February 28, 2017

THE BATTLE BELONGS TO OUR GOD

2 Chronicles 32:7-8

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid of the king of Assyria, nor before all the nation with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him are arms of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to save us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Encouraging Words

There is so much more going on around us than what we can see, hear, taste, or feel. We are finite creatures and we live in a finite, physical world. But there is so much more to it than that. We also are spiritual creatures because God created us in His image and that image includes or soul. God's realm is both the physical and the spiritual. Therefore we also are living in the midst of this spiritual world. It is all around us all of the time and there are armies waging war in that realm. These wars are spiritual and are of good fighting against evil. That it why Hezekiah confidently proclaims that he has the spiritual armies of God aiding in his physical battle here on earth. In the Eastern Orthodox church, we venerate the Saints that have gone before Us. We do not worship them. We do not treat them as gods. But we do believe that they are in the presence of our God and can serve as intercessors for us just as we would ask a friend to intercede for us here on earth.

Today would be my father's 90th birthday. He reposed three years ago. I was blessed to inherit the contents of his workshop that he spent his whole life building. The turquoise beads on my prayer bracelet in the picture above came from his collection. Every time I pray through these beads I close my eyes as I pass through the seven turquoise beads and can see my father and so many more of my family members that have gone before me worshipping and honoring our God in the heavenly, spiritual realm. Glory be to God! Happy Birthday, Dad! Thank you for interceding for us.