Judith 8:14 (LXX)

You cannot plumb the depths of the heart of man, nor grasp the thoughts of his mind. How then do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and come to understand His mind or comprehend His purpose? No, brothers! Do not provoke the Lord our God to anger.

Personal Challenge…

We, the modern, western world, are so arrogant thinking that we can force God into a box of our own definition and then thinking we understand all that He is and knows. We pursue knowledge with the intent to be all-knowing, when only God is. We pursue wealth and prestige with the intent to have others look up to us and therefore be worshipped when only God deserves worship. And yet God Himself became lower than us and became incarnate so that we might become eternal. God forgive us in our pride and arrogance thinking that we could know all of Your thoughts and ways. God help me to be humble before You and my fellow man so that as I fall down to my knees in humility others may see only You standing in my stead. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

O Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for blessing our marriage through the sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
When we stood together before Your Holy Altar, we invited You to come and bless us.
We claim Your Holy Presence in our marriage this day and every day.
You are the Source of Love.
Keep pouring Your love into us through the Holy Spirit.
Help us to stay close to You.
Help us to prefer one another in love,
To consider it a privilege to be able to serve one another
Until we see You face to face.
Help us to be kind to each other, tenderhearted,
Forgiving one another as You have forgiven us.
Never let the sun go down on our anger.
Grant us always to see our own faults
And not to judge each other.
Open our eyes to the best in each other.
Let patience reign supreme in our hearts.
Give us hope to brighten life,
And joy to lighten sorrow.
May our home be a haven where spiritual values are treasured and
Holy principles are modeled.
Gladden us with Your grace and peace that with one heart we may
Praise and glorify You.

Amen.

Happy Anniversary Laura…

Luke 9:23-24

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

Personal Challenge…

If we take the word of God literally then we will read this verse as saying that we must die physically for Christ when the situation to that occurs and not any other way. But losing our lives can, and must, happen every moment of the day. We must develop a practice of putting God and others before ourselves…denying our wants, desires, and even needs sacrificially for Him. This is taking up our cross daily, this is denying ourselves, this is dying for Christ. Our salvation is a never ending process and not a one time event. Glory be to God!

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Personal Challenge…

“The knowledge of the only true God is far more than intellectual understanding. It is participation in His divine life and in communion with Him. Thus, eternal life is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit.” Orthodox Study Bible, p. 1458.

Once again our modern, Western way of thinking has sent us down the path of pursuing intellectual understanding of God. We try to rationally deconstruct the scriptures to find God. We basically worship the scriptures and call that worshiping God. We read books about God and call that a personal relationship with Him, or a true understanding of Him. As I learn more and more about the martyrs and saints that have given their all for their Lord there is a common theme. It is a vibrant, personal relationship with their God, developed in the context of the community of the Church, and totally consuming their entire being that gives them the power to live this way for their Lord. One does not give up his life to the enemy because he knows about his Lord…He does it because he participates in His divine life and is in constant communion with Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Luke 5:31-36

Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”

And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.”

Personal Challenge…

We are often asked why we fast in the Orthodox Church. Isn’t that something that went away centuries ago? Jesus Himself reminds us that while He was here on earth that it was a time to be with Him, celebrating His presence, and learning from Him. He also told us that there would be a time when He would leave and that that would be a time to start fasting again. Why do we fast? He gives us a reminder that our Lord, the Bridegroom, is not here, but is returning some day. The fasting helps us to remember that He is coming and to help us develop the discipline of waiting for Him. It also helps us to free up those things that hold us to this world and give them to those in greater need than ourselves. Glory be to God!

Is is this final paragraph, the parable of the new cloth being sown onto the old garment, that really struck me. The faith practice of Eastern Orthodoxy is much different than Western Christianity. It is much more in alignment with our early Church fathers and how they believed and what they taught. This was long before the age of logic and enlightenment that we live in today. As I am now participating in a class that is teaching how to read the scriptures the way they were read in the early days of the church I am reminded that the more that we try to bring in our modern ways into Eastern

Orthodoxy the more the garment tears and falls apart. I must truly embrace that which I have chosen to pursue and let go of that which keeps trying to draw me back to the former way of thinking. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 6:45

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Personal Challenge…

So… what is the true state of my heart? Am I harboring good or evil? I can create an external life that appears to all around me that I am a good, loving, and godly man, but if I continue to harbor evil in my heart then I will sooner or later drop my guard and my mouth will speak what is in my heart. By the grace of God I can continually run to Him, confess my sins and the condition of my heart, and have Him cleanse it and fill it with good. This is a never ending process and one that I need dearly. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Wisdom of Solomon 3:9

Those who trust in Him will understand truth,
And the faithful shall continue with Him in love,
Because grace and mercy are upon His elect.

Personal Challenge…

We so often seek the truth of God in our own capabilities, our knowledge, other men and women of the world around us who have written texts about God, and the modern day practices of searching the scriptures for Him. What about putting our trust into the source of truth, and allowing Him to reveal it to us? Sometimes we have to let go of our excess baggage, especially the rational, logical ways of man, and grab hold of our Lord for He is the source of truth, grace, and mercy. Glory be to God!

Mark 13:31

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Encouraging Words…

So…what words will not pass away? What was Jesus talking about? It was definitely not the written scripture as we know it today, because they did not yet exist. It would be His teachings that He shared with the 12 Apostles and that have been passed down through the ages. The written word, later codified and canonized by the Church, are a subset of the teachings. Praise God for creating the Church, His Bride, in such a way that His teachings would be preserved until He returns…when we can be taught by Him directly.