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| Take the Name of JESUS with you ! |
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 1:16
[ I, Paul ]
Cease not to give thanks for you,
making mention of you
in my prayers;
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Meditation
Our dear
Brother and Apostle Paul !
Why did Paul’s prayers have SO
MUCH POWER ? Let us look at his life briefly to find the power of prayer,
always remembering:
EVERY OBEDIENCE
BRINGS
A FURTHER ANOINTING.
2 Corinthians 11 relates some
... just some... of his sacrifices for the New-Born Church. Verses 23 to 28 --- five short verses ---
records a LIFE-TIME of suffering.
Are they ministers of CHRIST?
(I speak as a fool) I am more;
in labors more abundant,
in stripes above measure,
in prisons more frequent,
in deaths oft.
Of the Jews
five times
received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned,
thrice I suffered shipwreck,
a night and a day I have been in the deep;
In journeyings often,
in perils of waters,
in perils of robbers,
in perils by mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen,
in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea,
in perils among false brethren;
In weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often,
in hunger and thirst,
in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are
without,
that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches.
We see this same Apostle who had
been transported into the Third Heaven and heard unspeakable words
that were "unlawful for man to utter" ...
saying this:
That I have great heaviness
and continual sorrow in my heart.
For I could wish that myself
were accursed from CHRIST
for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Romans 9:2-3
Thus we see this great Apostle
and mighty Confessor of The LORD JESUS CHRIST not only
"simply prayed for "... but he ALSO made intercession for the other
followers of JESUS.
What is intercession?
How does INTERCESSION differ
from supplications
and other prayers ?
It is
what Our LORD JESUS CHRIST did for each one of us:
HE+ came
between
the satan and us.
HE+ intervened
--- placed HIMSELF+ between the destroyer and us, his
victim --- and protected us from
destruction by the satan.
HE+ took
the satan's blows, meant for us. The LORD JESUS fought
the devil and won.
The LORD JESUS came as
a man but lived in unity with His+ Heavenly
FATHER, pleasing HIM in all
things.
As the SECOND
ADAM+ , JESUS fought the devil ... and beat him FOR US.
His+ Divine
intercession entails more than supplications and requests
to Our FATHER for us.
It is interVENTION.
JESUS INTERVENES ---
placing Himself+ directly between us and the satan --- for
us. Furthermore, CHRIST ever liveth to make intercession for us...
which takes effect when we submit our lives unto HIM+.
Hebrews
7:25
Wherefore HE+ is able also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto GOD
by HIM+,
seeing HE+ ever liveth
to make intercession for them.
HE+ not
only delivered the victims from the satan's domain once
"taking captivity captive"
at the Resurrection,
but HE+ is
living -- abiding, staying, remaining constant forever --- in that
VICTORY, winning
over the satan daily in the battles, traps, and wiles the devil sets for
our souls.
The satan loses and loses and
loses... over and over again ... because of HIS+ INTERCESSION, the
intervention, of our LORD JESUS on our
behalf.
The Apostle Paul knew how to
intercede. He knew how to make
supplication to Our Heavenly FATHER for the New-Born Church.
But also...
that dear Apostle did not
hold himself back from all manner of suffering for the sake of the
church.
He wrestled with the evil
spirits IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST in order to deliver them
from the satan's grip.
Remember Acts 19 and the sons of
Sceva ?
19:13 Then certain of the
vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil
spirits the name of the LORD JESUS, saying, We adjure you by JESUS Whom+ Paul
preacheth. And there were seven sons of
one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
19:15
And the evil spirit answered and said,
JESUS I know,
and Paul I know;
but
who
are ye?
That was the real question then.
Here is the real question today:
Who are we ...
to the evil spirits, when we pray ?
Are we
so in unity with the Will of Our LORD JESUS, with the
Blessed HOLY SPIRIT, and our Heavenly
FATHER ...
that the evil spirits
tremble
when we pray ?
Have we the commitment to turn
away from self indulgence ... in all the little ways we employ... to do like
the Apostle Paul and bring our bodies into subjection daily ? (1 Corinthians
9:27 )
Are we willing and able to endure suffering for the sake of wrestling
individuals from the grip of the satan ?
Are we as certain that The LORD
JESUS will honor our suffering for the Kingdom of GOD as was this
Apostle who followed JESUS' example?
The Apostle Paul did not cease to
give thanks for the Brethren.
Nor...
did he
cease to labor and embrace suffering for the New-Born Church.
What a
good example !
Our LORD JESUS is the
Great Intercessor+. Our Brother and Apostle Paul
simply followed The LORD'S example in his heart, in
his life ... and in his daily dying to himself.
That, dear brethren,
is how we resist the devil .
REMEMBER:
EVERY OBEDIENCE
BRINGS A FURTHER ANOINTING
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Let
us pray:
Thank YOU+, LORD CHRIST, for
going to the Cross, coming between me and the satan, for my deliverance.
Forgive me for forsaking the
Cross when it is uncomfortable. Help me to embrace the Obediences YOU have
called me to embrace.
Help me, O LORD, to embrace true
intercessory prayer. Strengthen me to die daily to my flesh for the sake of
Your Kingdom.
And in that death to Self,
help me, LORD, not to be afraid. Help me to entrust my happiness and my
well-being unto YOU, my LORD and my KING+.
For the sake of Your Holy
SON+, the LAMB+ of GOD Who+ takes away the sin of the world, I offer You my
life through JESUS CHRIST my LORD.
Amen.
+ + +
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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