Our LORD Hears...
Meditations
for Pascha
(The Passover Season, 2016)
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Meditations for the Monastic-At-Heart
Now is My+ soul troubled;
and what shall I+ say ...
FATHER,
save ME+
from this hour ?
but for this cause
came I+ unto this hour.
FATHER,
Glorify Thy Name.
Then
came there a Voice from Heaven, saying,
I have both glorified IT,
and will glorify IT again.
John12:27-28
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Meditation Verse
Ephesians 1:15
Wherefore I also,
after I heard of your faith
in the LORD JESUS and
love unto all the saints…
The
literal Greek: For this reason
, I also hearing the faith concerning you all in
The LORD JESUS and the love towards all the saints,
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Meditation
Reports came to the Apostle Paul regarding the Followers of JESUS in
Ephesus.
Here, then, were the reports:
The Ephesian Followers of JESUS were KNOWN
for their faith in CHRIST.
They were also KNOWN for the AgapA love they issued toward
all the saints... their fellow brethren in CHRIST.
Can this be said of us?
What kind of report about us would the Apostle Paul hear if he
were alive on earth today ?
Are we supportive of the Brethren in CHRIST whom we
know ? Are we supportive individually as well as collectively ?
Do we love the Brethren enough to warn them when they go astray
from the Narrow Way that leads unto Life Eternal?
Do we kindly and gently, with support, issue correction when
Brethren walk or talk against Scripture ?
Or rather, do we play at love and try to keep everybody
"happy" with that "warm
and accepted" feeling … at the
expense of CHRIST ?
Do we indulge in "friendship evangelism" ... i.e.,
"just come to our church and we will love you into the Kingdom of
GOD"... while not requiring true repentance and conversion and
amendment of life ?
Are we known for our faith in CHRIST when
the presses of life occur ?
Is our faith of SUCH depth that we can stand firm in the face of
depression and oppression ?
Is our faith dependant on wealth? On our health ? On others ? On
our family being intact ?
Hard times, troublous times, turbulent times ---
beyond those normal things that come upon all persons --- are at
the door. They have already descended in
horror upon many in the rest of the world.
It is a living nightmare what the Followers of JESUS are
enduring in North Korea, Syria and the Middle East, Pakistan, Nigeria, the
Sudan, and other African nations… and
now it is beginning in Europe.
Persecution is coming closer to home.
It is reported that one well-known Western nation's current
leader covers the Cross of JESUS if he must enter into a building
or room where it is hanging.
It is a fact that that same leader refused to attend the funeral
of a Supreme Court judge because the funeral service was in a Church and the LORD JESUS
CHRIST was proclaimed.
There is an abundance of politicians vying for leadership who openly,
proudly, and stridently support
ungodly life-styles and Agendas, including the killing of babies in the womb
and "harvesting" their "valuable" organs. ( An
unthinkable, grotesque form of humanity trying to play "god." )
As a matter of fact, KILLING HUMANITY is the hidden but primary Agenda of most of these programs... from GMO seeds to enforced "health care" from the cradle to the grave.
Any one who refuses to personally participate in any of these unrighteous programs that go against GOD'S WORD will make himself a target.
One report from a reputable ministry stated that the Agenda is to
remove all Christian witness from the public eye. This has already taken place in some
countries in Europe; it is only a matter of time before it occurs closer to
home.
Take HEED, Church:
We CANNOT correct
SPIRITUAL problems
with political solutions,
so guns and voting
and civil "movements"
are NOT the realm
for Followers of JESUS.
There are
NO POLITICAL solutions
to SPIRITUAL problems.
NO POLITICAL solutions
to SPIRITUAL problems.
JESUS is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. HE+ alone
is able to correct the spiritual sickness engulfing this world.
Instead of standing for guns, voting rights, civil movements, and
weeping over the flag, we must stand for JESUS.
We must weep
over this Sin-Sick World.
And the Sin-Sick Worldlings,
both in control and out-of-control,
are not going to like that.
Will our faith stand in the face of persecution ?
Will our faith stand when the enemies of JESUS
CHRIST make us choose to conform to their ungodly programs and accept un-holy
life-styles ... or face persecution ?
Will we love the Brethren… or turn them in if they preach a
righteousness based on Scripture instead of the ever-changing societal norms ?
What will
our LORD and SAVIOR
JESUS
CHRIST
be hearing about us ?
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Let
us pray:
O, LORD JESUS, we need help. YOU+ know what is coming before YOU+
arrive to re-claim the earth.
We are weak and shallow; we have not been tested as our Brethren
have across the sea.
We think if we don't have the right food at the right time or the
right house we are bearing a cross.
We know the Refiner's Fire is
determined upon all the earth. Help us
to grow solid in YOU+.
LORD JESUS, I say I love YOU+; help me to pick up the Cross of
discipleship before the Cross of Persecution comes.
Help me NOT to shy away from spiritual discipline; I will not be
ABLE to shy away from persecution.
Show me, O LORD JESUS, how to stand against my own flesh and submit
myself unto Your+ Word.
I accept that the Time of Preparation is NOW to train myself to
deny my flesh... so that I do not deny YOU+ when my hour of testing comes.
YOU+ went to the Cross -- alone --- so that I would not have to go
through ANYTHING without YOU+.
Help
me, LORD JESUS.
For
Thy+ Name's sake, I pray. Amen.
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Worthy is the LAMB+.
Worthy is The LAMB+
that was slain.
Worthy is the LAMB+,
slain
from the foundation
of the earth.
Revelation 13:8
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PRAISE and THANKSGIVING
be to The FATHER,
and to HIS
Beloved SON+
JESUS CHRIST,
and to
the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT.
ONE GOD:
FATHER,
SON+,
and HOLY SPIRIT,
both now and forever,
world without end.
Amen.
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