Icon of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ
Your job is to work upon yourself: the rest is in the Hands of God. ~ St. Theophan the Recluse
Tag: Lord Help
And He Will Nourish Thee!
Icon of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ from ambo of our Church
Cast thy care care upon the Lord and he will nourish thee. ~ Psalm 55:22
Continue your path with courage, with much courage. Let your heart rejoice in the Lord, and He will grant it all nourishment and all energy that is needed so that it does not seem to collapse. Nothing should seem difficult to you. ~ St. Luke of Simferopol
You know how sometimes you may hear a familiar Scripture verse read aloud at church, and it suddenly jolts your soul awake? Like you’re hearing it for the very first time?!
Yesterday, while the Psalms were read aloud before Liturgy, the phrase: Cast thy care upon the Lord and He will nourish thee... kind of blew me away. It’s a reminder that not only does He amazingly care for me, – but He will also and lovingly NOURISH me!
Care suggests a broader action of attending someone/something, but NOURISH kicks it up a notch, zeroing in on a specific kind of care needed, focused on enriching/establishing one’s physical, mental, and spiritual well-being! Oh, what a Promise, oh, what a Joy!
O Lord Jesus Christ, open the eyes of my heart… ~ St. John Chrysostom
Help me, my God, to conquer the world within myself. ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Wishing you a blessed Nativity Fast, precious RE-revelations of nourishing Scripture, and Courage, Comfort, and Joy in Christ’s Love.
Rejoice!
Thank you Juliana T. for sharing your beautiful, inspiring Scripture Photo Art!
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. ~ Psalm 96:11-13
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ~ 1 Thess. 5:16-18
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ~ Romans 12:12
I like to start and end each day with thanking God for at least three blessings… even including sorrow, for it’s truly a blessing to remember He hears all our prayers! By relinquishing heartache back over to Him, helps one to let it go… For everything is in His Hands!
The Juices of Gratitude flow abundantly this morning!
With love, peace, and joy in Christ.
Warts and All
Nestled in a bed of sweet woodruff, a damaged hosta disregards harmful beetle bites and perseveres growing, to thrive anew.
Today is the last day of Pascha-tide.
Christ is Risen!
There are days and times in the life of a spiritual person when he feels an emptiness within himself, a weakness of soul something is missing. Something within him has left, and he does not quite know how to come to himself how to bring back the initial strength and Grace, which his soul had. He does not know how to bring back the fullness which he lost. In this case the Holy Fathers teach us: resume the prayer; begin prayer again either with the mouth, with the mind or with the heart and this lost fullness will return. You will find it again. Provided that you force yourself to Pray. ~ Elder Ephraim in Counsels from the Holy Mountain
Every choice we make has a consequence. Each day affects the next… but, the past is the past. Although we can’t go back to change the past, sometimes we are trapped within a particular groove that exists in the past. Or, perhaps occasionally, an incident from the past slips in and raises its ugly head to create turmoil in the heart. We know where these temptations come from, so we must be vigilant. Lord have mercy!
It is with Hope’s Patient Persistence, His Infinite and Unconditional Love, and Forgiveness, that we are given strength to proceed beyond the past… Moving Forward with Hope, because…
We can only meet God in the present moment. This is an area where God chooses to place limits on His own power. We choose whether or not to live in the present moment. Because we can encounter God only in that present moment, whenever we live in the past or in the future, we place ourselves beyond His reach. ~ Archimandrite Meletios (Webber)
I cannot reflect on what is past, because I live in the present moment… Yesterday does not exist. Tomorrow belongs to God, as yesterday did… So I keep quiet in God’s Eternal Present!... ….By living in yesterday we delay tomorrow’s march. We cannot live in the past which does not exist, and so give it existence it does not have… ~ St. Gavrilia (Gerontissa Gavrilia)
What has happened has happened, it is in the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
May we wrap ourselves today in the Eternal Present of God and Focus Forward, warts and all – notwithstanding!
Lord, help.
Here I am.
Now.
Greeting you From Earth to Heaven on tomorrow’s beautiful Feast of Christ’s Ascension… where we joyfully exclaim one to another Christ Has Ascended! Let us climb the Mount of Olives in our hearts and declare… Glory to Thy Ascension, O Most Greatly Merciful One!
Divine Beauty of Simplicity
A fistful of garden bluebells and bonnie heather adorn my sunny windowsill.
Orthodoxy is really very simple, although some theologians try to make a complicated system of it. ~ Father George Cheremetieff (Embassy, Emigrants and Englishmen)
If you would be simple-hearted like the Apostles, would not conceal your human shortcomings, would not pretend to be especially pious, if you would walk free from hypocrisy, then that is the path. While it is easy, not everyone can find it or understand it. This path is the shortest way to salvation and attracts the grace of God. Unpretentiousness, guilelessness, frankness of soul – this is what is pleasing to the Lord, Who is lowly of heart. Except ye become like children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of God (Mt. 18:13). ~ Elder Leonid of Optina quoted in Living God’s Word by Fr. Silouan Benedict, Bangalore, India
Orthodoxy is life. One must not talk about it; one must live it. ~ Elder Nektary of Optina
Introduction to the Orthodox Church (short, simple, edifying videos) ~ Frederica Mathewes-Green
We Need Two Wings to Fly!
Parish Mosaic in Progress: The Dormition of the Theotokos
Prayer is one wing, faith the other, that lifts us heavenward. With only one wing no one can fly: prayer without faith is as meaningless as faith without prayer. But if your faith is very weak, you can profitably cry: Lord, give me faith! Such a prayer seldom goes unheard. The grain of mustard seed, says the Lord, grows into a great tree. ~ Tito Colliander (Way of the Ascetics)
However Difficult It May Seem
At Holy Virgin Cathedral San Francisco, January 7th 2024 – Shared by Anastasia
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Greetings on the 6th Day of Christmas!
There’s nothing more beautiful or sweeter than to love the Lord Jesus. ~ St. Joseph the Hesychast
We don’t pursue hardships but if they come, we face them through steadfastness and prayer. ~ St. Paisios
Lord, I beg you… Do Your own will in me. However difficult it may seem to me, it will be easy because it will be Yours! ~ St. Gavrilia
Congratulations on your Saint’s Day, Anysia! May God grant you many years!
Making Impossible Possible
St. Nicholas Church in Juneau Alaska: Image by Simeon_B_Johnson from Pixabay
Nothing you see equals prayer, it makes the impossible possible, the difficult easy, and the crooked way straight. ~ St. John Chrysostom
If God is slow in answering your request, or if you ask but do not promptly receive anything, do not be upset, for you are not wiser than God. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian
God only gives three answers to prayer (Anonymous quote):
1. Yes!
2. Not yet.
3. I have something better in mind.
A snowflake is one of God’s most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together! ~ Vesta M. Kelly
For new-calendar friends and family celebrating Christmas this weekend, I wish you a most Happy, Blessed Christmas!
Annotation:
Merry Christmas is a greeting from the Old English (pre-12th century) words “Meriġe Crīstesmæsse” which, in the ancient sense, meant “Blessed Christmas” and was used with the time-honoured salutation – Christ is Born!
Here is a joyful carol on why snowflakes dance! Little Pine Tree
With Love in Christ.
Light in Darkness
Image by Ciroja from Pixabay
You find yourself in a darkened room and you move your hands so as to try to brush away the darkness which, of course, doesn’t move. If you open a window and light enters, the darkness disappears. The same happens with study. The Holy Scripture, the Lives of the Saints, and the Writings of the Fathers are the light that chases away the darkness of the Soul.
~ St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
O Lord Jesus Christ! You are my medicine when I am sick; You are my strength when I need help; You are Life itself when I fear death; You are Light when all is dark. ~ St. Ambrose of Milan
Blame
Image by S. Hermann / F. Richter from Pixabay
At the end of BLAME is ME. ~ Anonymous