January 7, 2014

Lessons on the kingdom of God.

Isaiah 55:8-9

“For My counsels are not as your counsels, neither are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “But as heaven is distant from earth, so is My way distant from your ways, and your thoughts from My mind.”

Encouraging Words...

Throughout Old Testament times the prophets provided visions into the future through parables and other methods. Upon the fulfillment of the Old Testament covenant by our Lord Jesus Christ He ushered in a new age, an age in which Christ gave us parables that clearly explains many aspects of the kingdom of God. This verse reminds us that God's ways are so much more than we will ever understand. Jesus also made it clear that as we live our lives for Him and in Him He will reveal more and more to us. Glory be to God!

January 6, 2014

Living in a well-watered garden.

Isaiah 58:11

God shall be with you continually, and you shall be satisfied as your soul desires. Your bones shall be enriched, and you shall be like a well-watered garden and like a spring of water that does not fail. Your bones will arise and be enriched like a green plant, and they shall inherit generations of generations.

Personal Challenge...

What a blessing our Father pours out on us through the sending of the Holy Spirit. We have God's presence with us every moment of our lives and in that presence every need, every desire, can be met. However, we so often look to meet our needs and to satisfy our desires on our own with the things of the world and consequently sin and then move away from our Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner and help me to always rest in Your arms and seek the filling of my needs and the fulfillment of my desires in You.

January 5, 2014

The created baptizes the Creator.

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Encouraging Words...
Tomorrow, January 6, the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of Epiphany (a manifestation or revelation) or Theophany (a manifestation of God). We started the feast today with the blessing of the waters. We celebrate this in remembrance of the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan river. Jesus did not need to be cleansed of any sins because He was sinless. This is why John resisted doing this. But Jesus made it clear that He was doing this to make the purification of humanity His own. This was also an opportunity for the entire trinity to appear (theophany) before mankind. How fitting it is that Jesus would use baptism as the means to start His ministry of salvation, because water is essential for the existence of everything in creation. Through His blessing of the water of the Jordan He blessed all of creation and initiated regeneration to all.

January 4, 2013

Living in the age of the new covenant.

1 John 1:1-3

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Encouraging Words...

In the days of the Old Testament those who were holy and righteous in the eyes of God were fortunate to be blessed by theophanies (an appearance or manifestation of God) of Christ. Abraham entertained three men, one of which appeared to be the pre-incarnate Christ. Jacob wrestled with the pre-incarnate Christ and earned His favor. And there were others as well. We, however, have been blessed to live in the age of the new covenant, an age ushered in by the Incarnation of God, an age when He walked amongst mankind and provided for us our salvation and victory over death and sin. Glory be to God!

January 3, 2014

Included in the mysteries of God.

Daniel 2:45

Whereas you saw the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, it ground to powder the clay, the iron, the copper, the silver, and the gold. Thus the great God has made known to the king what must come to pass after this. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.

Encouraging Words...

One of the largest hurdles that I have had to overcome on my journey into Orthodoxy was the understanding of Mary's role and place in the church. I know that this is a controversial subject and it was so even in my own mind as I recalled all that I was taught before. It has been great learning more and more about the "Eastern" way of thinking and how our early church fathers viewed the Old Testament and the teachings of Christ and the apostles. This is so important to me because if you really want to understand how something works or why things are done certain ways you must get as close to the original source as possible. The early church fathers believed that the Old Testament was full of typology (interpretation of certain historical events as "types" that prefigure events to be fulfilled through the Incarnation of the Son of God, and in His life and ministry as confirmed in the New Testament (Orthodox Study bible, p. 190)) and that there were many "types" of Mary prefigured. Some of these include the burning bush, the fiery furnace in Babylon, the one here in Daniel, and many more. If one reads the Old Testament through this grid (typology) then the truths of God become all the more evident.

Well, back to Mary. Only God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are worthy of our worship. We venerate (regard with great respect) her as we do the saints that have gone before us. We acknowledge that by the grace of God and the mystery of His power Mary was able to carry God within her body. As the bush in the desert was able to contain the fire and not be consumed, or the fiery furnace contained the three young men and the pre-incarnate Christ, Mary was able to carry God within her and not be consumed. This verse "types" Mary as the mountain from whom the stone was cut that carried the law handed to Moses and the ultimate completion of that law...Jesus Christ. There is so much more that could be said here, but this is enough for today. Glory be to God for His mysteries are far beyond our understanding and yet He continues to include us in them.

January 2, 2014

Death is dead!

Hosea 13:14

“I will deliver them out of the hand of Hades
And will redeem them from death.
Where is your penalty, O death?
O Hades, where is your sting?
Pity is hidden from My eyes.”

Encouraging Words...

What a wonderful way to start off a new year...being reminded that our Lord trampled down the power of death upon us by His own death. As Jerome (c. 347) put it: “Moreover the Lord liberated everyone, and redeemed them through the suffering of the Cross and the shedding of His blood, when His soul descended into Hades, and He did not experience corruption to His flesh; and He speaks of the death itself as well as Hades:‘I will be your death, O Death! ’ For that reason I have died so that you may die through My death. ‘I will be your sting, O Hades’ for you devoured all with your throat.” Glory be to God.

December 31, 2013

Created in His image...

Wisdom of Solomon 8:17-20

When I considered these things within myself
And thought about them in my heart,
That in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
And in friendship with her there is good pleasure,
And in the labors of her hands there is unfailing wealth,
And in the shared training of her company there is discernment,
And in the fellowship of her words there is good repute—
Thus I searched about that I might take her for myself.
As a child I was good by nature and received a good soul;
And much more, since I was good,
I entered an undefiled body.

Encouraging Words...

Wisdom (Christ as taught by the early church fathers) is to be sought and pursued by all of us. In Wisdom we find immortality, we are given good pleasure and godly wealth, and we receive training and discernment. God gives us so much in Christ. This passage, plus the following verses also reminds us that when God created us and joins our fleshly body with our soul, He gives us a good soul and a good nature, created in His image. It is as we grow up and make sinful choices that our body, our flesh, becomes defiled and corrupted. This is why it is so important for us to continually pursue Wisdom in our days of living.