Let us examine ourselves !!
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Sep 25, 2009 7:01 am
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Three virtues
Three virtues should be in each moral goodness to make it a real virtue : Love , humility and wisdom .
+ Any valuable quality void of love is not considered a virtue. The same applied to any virtue void of humility and wisdom.
+ Any action far from love is far from God.
God takes from each virtue the amount of love that is in it.
If He finds no love , He casts it away completely.
+ Also any virtue that has no humility , is rejected by God and considered food for self-righteousness and vain glory.
Pride is most hated by God.
The Bible says , " God resists the proud , but gives grace to the humble "
( 1 Pet.5:5 )
+ Therefore , each virtue should be practised in Wisdom , understanding and discretion........Without wisdom and understanding , virtue is not considered a virtue....
History tells us about those who acted in virtue without knowledge and how they fell and perished..........
" Full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom... "
( Acts 6:3 )
Wisdom
gives a virtue depth and truthfulness......
And Love
gives a virtue sentiment and feeling..........
As for humility ,
it hides virtue from the devil's envy , and by this , gives its possessor modesty as well as ffection in the hearts of people..........
Let us examine ourselves are what we have deep inside us virtues ?
Blessings
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The Eye of God does not slumber or sleep .
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Sep 24, 2009 9:05 am
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[U]The Hand of God.
In all the events which we go through and all the details of our lives , as individuals and groups , we cannot forget the hand of God in all these things and in the life of each individual...........
After He created the world , God did not leave it to progress as it chanced , or let people direct it according to their wishes , without the intervension of divine providence !!
God is Almighty , and the freedom which He has given to people is not absolute freedom , but a freedom contrplled by divine arrangement.
The Eye of God does not slumber or sleep , , but watches over everything , recording it and calling it to account.........
It is the Hand of God intervening in events which makes us have confidence that He is intervening and arranging everything.
Even if God seems to be silent at times and mistakes occur , He intervenes later to correct and turn the bad into good......
What is prayer but a call for God's hand to intervene ?
And what is faith , but the confidence of God's hand intervening ?
Blessed is the Hand of God . It is full of love....
Sicowin2
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.... and that has a great reward !!
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Sep 22, 2009 5:38 pm
289 Views
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In spite of ...
To do good in spite of obstacles in one's way , shows a deep fund of goodness in the heart and the triumph of the will to do good , and that has a great reward.
As example of this we have :
+ The one who gives in spite of having needs of his own ;like the widow who gave her two small coins
( Mk.12:42 )
and the widow who gave the propher Elijah food during the famine ,
and the poor man who paid his tithes in spite of being in need himself.
+ To enter by the wide gate and the broad road is easy , , but the one who enters by the narrow gate in spite of its difficult path , he is the one who will receive a blessing from the Lord.
Likewise the one who is forgiving in spite of being deeply offended , and the one who forgives , though it is seventy times seven.
( Mt.18:22 )
+ And the one who succeeds in spite of difficulty of the test ,
as our father Abraham did in his test to sacrifice his only son , the son promised by God.
+ And the one who sticks firmly to his faith or attains a firm faith despite doubts or struggles .
like the thief who believed in the Lord when he was crucified beside Him and taunts and provocations were all around them.
+ Likewise the one who retains his sincerity and devotion in the midst of difficulties , at a time when many stumble and fall ,
Like the Beloved John wo followed his Master even to cross.
and like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who were not afraid to be joined in crucifixion.
Anyone can do something good if it is easy to do , but to do good when one is surrounded by difficulties and dangers is real proof of righteousness and saintliness.
Blessings
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Do you really pray ?!
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Sep 20, 2009 12:23 pm
334 Views
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Do we really pray ?
What is prayer ?
Prayer , in its simple meaning , is a talk with God......
It is open the heart to God , so that the faithful talks to Him, lovingly and openly.
In its deeper meaning , it is a relationship with God....
It is a relationship of love and emotion before being words. And a talk without love is meaningless.
Prayer is a tie , relationship between Man and God.
Therefore , it is not just talk , it is a heart connected to a heart.
It is a feeling of being in presence of God .It is a partnership with the Holy Spirit and unity with God.....
Prayer is the food of the angles
and the spirituals by which they nourished and taste the Lord ,
" Oh , taste and see that the Lord is good "
( Ps.34: )
Prayer quenches a soul's thirst for God ,
" As the deer pants for the water brooks , so pants my soul to You , O God "
( Ps.42:1)
" I will lift up my hands in Your name, My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness "
( Ps.63:5)
Prayer is the submission of life to God to conduce it Himself ,
" Your will be done ".
It is an admission of our lack of strength , and insufficiency.
Therefore , we resort to a greater power , where we find our care........
prayer is not an obligation or an order.
It is not just a commandment or piety and devotion......
It is a desire and longing ...... otherwise it would be a burden which we , unwillingly practise , just for obedience sake !!!
Prayer is not just a request .
One might pray without asking for anything....... but contimplate on the beauty of God and His life giving qualities.......
Therefore , a prayer of praise and glorification... is more sublime than that of request....
Prayer is the ladder which connects Heaven and Earth.
It is a bridge that we cross to reach the heavenly places where there is no world.....
It is a key to Heaven.....
It is a combination of feelings that are expressed in words........
Prayer is a taste of God's kingdom , which starts here and finishes there .
if one becomes attached to it , prayer becomes a life to him , and his life becomes a prayer .......
Therefore God says in reproach,
" In as much as these people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips , but have removed their hearts far from Me "
( Isa.29:13)
For this reason , the prayer of the evil is unaccepted before God .
It is hated by God because it is not the outcome of love , except if it is a contrite evil person who is asking for forgiveness like the tax-collector.
God said about those who pray without being pure in heart ,
" When you spread out your hands , I will hide My eyes from you , even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. ........."
( Isa.1:15-16)
Prayer would be without words or utterance......
The heart's beat is a prayer.......
The eye's tear is a prayer.........
The feeling of God's presence is a prayer......
In all these shades , do we really pray ?!!!!
Remember me in your prayers dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sanctify the Day of the Lord.
Sicowin2 the sinner!
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Do not rely on human arm .
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Sep 20, 2009 7:42 am
337 Views
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Do not rely on human arm .
Some people lay excessive importance on the grace and neglect the necessity of struggling and work.
On the other hand , some others lay stress on work and struggling , neglecting the importance of God's hand in their life and relying on their spiritualities on their human arm.
Aspiritual person , on the contrary , is aware of the danger of relying on the human arm ,
and though exerting every effort he does not rely on that but in God's work in him , according to the words of the Psalmist :
" Unless the Lord builds the house ,
They labor in vain who build it ,
Unless the Lord guards the city ,
the watchman stays awake in vain "
Therefore a spiritual person ought to say :
Consider me , O Lord like the dead
who can not raise himself
or the Leper
who can not cleanse himself .
You alone ,O Lord , can raise can raise the dead and
cleanse the leper "
You ought not therefore to focus on your talents , ability , understanding , experience , fear rather you be relying on a human arm.
Be like the house built on the rock ,
and the rock is Christ.
Then you will not fall,
Do not build your house on yourself ,
for you are dust and ashes , and it will fall.
Have a blessed , peaceful and Great Sunday.
Sicowin2
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In times of distress and hardships .
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Sep 19, 2009 6:00 pm
299 Views
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David the prophet , said to God,
" Remember the word to Your servant , upon which You have caused me to hope.This is my comfort in my affliction "
( Ps.119:49)
You too , as a sinner , in times of distress and hardships remember the following and you will be comforted :
+ "... and go , I am with you always , even to the end of the age "
( Mt.28:20 )
+ " No weapon formed against you shall prosper "
( Isa.54:17)
+ " Do not be afraid I am with you" , " Here I am , do not fear "
( Jn.6:20 )
+ " The Lord will fight for you , and you shall hold your peace "
( Exd 14:14)
+ " Behold , I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land , for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you "
( Gen.28:15)
+ " You pushed me violently , that I might fall , but the Lord helped me "
( Ps. 118:3)
+ " They will fight against .But they shall not prevail against you.For I am with you , says the Lord to deliver you "
( Jer.1:19)
+ " In the world you will have tribulation , but be of good cheer , I have overcome the world "
( Jn.16:33)
So , As long as the Lord exists, works and protects, there is no need to fear.
For this reason David said ,
" Yea , though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death , I will fear no evil; for You are with me .Your rod and Your staff they comfort me "
( Ps.23:4)
You are an example of peace of heart .
" Anyone with a bitter soul like ....., and disturbed thought , will have his heart filled with peace ..
Blessings
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Let us not be pharisees nor lawyers , but spiritual persons !
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Sep 16, 2009 6:20 am
353 Views
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The Spirit and the Letter .
I ask my brethern the......to mediate on how to avoid literality and take the spirit of the divine Commandment into life,away from formalities.
Let us not be Pharisees nor lawyers , but spiritual persons.
The Pharisees used to stick to the Letter as they did concerning the Sabbath Commandment!
When the Lord gave sight to the man bron blind , and it was on the Sabbath , they said ,
" This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath "
( Jn.9:16 )
And to the man they said ,
" Give God the glory ! we know that this Man is a sinner "
( Jn.9:24 )
Likewise , when the Lord healed the sick man at Bethesda ,
who had been sick for 38 years , they thought to kill Him because He had done that on the sabbath .
( Jn.5:16 )
Our brethen the .......stick to the letter ..........
They do not know that the Letter kills because it reveals their lack of understanding of the spirit of the Commandment as evident from their posts ,comments and replies !!
True , " The Letter kills but the Spirit gives Life "
Sicowin2 the Pharisee !!
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This is not the truth !!
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Sep 15, 2009 12:28 pm
Mood: cheerful,
350 Views
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The Relative Truth.
Truth , in its absolute meaning , is total goodness and total sicerity.
It is also one of the names of God. For Jesus is the Way , the Truth and the life.
But some people like our Beloved.......lives in a relative 'Truth', which is in accordance with what she knows and and what she feels.!!!
Two or more SDA members might argue and dispute about the Truth , but our beloved Carol.... claims that it is on her side, while the truth is in fact quite remote from what heresies and heterodoxies she introduces !
She may become over enthusiastic and rebellious on the pretext of defending Truth............................
probably this'Truth' of her consists of mistaken facts in her mind which she has heared , or some heresies she believes but not examined and this is not the Truth !!!!!
Sicowin2
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The Holy Trinity.
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Sep 13, 2009 7:03 am
353 Views
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The Holy Trinity of Christianity and the so called Trinity of the the heathen.
No doubt Christianity revealed the falsehood and wrong concepts of the pagan who believes in plurality of gods not in Trinity.
Christianity does not only believe in trinity but in Trinity and Oneness .
This concept is not acceptable to some of our beloved members the........!
St. John says ,
" There are three that testify in heaven , the Father , the Word , and the Holy Spirit , and these three are One "
( 1 Jn.5 )
The words " God is One " are stated in many places of the Bible :
It is mentioned in ( Gal.3:20) , in ( Jas2:19 ), in
( Eph.4:5 ) , in (1Tim.2:5 ) , in ( Rom.3:30 ) , in (Mt.19:17) and in ( Mk.12:29 )
It is also represented the First Commandment " The Lord our God is one Lord "
( Ex.20:3 )
The same phrase ( One God) was mentioned in Isaiah on the mouth of God Himself as in
( Isa.43:10,11 )
Christianity proclaims that the three Person ( Hypostases ) are One God.
This is stated in (1Jn.5 )
and in the words of the Lord Christ Himself ,
"....baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit "
( Mt.28:19 )
He said in the "Name" not "in the names "
Our beloved ....memebrs asks how 1+1+1 = 1.( equals one )
I reply that 1 x 1x 1 = 1
The Trinity the One God with His Wisdom and His Spirit.
As we say that of man that he and his mind and spirit are one being.
and that the Fire with its light and heat are one thing.
And the Persons of the Holy Trinity are not separate from each other.
The Son says ,
" I am in the Father and the Father is in Me "
( Jn.14:11 )
and " I and My Father are One "
( Jn.10:30 )
Further more the Persons of the Holy Trinity are equal in being Eternal not differing in time.
God has His Wisdom and Spirit since eternity.
There was no time when one of these Person had no existence
Beloved members beware of the devil and his tricks !
Blessing
Sicowin2
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