and the spirit breathed into him from God. The soul of man has also has three faculties, the intellect, the heart oir feelings and the will. The intellect or mind processes information, while the heart being  the affective faculty is the seat of many affections and feelings. The will being informed by the other two powers makes decisions,  based on what the intellect accepts or rejects and what the  heart  feels as being good. Usually if the intellect agrees and the heart likes something, the will acts on this information with an affirmative decision. If the intellect agrees but the heart disagrees, the soul may or may not take action.  An example of the latter is when you think or know that something is a good idea but you don’t like it, in many cases you will decide against it, but sometimes, we know through our intellect that something is good but is not to our liking, so we may decide to do what we know to be good, even if our hearts disagree and don’t like it.

     These three, the intellect, the heart and the will are also an image of the Divine Trinity. No man has seen the Father says our Lord, and no man has seen the mind of another man. The Son declares the Father and what’s in His mind, and the body and speech of a man declares what’s in the man’s mind

     The heart is the seat of our desires and needs to be carefully guarded, for sin is sugar-coated and offered to the heart. If we are offered evil and the heart accepts it, then evil will enter into our souls corrupting them and striving to lead to many sins. For this reason spiritual advisors urge us to carefully guard the heart, that it will not desire what is evil. 

BLESSINGS ARE NECESSARY

     What do we do before we sit down to eat? As Orthodox Christians, we pray in thanksgiving for our meal. We make the sign of the Cross and say a short prayer asking Jesus Christ to bless the food and drink.  Asking for blessings is a sign of spiritual life in a person or family. But blessing food and drink are but one of countless blessings. We make the sign of the Cross when we go to bed and again when we awaken from sleep. We sign the Cross and offer our morning prayer and when we depart the house we again sign  the Cross. If we drive, we should sign the Cross, remembering the many accidents and deaths on roads and highways, let us always ask the Lord for His blessing and our protection by our angel. We make the sign of the Cross when we start our cars, when we arrive at our destination and upon our return back home make the sign again. In the evening we say our evening prayers, starting with the sign of the Cross. These blessings become excellent habits, bringing us closer to God who supplies the substance of our blessings. and we will be doing them enthusiastically after a period of time.

     What if we fail to seek blessings at these various times and places? The sky will not fall down but we will lose a precious portion of our faith and hope, turning to God frequently with the ability to bless ourselves, our food and drink, our homes and cars, our going to sleep and arising etc., We can offer these blessings though we are not ordained priests. Why miss out in obtaining help from the only source of all our blessings who is God himself? His blessings are meant for us to use if we have accepted to believe in Him and to serve and obey Him. 

     Among men, if some person had a special beloved father, he would not hesitate to ask his blessing if he was to go on a long journey. But God is our much  greater Father and the Creator of everything. We should seek His  blessings for our dear departed ones, for our father and mother our wives or husbands, our children, our brothers and sisters, and our priests and bishops. We can incorporate these blessings into our regular morning and evening prayers. 

IGNORANCE, WEAKNESS AND DEATH

IGNORANCE, WEAKNESS AND DEATH

vs 

KNOWLEDGE, STRENGTH AND LIFE

      The human race of our time is not the human race as it was established by God. Sin and disobedience became the cause of many differences. Jesus Christ the Son of God came into the world and did away with universal ignorance, and performed wonders. He came to save us through His victory on the Cross; He made it possible for us to pass through the door of death which Christ had changed by His life giving death, into the door of eternal life. 

     Man, who is born in absolute ignorance, gradually learns but seeks to know much more until if possible, he will know everything there is to know. This appears to many to be an almost infinite desire. Man’s desire is not limited to knowing everything but also to have the ability to do everything also to not die but to live for ever without any fear of death. This desire in men appears in the lives of nations as well, for no nation is content under the conditions they live in. Nations of men detest ignorance, weakness and shortness of lives. They desire to be able to strengthen themselves and change things, hopefully for the better.  Men generally are not content in the state in which they find themselves so they must struggle to move from ignorance to knowledge, from weakness to strength and from mortality to immortality. The desire for immortality is strongly felt in those who are sober and who reflect on themselves, as they examine their desires.

     These innermost desire are naturally present in the souls of men and nations causing them to constantly seek knowledge in order to overcome ignorance and weakness, striving to improve health in order to extend live spans even to acqure eternal life.  An uneducated person is powerless and unable to do much of anything. At times such a person becomes dissatisfied with his weakness and seeks to rid himself of his ignorance, so he struggles to acquire knowledge and with it accompanying strength, the desire to  live for ever and becomes even stronger.  

    God formed man capable of acquiring and accumulating knowledge and wisdom, repelled by ignorance and he is strongly attracted to the acquisition of knowledge. But man is not satisfied with any kind of this or that knowledge, but he seeks to know and understand what is true and authentic which alone can satisfy his desire.  Man lives but the life he lives is far removed from his desires. Also man would not be satisfied if he reached 100 and his life span was doubled to 200 years, because the desire within him is to live for ever and never die, for men consider death as extremely undesirable. 

      Man longs for life and desires to not die but to stay alive, even to eternity. His ignorance and desire for knowledge is the first phenomenon that is his inability to know everything, and the desire for all power and freedom of action is the second phenomenon, and the desire for eternal life is the third phenomenon. These are the three desires found in men: the desire to know everything, to do everything, and to live forever. 

     Man is afflicted with unhappiness as a result of the three, ignorance, lack of power, and a painful life that ends with death. A limited accumulation of much knowledge will not satisfy the infinite desire to know and understand everything, nor would anyone be satisfied with a great amount of particular field of knowledge, for his desires are so much greater.

FAITH HOPE AND LOVE

FAITH HOPE AND LOVE

     The smallest amount of faith begets some hope and love, so that when we increase our faith and trust in the Lord, great hope and love will follow which enlightens, delights and sanctifies the soul. When we initially believe in God faith gradually increases, and from this faith in God who is good and the Lover of man, hope and love is constantly aroused. 

     The realizing of what the goal of our life is and the realization of the extreme mercy and compassion of God causes our love for  Him to increase even more. Faith, hope and love, these three virtues have the true God as their main objective, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hope in God arouses thanksgiving for hope is filled with God’s promise for that which we desire most of all, which is to live a beautiful life and never die but to pass from this life to everlasting life! This is the reality of everything that Christ accomplished for our sake. For He fulfilled all of our desires and hopes. 

     “And we testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God enters the soul and dwells within him and he dwells in God. And we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him”                                                                           (1 John 4:15-16).

     Faith has a beginning and an ultimate objective or goal, which is the salvation of our souls. Jesus Christ came into the world to work for the salvation of our souls. The fruit of faith is also the salvation of our souls. We must keep our attention on our objective throughout our lives in this world for we are in a constant state of danger, which is in front and behind us, to the left and to the right, everywhere temptation are established to trap us. The evil one never gives up and is well experienced in his work/ That is why we cannot give up working toward our goal which is the salvation of our souls. Increasing our faith and dedication to the truths of God will provide a good defense. But humility is a wonderful shield which not only protects us but also brings us closer to God who will protect us. 

MYSTERY OF MARRIAGE

MYSTERY OF MARRIAGE

     Marriage is one of seven mysteries of the Church and it is notable that only in the holy Orthodox Church are marriage ceremonies truly holy and heavenly, for they are especially blessed by God.     The Lord originally instituted holy marriage when He blessed Adam and Eve, not only did He bless the first marriage, He blesses each individual marriage in His holy Church, where the man an woman are sealed by the Priest in the name of our Lord.  Marriage is a mystery where a man or woman leave their beloved father and mother, and unite with someone outside of their immediate family, then having their own children form a completely new family.  Some choose to follow the path of virginity, which can also be a blessed state and remaining unmarried but they must serve God alone, and these choices are some of the many wonderful blessings with which grants to those who so desire. 

     Those who encourage or take part in same sex intercourse mis-naming it as being “marriage,” have placed themselves under a curse by calling fornication marriage for they insult God’s divinely formed institution of marriage which joins  one man and one woman. Marriage is a mystery of love and life wherein a man and woman are blessed by God in the Church to live a happy life, and to give birth to children who are provided as fulfillment of marital blessings by God. 

     Christ calls himself the Bridegroom and the Church who is His Bride. Marriage to a spouse is a type of marriage and though it is delightful, marriage to Christ is a much more important and higher bond and fulfillment of love. The Lord our God who formed us and blessed us with free will, made it so that we could love and be loved, not only with and by our parents but also with a special bond of love for our chosen spouse with whom God has blessed us that we may live our lives together forever.  However God loved us first and we learned about love out of His love for us, which also  trains us to love good and hate evil. 

     In His wisdom He created us male and female with the ability to unite and become one flesh in love and marriage and consequently to bring new infantile life into the world. Loving their children and receiving their love in return instills much happiness in family lives for many years. With the grace given by God to the father and mother, who love God first and above all, then by living a good life keeping His commandments, they teach their children to behave the same way and together they all live pious lives, being loved by God and loving Him in return. Children are taught and reminded about death, both its beautiful and ugly aspects, the latter being for the wicked which is the coming fearful judgment. 

HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE 

“But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father

 will send in my name, He shall teach you all things

 and bring all things to your remembrance, 

whatever I have said to you” (John 14:26)

     The Orthodox Church cannot be destroyed for it is in truth the Body of Christ, and it is headed by Jesus Christ, the Truth and Logos of God, and is guided by the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth. There will always be defenders of the truth guided by the Holy Spirit and there will be enemies from within and without, but the divine human Church will vanquish enemies and will last to the end of time. We pray at all times that the Holy Spirit will abide in us, cleanse our souls, and guide us into all truth, reminding us of all that Jesus has said and done.

     We pray to the Holy Spirit who abides in us or leaves us according to our faith, good works and patience. Without the Holy Spirit we are unable to do anything not even celebrate the Divine Liturgy or a Baptism. Christ said that He will bring all things to our remembrance so that all of us who are members of the Church will think and decide together and always be one with Christ in the Holy Spirit. The first prayer of our Church is to the Holy Spirit: “Heavenly King Comforter and Spirit of truth, who are everywhere present and fills all things; Treasury of blessings and bountiful Giver of life; Come and abide in us; cleanse us from every impurity and save our souls Good One.”                                                                

     The Protestants reject oral tradition which the Holy Spirit speaks through Synods, Saints, Martyrs and Holy Fathers, foolishly claiming that the Bible has everything that they need. Having broken away, not from the true church, but from the infernal Papacy they foolishly developed false Christian, showing no reverence toward the Holy Virgin Theotokos, the holy icons and all the Saints. 

     The formed their own idea of churches, then arrogantly went into Orthodox Christian countries, preaching their false ideas and robbed many of their true Orthodox Faith. They distort Christ’s teaching claiming that only Protestants hold firmly to the truth of Scripture, but Holy Scripture opposes the Protestants by proclaiming that we “Hold fast to the traditions you have received orally or written.” They reject all oral tradition claiming the Bible is all that is needed. They ignore their own Bibles and Christ’s words which  says much more than what is recorded in Holy Bible. They ignore the teaching of Jesus Christ whom they claim to worship. For example Christ says that it is the Holy Spirit who reminds of what He said verbally and is not recorded in the Bible.

EDUCATION

     Education is most important to people of the present world and many parents generously struggle to have their children acquire the best education possible in order to “be successful”, an important goal in this life. Many parents realize the importance of a higher education they want their children to do well in their careers during life. However if parents sincerely love their children they would first search into something more important that would be of immense benefit to first themselves and their children, not only until death but for ever and ever into all eternity.  In order to really “be successful” in this present life we must acquire as our most important educational project knowledge of and love for the living God and Creator of all.

     God is very far away or even non-existent and unimportant in the minds of many people, but as we cannot deny that the universe and mankind really exist, so we cannot deny that God really exists and that it is an absolute impossibility that there be no God, for if there were no God, neither would there be creatures like ourselves having knowledge and intellect, able to build houses and roads, highways and cities, buildings and airports, and He who made us endowed us with so much more! But because God is real, what He as our Creator has to said is vital to our well being and happiness. If we are scoffers and unbelievers this knowledge will be of no concern or benefit to us.  On the contrary we would do well to be seekers of what is good and permanently beneficial in this sinful and temporary world. Sin and rejection of God is a choice, which many select, but will necessarily end up in sorrow and wretchedness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Of course education is not evil in itself and of course it is proven to be useful. But education is not the road to happiness as there is something much more important than any education. For education can fill a man with knowledge but not with wisdom. Education can fill a man with knowledge but  cannot extend his life. It is better to have no education than to be ignorant or inimical toward God. God is so important to our happiness and benefit that knowledge of Him without any other knowledge would cause a person to be filled with divine love and wisdom. Having an education or no education are equally of no value without knowledge of God. For we cannot go to Him on judgment day and expect anything good when we have never known or honored Him, or denied His existence. The worst thing is to become an enemy of God insulting and mocking Him whom you do not even know or believe!

THAT WHICH UNITES US

THAT WHICH UNITES US

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 

one God and Father of all.” (Ephesians 4:5-6

      Baptized Orthodox Christians collectively constitute the whole Body of Christ – the Church!. One of the characteristics of the Body is that it is single, one and united. Just as there are not two Christs, and there cannot be any divisions among us for there are not two churches, and Christ is the Head of one Body. When we confess our faith, we say, “I believe in one God,”   “ in one Lord Jesus Christ,” “in one holy catholic and apostolic Church,” “in one baptism for the remission of sins.”  Before Jesus Christ came into the world when the idea of many gods was prevalent among most men. Christ revealed to us the one God in  three persons, Trinity in unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and He founded one Church to unite all men into unity with one God.

     Our existence as the Church which Christ founded, shows all men that we have one faith and one Lord, united together as one in the one holy Church. We understand and proclaim the one God, in three persons, one in nature, one in essence, Trinity in unity, Father Son and Holy Spirit. We glorify God the Logos, who is one of the Trinity, born of the Virgin as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Christ came into the world, to save the world by His sacrifice on the Cross. He died and rose from the dead in His glorious resurrection and we go through a death and resurrection in holy Baptism. Plunged into the water, we put to death sin and the devil and we die with Christ, and coming up out of the water we rise into His glorious resurrection.  

     Our old sinful nature has been destroyed in the waters of baptism from which we emerged as new men, and with Christ as our teacher and example we enter the arena to struggle as members of the Church to become glorious with our Head, and we will spread His glory to all the world. Our lives then change into being filled with gladness we rejoice when going to sleep and awakening and in both work and relaxation.  We rejoice in both fasts and feasts and we attend services as frequently as possible, struggling to live a godly life filled with faith, hope and happiness, living our lives as the Lord intended. 

LONGINUS THE CENTURION

LONGINUS THE CENTURION

The centurion exclaimed: “Truly this is the Son of God”

     Longinus was a centurion who served under Pontius Pilate. He was standing with his soldiers  as  they were gathered beneath the Cross of Christ; Longinus confessed before everyone seeing all that was happening and that he had taken part in it, he cried out: “Truly this is the Son God.” According to some accounts he was the soldier who pierced the side of Christ, and blood and water poured forth. He also witnessed the signs at the Crucifixion, the rending of the rocks, opening of sepulchers, the failure of the sun which caused darkness over all. Longinus became a strong believer and later was baptized by the apostles, then he preached Christ all around and later was martyred being put to death because of his faith in Christ and he is commemorated on October 16.

     A widowed woman who lived in Cappadocia was suffering from blindness and had a son, her only child, who gave her assistance leading her about, but he died leaving her in a serious situation.` The helpless woman fell asleep and there she met with Longinus in a dream who told her: “I am Longinus the centurion who had his head severed for the sake of Christ. My head was brought here and cast upon a dung heap outside the city.  Go, therefore, to that place and dig deep into the dung, and you shall find my head. Having found my head touch your eyes and you shall recover your sight. The woman got up and called for someone to help her and take her to the biggest dunghill and leave her there.  She continued to grieve for her recently deceased son whom she depended on. She began to dig with great hope of finding the head of Longinus.

     Having strong faith she enthusiastically dug and eventually felt his head with her fingers and though blind gazed at the head of Longinus in her hands.  She saw the head as her sight had returned. Filled with joy and with great thanks to God, she took the head and washed it then placed it in her home as being more valuable than anything else in the world.

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD         

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through

 the knowledge of Jesus our Lord”  (2  Peter 1:2)

“Let us create man in our own image and likeness”

     Knowledge of God is the most important knowledge that we can ever acquire, while ignorance of God is the worse condition of every man and the reason why is the consequences. Knowledge of man is also extremely important as it deals with our ultimate and eternal destiny. The Scriptural quotation above promises that “grace and peace will be multiplied” in   the souls of those who know Him and Jesus Christ, the Godman whom He has sent into the world.

     Constant and ever increasing “grace and peace” is acquired through knowledge and keeping the commandments of Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus Christ being the Logos of God incarnate is the Head of the Holy Orthodox Church wherein is preserved all the knowledge of God and man and man’s true destination through the door of death. This is the final trip that all men will certainly  take but it is not the door to heaven where everyone goes as so many think. It is the door to either everlasting life or to the dread judgment and eternal death.

God is so much more than just “the Creator”. For He is the one and only source of everything we could ever desire.  St. Paul says that God is love!  None of us would be able to express or experience love if God did not implant love into our souls. God’s love is a perfect and lasting love which desires to keep us happy and blessed.

     We cannot describe God in words but we have learned much through the words and deeds of Jesus Christ, who is both God and man who dwelled among us. We learned that he requires that we have faith in Him, recognizing Him as truly God wand truly man also.  He is compassionate and kind, loving and patient, the source of all knowledge and the bountiful giver of life.  We become closer to God when we struggle to keep all His commandments and seek to do His will instead of our own will. To gain everlasting life we must seek to become like God, and this struggle will enable us to acquire a better knowledge about Him. Nestled deep in human hearts is a desire for what is good and beneficial but few there be who act upon this and acquire eternal life which is promised to the faithful.

     It is God’s will that we rid ourselves of every vice and He is without any vice being the source of all virtue and perfection of life. God is a healer and heals every infirmity, gives eyes to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and raises the paralytics. God is just and he will condemn the faithless who reject Him out of the hardness of their hearts. Such were the Scribes and Pharisees whom Christ chastised for their hardness and resultant wickedness. But He embraces with great joy all who come to Him in sincere faith.

God is truth and the source of all truth; God is peace and the source of all peace. He is kind and the source of all kindness.