Divine Love - St Symeon the New Theologian

My dear fathers and brethren, as soon as I called to mind the beauty of undefiled love, its light suddenly appeared in my heart. I have been ravished with its delight and have ceased to perceive outward things; I have lost all sense of this life and have forgotten the things that are at hand. Yet again – I am at a loss how to say it – it has removed far from me and left me to lament my own weakness.

O all-desirable love, how happy is he who has embraced you, for he will no longer have a passionate desire to embrace any earthly beauty! Happy is he who is moved by divine love to cling to you! He will deny the whole world, yet as he associates with all men he will be wholly untainted. Happy is he who caresses your beauty and with infinite desire delights therein, for he will be spiritually sanctified by the water and blood (cf. John 19:34) that in all purity issue from you!

Happy is he who passionately embraces you, for he will be wondrously changed! In spirit and in soul he will rejoice, because you are the ineffable joy. Happy is he who gains possession of you, for he will count the treasures of the world as nothing, for you are indeed the truly inexhaustible riches. Happy and triply happy is he whom you accept, for though he be without any visible glory he will be more glorious than all that is glorious, more honored and august than all that is honored. Worthy of praise is he who pursues you; even more praiseworthy is he who has found you; more blessed he who is loved by you, received by you, taught by you, he who dwells in you and is fed by you with Christ, the immortal food, Christ our God!

– St Symeon the New Theologian, The Discourses I.3

Come to Focus In Yourself

From the moment you start praying,
raise your heart upward
and turn your eyes downward.
Come to focus in your innermost self
and there pray in secret to your heavenly Father

— Aphraphat the Persian

This strikes me as a good example of how Christian prayer is not the same as New Age or Hindu meditation. He says, "Come to focus in your innermost self" as opposed to focusing on your innermost self. There's a big difference. That we're like God is a half truth. That we are God is a complete lie. God is good and we are not.

We cannot do away with the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. As the apostle Paul prayed, let me pray this blessing for you. :)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Galations 1:3-5)

Personal God - Archimandrite Sophrony

I AM THAT I AM. Yes, indeed, it is He Who is Being. He alone truly lives. Everything summoned from the abyss of non-being exists solely by His will. My individual life, down to the smallest detail, comes uniquely from Him. He fills the soul, binding her ever more intimately to Himself. Conscious contact with Him stamps a man for ever. Such a man will not now depart from the God of love Whom he has come to know. His mind is reborn. Hitherto he was inclined to see everywhere determined natural processes; now he begins to apprehend all things in the light of Person.

Knowledge of the Personal God bears an intrinsically personal character. Like recognises like. There is an end to the deadly tedium of the impersonal. The earth, the whole universe, proclaims Him: 'heaven and earth praise him, the sea, and everything that moveth therein' (Ps. 69:34). And lo, He Himself seeks to be with us, to impart to us the abundance of His life (cf. John 10:10). And we for our part thirst for this gift.

The soul knows but cannot contain Him, and therin lies her pain. Our days are filled with longing to penetrate into the Divine sphere with every fiber of our being.

From His Life is Mine by Archimandrite Sophrony

Beautiful Mercy - Laura Hackett

The whole album, Laura Hackett is good. A lot of acoustic instruments (there's a banjo, in fact ... and an upright bass) and clever arrangements. Listen through to the two-minute mark on this one.

Be Humble - Hesychius of Sinai

Snow can never emit flame.
Water can never issue fire.
A thorn bush can never produce a fig.
Just so, your heart can never be free
from oppressive thoughts, words, and actions
until it has purified itself internally.

Be eager to walk this path.
Watch your heart always.
Constantly say the prayer
“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”
Be humble.
Set your soul in quietness.

The more the rain falls on the earth,
the softer it makes it;
similarly, Christ’s holy name
gladdens the earth of our heart
the more we call upon it.

— Hesychius of Sinai

	Fr. John McGuckin - Humble Prayer .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

I was praying in the bed today, lamenting the gap between Christ and me. It's no use quoting scripture at myself when my conscience condemns me.

Many people who are experienced at prayer will tell you that as soon as you commit yourself to talk to God, the accuser [spit on the ground] will remind you of every sin you've ever committed. Or is it sometimes the Holy Spirit? It's not always easy to tell. Here's the answer though, IT DOESN'T MATTER.

If it's God reminding you about your sin, repent. Call someone you love and trust (someone who agrees with God about your sin) and tell them about it. There's an incredible freedom that comes from not hiding. This freedom is, by the way, very important to the gospel (John 3:19). Necessary, in fact.

If it's the enemy, repent. Take yourself and your shame out of his hands. Call someone you love and trust (someone who agrees with God about your sin) and tell them about it. There's an incredible freedom that comes from not hiding. This freedom is, by the way, very important to the gospel (John 3:19). Necessary, in fact.

Do you see it? Our sin really does separate us from God, not because it keeps Him away, but because it keeps us away from Him. Almost no one is willing to bite the bullet of confession so that they can pray. Instead, we convince ourselves that our sin isn't a problem but we still never pray. As if there's anything else! There isn't. We were made for Him, to obey and enjoy Him forever. If we don't have that, we don't have anything. The doors of hell are locked from the inside.

So this morning I asked God to crush me and set me on fire (Luke 20:18, Luke 3:16, Luke 12:49). Sometimes I have the grace to throw myself on his mercy. Other times I can't even do that. But He is faithful to undo me and let me try again (Lam 3:22-23).

No sooner had I prayed for this, to be crushed and burned, than Isaac came toddling bleary-eyed out of his room. "I wake up! Can I have some chocolate milk please?" Oh Jesus! Your yoke is easy and your burden is light (Matt 11:30).

The Letter to Ephesus

2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

Here the Lord Jesus reminds us of the mystery of his simultaneous transcendence and immanence. He is at once both the One who "holds the seven stars [angels of the churches] in his right hand" and the One who "walks among the seven golden lampstands [churches]". This is a necessary reminder to the Ephesian church and to us if (when) ever we lose the fear of Him or the desire for His presence and His glory.

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.

The Ephesian church was praised for its performance and adherence to sound doctrine. I beg you not to read this as permission to find fault in the ministries of others. It's in the context of discerning spirits that John says this: Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Being terrified of deception is misguided, and it should be a warning to pursue greater intimacy with God (John 10:27).

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Now it becomes clear where they fell short; they didn't love God anymore. It looks like they were satisfied just to know about Him and to work for Him. He said he "walks among the seven golden lampstands"; perhaps this was a warning that He didn't care to stop in Ephesus as He made his rounds. Perhaps they needed to be reminded of this because they didn't mourn his absence.

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ (Rev 2:1-5)

(Nicolaism was an early heresy, probably tolerant of sexual immorality; probably founded on teaching taken out of context. Thank you Wikipedia.)

Despite their faithful efforts, Jesus warns them to repent, returning to the work of loving God. This is the great and first commandment (Matt 22:37-40). He graciously closes with another compliment, a word to loose their ears, and a conditional promise.

We must be desperate for grace to love God with all our heart, soul and mind (1 Peter 1:13) distinguishing between mercy and grace. Mercy is an opportunity to repent; grace is the power to love God (Eph 2:8).

Authentic Community

Authentic Community - The Local Church as a Family - Jayson Sherrod

The Lord has set up the Kingdom of God in a way that Believers with various callings live life with one another. Foremost, individual Believers pursuing the Lord’s calling on their life and operating in their spiritual gifting is crucial to the health of the Church. Their role is to edify the Church (1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4:11-16)

The Church is God’s primary instrument for establishing His Kingdom on the earth. But the Church is more than an instrument. Jesus, the chosen King of the Kingdom calls the corporate Body of Christ His Bride (Isa. 62:5; Matt 9:15; Rev. 19:7; Rev. 21:2, 9, 22:17). Immediately, He establishes the Church in her Kingdom identity, and forever declares relationship and intimacy with God to be the context of His Kingdom’s government (Rev. 21:3, 7).

He also secures us in our identity as individuals, who make up the collective Church. We are Sons and Daughters , bearing this seal by His Spirit, who testifies it so (Rom. 8:14-17; Heb. 12:5-6; Lk. 15:11-32) and we are also, individually, the Bride of Christ , those in whom He delights (Isa. 62:4) and has strong affection for (Isa. 62:3), even strong jealousy (Ex. 34:14; Jas. 4:5; Rev. 18:20).

The Lord’s moral standards for individuals and community have been established by Jesus’ explanation of the value system of the Kingdom of God, the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-7). These are not special ideals reserved for radical Christians. This is Christianity 101. There are no exceptions for a busy 21st century age. The Sermon on the Mount is forever the standard of Kingdom living in this age and in the age to come (Isa. 9:7). It was Jesus’ value system, as we see by his life and teachings (Gospels), and since Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), we see it as also the standard of God’s righteousness and justice (Isa. 9:6-7), which are the foundation of His Throne (Ps. 89:14) and His standard for judgment (Rev. 19:11).

How does this relate to the local Church community? A community of Believers is made up of intermingling relationships. We are called to pursue the Lord as a family. We are not complete in ourselves, only together as the Body of Christ (Col. 2:10; 1 Cor. 12:12-25). This can’t happen in isolation.

The way I understand Authentic Community is essentially twofold:

Authentic : We strive to be authentic in the way that we’re transparent, honest, and vulnerable with one another. It is integrity that keeps us honest with ourselves that we wouldn’t pretend to be someone we’re not, or pretend to be godlier or more righteous than we are. Yet, having only these traits does not yet make us Christian.

Community : We strive to be a community in the Biblical sense, which is drastically different from a community as defined by the world. Even evil men know how to give good gifts (Mat. 7:11), and the unjust judges, worldly justice (Luke 18:1-6). Even unbelievers trust one another with their weakness and their broken lives. A Christian community isn’t just a gathering of people with similar and different interests who enjoy each other’s company, even bearing one another’s burdens; true humanists do this well. True Biblical community is defined by a communion or fellowship, understood by the Greek word “koinonia”. Koinonia in the context of authentic community is essentially intimacy and fellowship with one another, because we have intimacy and fellowship with God.

“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…” 1 Jn.1:7

“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” 1 Jn. 1:6

“…and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” 1 Jn. 1:7

True fellowship in Scripture required sharing God’s life and revelation with one another (1 Jn. 1:1-5). To fellowship in the way the Bible describes, people must pursue pure lives with holy speech and have vibrant spirits in the Word.

Confession, forgiveness, and repentance are required for weak and broken people to live together in authentic community. While we are striving by the Lord’s grace to walk in fellowship with Him and living by the value system of His Kingdom, we hurt one another, we must forgive (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13); we sin, we must confess to God and to one another for healing and purifying (1 Jn. 1:9), and we must truly repent (change the way you think, change the way you act); (Acts 2:38, 3:19).

Since we are all works in progress, confession and true repentance are a process for each of us and for the Church, and should be practiced regularly; the Lord is sanctifying us.

What are we striving for? To be rooted and growing in the truth of the Word of God, and who the Lord has called us to be individually and collectively.

To assess the true measure of our spiritual maturity as individuals and as the Church living in Authentic Community, we must maintain the humble posture of confession and repentance; and we must see ourselves by the standard of the Word of God, not by the society or culture around us.

The standards of God’s Word are not unreachable ideals if He has given us His Spirit and His Word, and his righteousness is what is intended for us as Believers and as His Church. If we’re not yet found in these truths in God’s Word, let’s grow in it and walk it out together as an Authentic Community.

“The glory that you have given to me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one…that they may…be with me where I am…that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:22, 24, 26).

By the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Jayson

What encourages Authentic Community:

• Conversing about the Lord in fellowship.

• Asking for prayer.

• Setting our hearts as a community to pursue, by the Lord’s grace, God’s standards of godliness and holiness.

• Refusing to tolerate sin in our lives.

• Staying committed to other believers.

• Spending time together, immersed in the Word.

• Praying together regularly.

What hinders/discourages Authentic Community:

• Fellowship as a Popularity Contest (Few, if any Churches are immune).

• Becoming isolated from the group.

• Sin with our words.

• The Lack of forgiveness.

• Sin in general

• Unconfessed sin

• Exclusivism

For more information on USC House of Prayer please join our facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26289460014