Father Elisha's Blog, page 14
October 18, 2024
October 20–26, 2024 (Eastern): Esthetic Disbelief
November 3–9 (Old Calendar)
Kingdom of God: Week 7
To Settle Accounts at the End of the Day
In this seventh week of the Season of the Kingdom of God, we look at another hindrance to the expansion of God’s Kingdom in our soul. During these first ten weeks of the Divine Calendar, the Holy Spirit draws our attention to a certain weakness God wants to redeem this year to release our feet further in His plan for us. The practical point of this Season is repentance.
Repentance is important year-round, and we can gain it as a lifestyle, assimilating “the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13) The Fathers of the Church speak about acquiring the spirit of repentance. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:17). The reason we want to seek humility is beautifully written in Isaiah 57:15: “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’”
How can we do this? At the end of each day, we can benefit from an old monastic practice to “settle accounts” (Matt. 25:19). Before we go to sleep, we can spend about ten minutes asking the Holy Spirit to show us anything that might have happened that grieved “the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph. 4:30). I don’t painstakingly review every event of the day, but I try to be quiet and pray silently, asking the Spirit of the Lord to reveal my sins in deed, word, or thought.
If nothing comes to mind—and you can usually feel it or know about it even before you pray—I pray with the two great commandments (Matt. 22:36–39), and confess to Jesus how I failed to love Him with all my being and my neighbor as myself. Sometimes, that brings up other events I confess before the Lord.
After I feel there’s nothing more to confess, I thank the Lord for the forgiveness granted through the sacrifice of Himself. I ask for the grace of the Holy Spirit to fill me and help me not fall into the same sin. Last, I try to find a Scripture that speaks into the main thing I confessed, and I pray shortly using the Bible reference.
To summarize this daily settling of accounts:
Asking the Holy Spirit to reveal anything we did or didn’t do that grieved Him.Confessing our sins before Him.Asking for the grace of the Holy Spirit to enable us to walk in righteousness and holiness.And sealing the healing that accompanies confession by praying into a relevant Scripture passage.Then, when we go to confession in church, it’s always good to confess the main points that we tend to repeat during the settling of our accounts.
Sunday Gospel: Luke 16:19–31 (NKJV)
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
The Rich Man
Verses 19: “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.”
In Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus, we see two men with extremely different lifestyles. One lives securely in the kingdom of himself and the other in the Kingdom of God. The rich man’s extravagant luxury showed that “the rich man’s wealth is his strong city” (Prov. 10:15).
We know that money is not the root of all evil, “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness” (1 Tim. 6:10). “How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24b–25). “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).
But this story seems to put the rich man in focus since every verse, except 20–22, are told from his point of view. God wants to reach the heart of this rich man by putting at his doorstep someone with a radically different life.
Lazarus
Verse 20–21: “But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”
We know little about Lazarus, yet he’s clearly in a miserable condition of poverty and sickness. But why was he placed there? Jesus told us Lazarus desired to feed on the rich man’s crumbs. The general lessons from this story are the value of caring for the sick and poor, that God views each person equally no matter social status, and God’s judgement at the end of our life is righteous. But I think there’s more to poor Lazarus.
Verses 22–23: “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
We know that our adoption as children of God does not rest on earthly riches. Modesty seems to be the safest way to choose. “Give me neither poverty nor riches—feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God” (Prov. 30:8b–9).
Riches can fuel our pride and love of power, while poverty can certainly humble us. However, in the right hands, riches can do much to expand the Kingdom of God, and poverty caused by irresponsible living can hinder God’s plan for our lives. The key is to place our security in Christ. “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11–13).
The judgment of the two men’s lives shows us their relationship to God while they lived. The rich man seemed to trust in his own kingdom and cared little about the God of Israel. It even appears that the rich man didn’t help Lazarus—even though lying at his gate—since Lazarus received “evil things” in his lifetime but is now “comforted” (verse 25).
Lazarus, “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” (verse 22), clearly loved his God. This poor and suffering child of God had been placed at the gate of the rich man for an unknown amount of time.
Esthetic Disbelief
I believe the rich man must have noticed something was different with poor Lazarus. I envision Lazarus as a light version of Job, who—amid suffering—clearly showed how he feared God. “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10b)
However, the testimony of Lazarus’s faith in God’s care didn’t impact the rich man. If this sick, homeless man trusted God in his poverty, how much more shouldn’t the rich man have trusted God for his riches? “Then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth” (Deut. 18:17–18a). The poor man’s life should have been an eye-opener to the rich man, making him realize his own kingdom blinded him from the true Kingdom of Heaven.
At the end of the Sunday Gospel, we see why the rich man didn’t turn to God, even though he saw Lazarus every time he left and entered his mansion.
Verse 31: “But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
In his torment, the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brothers, hoping that if Lazarus rises from the grave, they will listen. He says of Lazarus something that confirms the visible testimony of the poor man’s faith: “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment’” (verses 27–28).
But Abraham answered that his brothers had the Old Testament Scriptures to tell them about the Kingdom of God, and that they bear a stronger testimony of God’s Kingdom than if someone rises from the dead. The rich man’s five brothers, probably sharing the same mindset as the rich man, since he feared “they also come to this place of torment,” didn’t believe in the Scriptures—neither did the rich man.
The unbelief regarding the Kingdom of God’s reign in his life kept the rich man excluded from it. Instead, he made a luxurious and good-looking empire for himself where he could reign as king. Here we see the lesson in this Sunday Gospel. When a part of our inner life is absent from the Lordship of Christ, it will construct self-sufficiency that eventually blinds us from the truth. This esthetic unbelief keeps us ignorant of how this area of our life looks like when surrendered to God’s reign.
God may send a certain person or bring us into a situation time and time again to let us see a testimony of faith we never considered. May the Holy Spirit help us expose any disbelief to the principles in God’s Kingdom, no matter how pretty we have decorated our opposing convictions. May we find joy of a deeper surrender to God’s leadership over our lives.
I’m honored you took this time reading. I pray God may bless and lead you into a new week in the Season of the Kingdom of God.
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The post October 20–26, 2024 (Eastern): Esthetic Disbelief first appeared on Father Elisha: Let me take you on an intriguing journey..
October 20–26, 2024 (Western): In the Sight of God
Kingdom of God: Week 7
The Unshakable Kingdom
The Kingdom of God is a kingdom that cannot be shaken, because Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which everything in this kingdom stands. “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken…” (Heb. 12:28).
When the Kingdom of God expands, it will always shake everything that is built upon other foundations. Ultimately, that will have a global manifestation at the second coming of Jesus. But until then, while “the kingdom of God is within” us (Luke 17:21), when God prepares to expand His Kingdom in our souls, He challenges the foundations we may have laid far away from Jesus and His commandments. “And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” (Matt. 7:25)
This even happens on the corporate level in the Church, as God moves history closer and closer to the second coming of Jesus. “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17)
We read at the end of this upcoming week’s Sunday Gospel: “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28). When the Kingdom of God extends, evil strongholds crumble and demons flee. We’ll see in this week’s message in the Divine Calendar what the next symptom of the absence of God’s Kingdom looks like and how Jesus brings restoration to these wounded areas of the human soul.
Sunday Gospel: Matthew 12:22–28 (NKJV)
Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
From Inner Paralysis to Empty Fishing Nets to…
There are four weeks left in the first season of the Divine Calendar, the ten-week-long Season of the Kingdom of God, and the Holy Spirit teaches us about the difference for the soul under the reign of Jesus Christ versus the reign of his majesty King Ego. We’re in a sub-period of four weeks, taking us on a gradual descent, revealing the experience when a part of our soul is increasingly absent from Christ’s reign. An example of this inner absence can be the emotional need to be honored by loving “the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:43).
Two weeks ago, we discovered that the first symptom when a part of our soul is outside God’s Kingdom—“since the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21)—is feeling paralyzed. We seem stuck in the same old thing, with no movement or sign of change year after year.
Last week, we discovered that inner paralysis evolves into fruitless labor. However, sometimes we experience that “in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me” (Isa. 49:2). We might experience little to no fruit in such times, because God works deeply in us. If we find ourselves hidden by God, the key is patience and faithfulness.
“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:17–18).
The key to discern if God has hidden us to prepare us for something years ahead, or if we suffer from fruitless toil and empty nets because of the reign of king Ego, is the sense of inner paralysis. When God hides us, we won’t feel stagnant because a river of life will flow in our relationship with Jesus, even though no one on this Earth seems to know we exist.
However, if we remain toiling with empty fishing nets, captured by our own wisdom and experience, this upcoming week shows us the third level of symptoms from the absence of God’s Kingdom.
Strongholds
Verse 22: Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
The Holy Spirit unveils the grace He wants to give during this Sunday and the upcoming week mostly from this first verse. Jesus had been in a synagogue and healed a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath. When He sensed the Pharisees’ anger and how they wanted to destroy Him, He left, but multitudes followed and Jesus healed them all.
The people brought to Jesus a man who suffered severely. The man was demon-possessed, blind, and mute. Terrible. But Jesus healed the man and restored him fully—he spoke and could see again. What is the significance of this in our context? The Early Fathers of the church, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, chose these passages of the Gospel to highlight certain themes and spiritual principles that would lead us deep into the Holy Spirit’s work to form Christ in our inner man, year after year.
The man’s demonic possession does not mean a demon lives where God’s Kingdom is absent in our soul. Actually, any child of God who has confessed Christ receives the Holy Spirit in the innermost being (Psalm 51:6), our spirit. If a demon possesses some of the land of the person’s soul, the evil spirit departs that very moment.
“For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:14b–16).
With no intention to scare anyone, Christians can still be influenced by evil spirits clinging to the outer sphere around the person. People with deep emotional wounds, severe traumatic experiences, or occult practices in the family that have been passed down the generations, can suffer from external evil strongholds that have formed a bond with a fallen part of the soul, even after becoming Christians. The Holy Spirit used to fill the outer sphere around us in the Garden of Eden, but when man fell into sin, the Holy Spirit lifted, and this external sphere became a vacuum evil spirits can occupy. These evil presences are not inside the person’s soul—a Christian cannot be possessed—but settle in the atmosphere around the person.
Symptoms can be clear bondages to act a certain way, feeling one’s thoughts are hijacked or uncontrollably bombarded, or worldly passions appear out of control. The best way to get free from such evil bondages is praying Psalms regularly, doing prostrations (act of worship and humility), and proclaiming the blood of Jesus over oneself. If one remains faithful, the bond will break, even though it might take months or even over a year.
However, all of us encounter bad thoughts coming from demonic spirits. This is nothing to be afraid of—simply ignore them and believe the truth. “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Eph. 6:16). So please don’t think you have an evil spirit camping in your backyard or in your bedroom closet, just because evil thoughts are thrown at you. Ignore them, and even better, pray in the opposite direction of the evil thought.
Back to the Sunday Gospel. This man’s demonic possession shows that the darkness of the absence of God’s kingdom has captured his thoughts. The part of our soul ruled by king Ego cannot comprehend the life in God’s Kingdom except by His grace. The soul only knows the way it has always known. It can hear about how the principle in the Kingdom of God works, but cannot adopt them until the grace of God gives the genuine experience.
Blind and Mute
Verse 22: “Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.”
This poor man couldn’t see or speak. He couldn’t see the miraculous works of Jesus, express himself, or pass on a message about anything. We lose the ability to testify, and this is the third level of symptoms of the absence of God’s Kingdom.
If a part of our soul remains in paralysis and we continue to exhaust our efforts in fruitless labor, we lose even the message we are fishing with. We’re unable to give a testimony to God’s work. An inner blindness and muteness make us unable to see God’s work in this area and give a testimony about it. We’re driven into the dreaded hopelessness: inner despair. This is dangerous, because it’s the exact opposite of how Jesus called us to live.
Inner Despair
“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). What Peter and John had seen Jesus do and heard Him say—also after His ascension—was all they could talk about. The testimony of Jesus and “His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not” (Jer. 20:9).
Jesus told those he healed: “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them” (Mark 1:44). We give not only a testimony through our words—a silent testimony can speak much louder. When we show with our lives our faith is not an opinion but a lifestyle, our silent testimony speaks more than words.
When we’re handicapped from giving a testimony about God’s work—if we’ve lost hope and entered despair—we’re far, far away from Christ’s reign.
The spiritual giants of church history speak about the continuous remembrance of God, practicing His presence, having Jesus always before our eyes. This principle we find in several verses, but especially 2 Cor. 2:17: “For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.” The last part of this verse is subtle, but amazing.
In the Sight of God
The verse above ends with “but as from God…” In John 3:3 we read “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The word “again” also means in Greek “from above.” A Christian is no longer an earthly creature, but a heavenly. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling…” (Heb. 3:1). “For our citizenship is in heaven…” (Phil 3:20).
As Christians, we are born again from above. Therefore, Jesus said “‘as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20: 21b–22). We live “as from God” on the Earth. But there’s more.
The last part of 2 Cor. 2:17 says “we speak in the sight of God in Christ.” Wherever we go and whatever we do, we should do it as if we’re standing before God. We should talk to people and minister as if we’re standing before God. Everything we should do as before Him. Therefore, when old icons depict saints teaching people, they don’t look at their disciples, but upwards. The Desert Fathers would say, live as if only God was in the world.
To live with a constant view of Jesus, filled with awe of His beauty, His majesty, we see the need to have all areas of our souls’ blindness and muteness healed. This is obviously a high level of spirituality, but living before God as a channel of His greatness, declaring the testimony of how we see Jesus with our inner eyes, brings a powerful testimony of the Kingdom of God and the glory of the Heavenly King.
“One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Ps. 27:4). “I have set the Lord always before me” (Ps. 16:8).
Nothing is Too Difficult for Jesus
Verse 22 (again): “Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.” The last part of this first verse says that Jesus “healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.” This man spoke immediately, with Jesus being the first man he saw.
Jesus can heal, even if parts of our soul have fallen into despair. If we have lost all hope of God’s restoration, we suffer from inner blindness and muteness. We’re unable to speak about “the things which we have seen and heard.” But Jesus’ salvation is unlimited, and He can bring this part of our life into the constant beholding of the beauty of the Lord. Then people will confirm our testimony and say: “Could this be the Son of David?” (verse 23).
Thank you for sharing this time together; it’s an honor for me. I pray the Holy Spirit will help us see how this week’s message of inner hopelessness and despair shows how God wants to work within us throughout this year’s Divine Calendar. May God bless your week.
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The post October 20–26, 2024 (Western): In the Sight of God first appeared on Father Elisha: Let me take you on an intriguing journey..
October 11, 2024
October 13–19, 2024 (Eastern): The Mind Of Christ
October 27 – November 2 (Old Calendar)
Kingdom of God: Week 6
Our Vision of God’s Kingdom
It’s five weeks left of this first Season of the Divine Calendar. In this Season of the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit presents to us a greater vision about our lives when The Lord’s reign has extended in our souls. The more we allow God to extend the sanctification of our souls, the greater our external impact and testimony for the Kingdom becomes. God wants us to partner with Him in His work, but the vision of our lives must first develop into this new call.
God wants to help us see what hinders this broadening of our vision from becoming a reality. Typically, during the first season of the Divine Calendar, we get an idea of a certain weakness, a deep root in the fallen human nature, that resists this growth.
In the previous weeks, we’ve seen some unique pictures of these weaknesses. We’ve looked at the realization that God and His Kingdom are greater than the spacious box we sometimes create with our convictions about how things work—certainly, I do. Then we talked about toiling in the night with no fruit, serving The Lord our own way. And last week, we saw how powerless we are of loving our enemies unless we tap into God’s inexhaustible reservoirs of love and tender mercy.
In this week’s Sunday Gospel, Jesus tells a parable of something very natural, a farmer sowing seeds. Then Jesus explains to His disciples that He told this parable because the masses wouldn’t understand Him if He told mysteries plainly. Last, Jesus tells the mystery directly to his inner circle of disciples. Let’s go through this and discover the message for this week.
Sunday Gospel: Luke 8:5–15 (NKJV)
“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
First Challenge of The Birds
Verse 5: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.” A great crowd from many cities stood before Jesus as He told the parable. However, Jesus knew the multitudes couldn’t comprehend the parable’s true meaning, but by telling a story, they might understand it later. We’ll look more at this later.
The first seeds the Sower sowed lacked protection, being on the open wayside, and birds devoured them. The moment we leave a time of spiritual devotion in reading the Word of God, reading the sayings of the Saints and their lives, attending services or the Divine Liturgy, our souls carry new divine seeds. To avoid intrusive thoughts of unbelief (the birds) that either remove these truths from our memory or flap the dust of doubt (verse 12), a prayer about what we’ve read or heard will protect the seeds. If the seeds survive this first trial of simply being forgotten or canceled by doubtful thoughts, our next challenge comes.
Second Challenge of Lack of Moisture
Verse 6: “Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.” Since the seed landed on rocky soil, it couldn’t absorb enough water to support its growth. It withered away.
Our next challenge is to keep on praying about what we have received without being tempted to do something else (verse 13). If we don’t vigil in prayer over the truth we want to establish in our life, the seeds wither, even if we protected them from the birds. But if we pass this second test of endurance in the prayer of hope, not giving into distractive temptations, we’re ready for the third challenge.
Third Challenge of The Thorns
Verse 7: “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.” The thorns that grew up with the shoots soon stole all the sunshine. The lack of light killed the sprouts.
Once our spiritual enemy sees we are vigilant in prayer about something in our life, watering the seed undistracted with lots of hope, a different temptation will confront or pull our attention from our goal (verse 14). The Gospel of Mark, verses 18–19, tells us: “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
Our third challenge after defeating the birds of forgetfulness and the dryness from lack of vigilance, our ultimate test is a sudden care related to our earthly life. It can be a temptation for wealth or simply desiring something else more than our goal. One of these confronts the shoot. If we give in, these thorns will block out the sunlight—our attention becomes things strictly related to our earthly life instead of the face of Jesus, shining “like the sun” (Matt. 17:2)—and the seed will wither away. But, if we defeat this tremendous temptation, we arrive at the blessed good soil.
The Reward of The Good Soil
Verse 8: “‘But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.’ When He had said these things He cried, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’” If we pass all these three trials, we’ll see not just our seed sprout into maturity, but the fruit can be much greater than we hoped for—even a hundred times more. Verse 15: “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
Then Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This means, let he who understands these words, understand them. There will be ears that only understand the natural message about the farmer’s work of getting the best crop out of his seeds. But some ears understand the spiritual message about the three challenges confronting the growth of God’s Word to bear fruit in our lives.
The Mind of Christ
Verses 9–10: “Then His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘What does this parable mean?’ And He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”
It might sound like Jesus doesn’t want to multitudes to see or to understand, but that doesn’t sound like Jesus. “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
Jesus wanted everyone to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. But He knew that the crowds, who didn’t follow Him closely like His disciples, couldn’t comprehend His teaching if He told the mysteries plainly—specifically, what He told the disciples about the three challenges for the Word of God to grow and bear fruit.
Jesus feared if He told His teaching plainly… seeing it, they may not see. And hearing the mysteries, “they may not understand.” This would not bring them closer to the true understanding of the Kingdom of God, but confuse and frustrate them. Therefore, He told them parables, and then He told the mysteries plainly to His disciples later on. Jesus tailored the message to His hearers so that both would grow in due time. Jesus is the wise Sower of truth in the human hearts…
The crowds would comprehend His teachings later, once they realized what Jesus came to do—saving the human soul from sin, and not the Kingdom of Israel from the Roman Empire.
“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:13–16).
What Language Do We Understand?
In this season, the Holy Spirit helps us understand the difference between living under God’s reign or under the reign of the fallen human nature. If God reigns, we don’t view our life and circumstances through “words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” But if our life is in the absence of God’s Kingdom, we don’t “receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Yes, we are believers, but if you’re like me, there are still areas in my Christian life that need to mature. Through the grace of this Sunday Gospel, the Holy Spirit helps us discern the deep-rooted weakness God wants to redeem during this year’s journey through the Divine Calendar.
Are we able to understand the language of the Holy Spirit? Is there something He’s trying to say through our circumstances and daily lives? Do we only understand the natural message on the surface-level, or do we understand the spiritual message? May the Holy Spirit reveal His spiritual language so we comprehend what God attempts to say these weeks.
It’s a blessing for me that you took the time to read. I hope and pray the Holy Spirit will be close to us this new week. God bless you.
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October 13–19, 2024 (Western): Jesus Enters The Boat
Kingdom of God: Week 6
From Now On…
Your biggest potential is where you’ll face your biggest confrontation. The way God designed you fits perfectly with the unique life God has in store for you in His Kingdom—a call that still lies ahead.
God formed and fashioned you so uniquely for His glory. “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God’” (Isa. 49:3–4).
But because He has equipped you, declared a certain way of life for you, and given a purpose that fits you perfectly, this divine potential is also an area of great struggle. However, perhaps you know what you’re zealous about, what engages you unlike anything else. You feel this because God has designed you in a certain way that makes parts of life and the vision of the Kingdom of God resonates with your very depths.
In these weeks, the Holy Spirit wants to dust off this area so we can discern more clearly and know with greater accuracy our original design, how God created us, and what He created us for. This is as diverse as the persons walking on this earth. Yet, we can know how we are designed by those good ambitions that grab hold of us. They do because we’re made that way.
However, because of the fall, our greatest potential needs purification before we can fully comprehend it. This darkened stain is also highlighted by the Holy Spirit during this Season of the Kingdom of God, because this is what God wants to redeem during this year’s Divine Calendar. It may be that our greatest weakness is linked to our greatest potential, because it wouldn’t surprise us if that target is the enemy’s priority.
And so, we read in this week’s Sunday Gospel that Jesus says to the fisherman Peter: “From now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:10).
Sunday Gospel: Luke 5:1–11 (NKJV)
So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. 4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
Expanding God’s reign in our Soul
During the Season of the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit stirs a cry within us. He shows us a glimpse of how our lives can look like with God’s reign expanded in our souls, but then we notice a weakness hindering it. Perhaps we know exactly what God seeks to change, or we might feel a subtle pull toward something. Either way, we want to lay hold of something new in God’s Kingdom. Something we feel God is calling us to. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Phil. 3:12).
Last week began the four-week period of gradual descent, displaying how our inner life experiences the loss of the vision of God’s Kingdom. Why this sad descent? Because the Holy Spirit helps us recognize the weakness hindering us from attaining the blessed picture of a deeper life with Jesus. We may realize a bondage that hinders our ability to live closer to Him or enter the fulfillment of a promise we’ve received from God long ago. It can be a personal revival—“times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
In the previous week, we saw the first level of symptom—the inner paralysis—of losing the vision of God’s Kingdom. Perhaps we feel stuck, unable to move. But in His love, God sends people our way who, knowingly or unknowingly, take us to the feet of Jesus through their love, words, or actions.
At the feet of Jesus, in repentance, we can take up our pallet and walk. When we’re healed of an inner paralysis, people recognize immediately that something has happened to us. This week, the Holy Spirit wants to help us understand the next level of symptoms.
Attraction
Verse 1–2: “So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.”
We’ll discover a stark contrast at the beginning of this Sunday Gospel. Jesus quickly attracted the crowds. He gathered human hearts to Himself like a magnet, and especially the simple, the weak, and those overlooked by others.
“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty” (1 Cor. 1:26–27).
How freeing. We can’t impress Jesus with our achievements, skills, or knowledge. Jesus seeks who we truly are, so people gathered around Him because they felt He knew them inside out. That might sound scary, but Jesus “did not come to judge the world but to save the world” (John 12:47).
Jesus is incomprehensibly merciful, and speaking with Him leaves no space for misunderstandings—He knows… He understands. But in His tender mercies, He wants to help us out of the suffering we might even unknowingly create for ourselves, so He also said, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14b).
But what about the fishermen? They were washing their nets, and verse 5 said they had “toiled all night and caught nothing.” Like any good fishermen, they fished at night because the fish comes to the surface to eat. Also, the fish won’t see the nets in the dark. Therefore, the fishermen always got a good catch when fishing at night. Yet, somehow, this night they caught nothing. This gives the hint that Jesus already works in the surroundings to teach the fishermen—His coming disciples—a crucial lesson. Jesus got a massive catch of human souls, but the fishermen not a single tilapia.
Jesus Enters the Boat
Verse 3: “Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.”
When we labor hard with little fruit, Jesus is keen to enter our labor. There will be times when we know we are doing God’s work the way He called us, and we simply need to practice faith and work consistently with patience. This point can’t be underlined enough, since the last two Sundays of this Season are all about this point. But there will be times when we have begun a work, or deviated from a good start, that causes our labor to bring little to no fruit. That’s when Jesus wants to enter.
We might overfocus on our task or feel exhausted, so we don’t recognize Jesus standing on the shore, asking to enter. I’ll be the first to testify to this. But when we spot Jesus trying to catch our attention, and we allow Him to enter, His activity will differ from what we expect. He will show what’s really important for Him—teaching the multitudes in this case—then He’ll address our work of fishing.
Confronting Our Own Conviction
Verse 4: “When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’”
It would be understandable if Simon answered: “Well, I appreciate You’re trying to help, but You’re a carpenter, right? Think I’m the expert among us here. At daytime, the fish goes deep into the lake, besides, they see our nets. No one gets a catch in daylight. Believe me, I’m grown up in this business. No clue what’s going on at the moment, but if we don’t catch fish at night, we certainly won’t in daylight.”
We think we know how things work—we have experience, after all. As spiritual people, we know what’s going on here. It’s all the devil’s work, fighting full force against us, right? But Psalm 127:1–2 reminds us that “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. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.”
Verse 5: “But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.’” But unlike some—like myself—Simon is humble in his exhaustion. He’s wise enough to know, after listening to Christ teaching the multitude on the shore, that this Man is extraordinary. Simon obeys the Lord’s request. Our battle is to dare break out of a certain conviction that traps us in human wisdom and experience. It might have been born from God’s inspiration, but at some point, we mastered the task and became unhealthily independent.
From Nets of Nothing to Breaking Nets
Verse 6–7: “And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”
They rowed into the deep and Jesus sat among them. They were about to discover this Rabbi not only had divine revelation but authority over creation. The presence of Jesus attracted the fish—against all common sense—and they caught an enormous amount of fish in broad daylight. When Jesus is in our boat, other rules apply. It is no longer about what experiences have taught us, but what is pleasing to the Lord. Jesus does what pleases Him. He loves us immensely, and therefore wants us to love Him immensely, and that economy rules above any common sense.
“… and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand” (Isa. 53:10).
Here is the second level of symptoms when the Kingdom of God is absent in a part of our soul. Yes, Jesus purchased us with His blood. “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:13–14). But there are still areas in our souls where sin reigns, and the Holy Spirit highlights a specific spot during this Season.
If a part of our soul remains in paralysis, what happens next is that the stagnant spiritual growth or the enclosed area of influence (because of the paralysis) brings less and less fruit until the nets are empty. We might do everything right according to our conviction of what worked in the past, but if we lose the vision of the Kingdom of God—don’t see Jesus waving at us from the shore—all our labor will produce little fruit. “For without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Two important notes: This symptom might only affect one area in our life, but it is most likely the area with most potential, since the Lord is eager to replace the reign of his majesty king Ego with Himself. Also, there will be times when God tests our faith, and all we have to do is remain faithful in our devotion to Jesus and endure in the service entrusted to us.
“And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me. And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God’” (Isa. 49:2–4).
May the Holy Spirit give us grace to discern, and a conversation with a spiritual mentor can certainly help. A helpful sign to recognize if the Lord has hidden us in His quiver for a purpose yet to be revealed, or we are laboring in unhealthy independence, is the sense of an inner paralysis.
On our Knees
Verse 8: “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’”
The key to unlock the Holy Spirit’s miraculous work this Season is repentance. Even if we don’t know what weakness Jesus wants to transform this year, reviewing our day with the Holy Spirit each evening, confessing our sins at His feet, is a guaranteed way to be led in the right direction—even if our mind grasps much later what direction God takes us this year.
When we experience Jesus entering our boat, and see His miraculous hand do what we know only He can do, we’re humbled. “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4)
Let’s end with what Jesus said in verse 10, showing the redemption of the nets of nothing. “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” God will take the very thing we did so fruitlessly—natural or spiritual gift, internal or external ability—and put it into a new context with Jesus in the center. When we experience this redemption with Jesus working with us, we produce much fruit. “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:8).
May the Holy Spirit help us this week to discover nets that catch nothing, and may we find the courage to pray and ask the Lord to help us surpass any conviction that blinds us from seeing Jesus on the shore, eager to enter our boat.
It’s such a blessing that you took the time. I pray and hope Jesus helps us all into yet another week, following Him as a laborer in His Kingdom. Thank you for reading, and may God bless and reward you.
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The post October 13–19, 2024 (Western): Jesus Enters The Boat first appeared on Father Elisha: Let me take you on an intriguing journey..
October 4, 2024
October 6–12, 2024 (Eastern): The Declaration
October 20–26 (Old Calendar)
Kingdom of God: Week 5
Uniting our Days to Jesus’ Days
We have followed Christ’s footsteps in the first four weeks of the opening Season of the Divine Calendar and through a week celebrating the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and the Elevation of the Holy Cross. This season focus on the major theme of the Bible, the Kingdom of God. Our goal is to unite the events of our days with the events in Jesus’ life, because everything Christ did was for our salvation. His birth, childhood, baptism, fasting in the wilderness, healing of the sick, every word He spoke and act He did are stored in His human nature—our new nature—as unlimited grace.
The Christians of the first centuries loved Jesus so much He became the center of everything they did. They sought to unite every day with Him because “of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). Everything that happened in their days became chances to receive from His divine-human nature. We seek to follow Jesus like this in our journey through the Seasons of Salvation, but in a tiny scale compared to the first centuries.
If sin abounds in our age, “grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20), and “with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37). When we enter the mysteries of these seasons by viewing our days through the themes of the Seasons of Salvation and the Sunday Gospels, and pray into what resonates with us, we will receive transformative grace from the ancient wells of salvation. “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isa. 12:2–3).
Those who grow up in the eastern church have a significant advantage compared to the western evangelical church, because the seasons of the liturgical year are mostly preserved. However, the danger in the eastern church is to focus too much on the means—the liturgical eloquence, even though how beautiful they are—when they are supposed to lead us to an encounter with the person of Christ.
It is when we encounter the Lord in the Sacraments, in the services, and in our private devotion, that we receive the grace of the Season of Salvation. Do not worry about whether you are doing this journey correctly. This is quite simple. If your heart longs for Jesus, if you attend the services in your parish as best as you can, and if you have a private prayer time, expressing your heart to the Lover of mankind, then you are doing it perfectly.
Our Journey so far
In the past four weeks of this Season of the Kingdom of God, God wants to entrust us with more of His Kingdom, but to do so, He needs to prepare our souls for this task through deeper sanctification. God wants to renew our comprehension of His ways and His Kingdom so we can grasp more of His plan for our lives.
In the previous two weeks, we have seen the painful picture of toiling on our own, but how everything changes when Jesus enters the boat of our life, and our need to abide in the endless reservoirs of God’s grace so that we may love our enemies.
This week we will discover a sign that can help us locate the specific weak spot in our life that God wants to transform during this Divine Calendar year. Several signs can point us to what the Holy Spirit puts His finger on in this season, but this week’s Sunday Gospel describes the grace available to help us comprehend what God does in and around us.
We’ll see a dramatic image that contrasts the kingdom of this world with the Kingdom of Heaven.
Sunday Gospel: Luke 7:11–16 (NKJV)
Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.
16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
Our Inheritance
We’re halfway through the Season of the Kingdom of God, and since the first week the Holy Spirit has led us by the words of John the Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:2)
As we are born from above (John 3:3), we give “thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col. 1:12–13). This majestic verse shows how we have “been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible” (1 Pet. 1:23), and our belonging and future—our inheritance—is in Heaven.
In the future, our corruptible body “must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality,” (1 Cor 15:53) and God will free our physical body from the effects of sin and death. During our current life, our soul is the land where the conflict rages between the Kingdom of Heaven and the realm of our fallen sinful nature.
During the Divine Calendar, God wants to redeem an area of our soul by liberating it from the tyranny of sin and release the reign of Jesus Christ, the Heavenly King. During these weeks of the Season of the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit desires to give us vision and understanding of what He wants to transform, so we can cooperate with Him during the upcoming seasons. We lay the foundation for the rest of the Divine Calendar in these weeks—therefore, this first season is so long.
The Image of Christ
Verse 11: “Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.”
Jesus enters Nain with a large group of followers. We’ll soon see an image of the two opposing kingdoms, the Kingdom of Heaven and the fallen world. Not only Jesus’ disciples followed Him, but “a large crowd,” all being impacted by Jesus’ miraculous works, His teaching, or even just the rumor.
People were attracted to Jesus in an extraordinary way, as they saw in Him the original image in which they were created. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Col. 1:15). Jesus is the prototype of the human being, so the followers saw the breathtakingly pure being they themselves wished they were. Jesus was the perfect mold of a human being, so He captivated the hearts of the humble. Christ’s words and presence touched man so deep no one had ever done before. He is truly “fairer than the sons of men” (Ps. 45:2).
Jesus’ crowd symbolizes the Kingdom of Heaven with our inheritance, Jesus Christ, in the front. We have our inheritance in Jesus. His life becomes ours. Our reward when completing our race on Earth is Jesus Himself and His Kingdom. This we see in the coming Heavenly Wedding in Revelation 19, and how St. Paul describes us as co-heirs with Christ. “And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Rom. 8:17). “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
The name of the city Nain means “a home,” “a habitation,” “a pleasant house.” We’ll now see the state of the fallen man’s home.
Kingdom of this World
Verse 12: “And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.”
If Jesus’ crowd symbolized the Kingdom of Heaven, with the inheritance of Jesus in front, then the crowd following the widow represents our fallen world, with the inheritance of the dead widow’s son up front. A heartbreaking scene. This is the end of the widow’s existence because her name will not continue to the next generation. Her husband is gone, and now her only son has died. This is the sad state of fallen mankind; death is our inheritance and our names will disappear. “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
Two Kingdoms represented by two crowds are about to meet. Death leads one crowd and Jesus the other. This is an image of the battle in our soul.
The Declaration
Verse 13: “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” Jesus, in His compassion, comes to bring the widow out of her hopeless state.
Verse 14: “Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’” Jesus, with the power of His words, calls the widow’s son back to life. Her inheritance is saved and her name will continue. One day, Jesus will speak these words to every one of us “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52).
Verse 15: “So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.” The first thing the young man did, as Jesus rose him from the dead, was to speak. Verse 16: “Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen up among us’; and, ‘God has visited His people.’”
Few people in history shares the experience of being raised from the dead. Of course, Jesus is the only one who rose from the dead by His own power. Others who were raised from the dead were called from the grave by Jesus and His resurrection power. Lazarus (John 11) is the most famous example, but the widow’s son in Nain is another. What does this teach us about God’s work in our life these days?
When The Kingdom of God extends in our soul, there is an immediate declaration. It’s impossible to hide, because those around notice the change. A previous fallen part of our soul suddenly starts speaking—not literally, but as a transformation people notice. Also, a part of our life that was never fulfilled comes into fruition. We become more whole and another step toward who we were created to be.
May this encourage us, seeing the powerful effect our soul has on the surroundings when the thrones of sin are torn down and the Kingdom of God extends. “For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
It’s an honor you took the time to read this simple message. May it build faith and expectation regarding how powerful Christ’s salvation is when it extends in our souls. I pray the Holy Spirit may continue to guide and help you along the way in this upcoming week.
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October 6–12, 2024 (Western): Jesus Is In Town
Kingdom of God: Week 5
Experiencing the Kingdom of God
Jesus wants to secure every human soul in His Kingdom, so every one of us will see His majesty and forever be in wonder of the kindness of our Heavenly Father toward us. “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7).
So often, Jesus calls us with names related to family. “Son…” “My brethren…” We can’t comprehend the affection Jesus has for us. But when He reminds us—meaning, not our minds, but the depths of our being—that we belong to Him and His Kingdom, we taste that future state when all that is alien to God’s Kingdom is gone.
The image of God in us—which the enemy works so hard to distort, degrade, and destroy—is the proof we belong to the Kingdom of God. No matter our nationality, social status, skills and talents, gender, preferences, and every other diversity of humanity cannot remove the image of God within. Before God, we are all equal.
When we hear Jesus speak words of spirit and life (John 6:63), and we believe and welcome them, we experience His Kingdom. His words and teaching about the Kingdom blow away the gray blur of pain, sadness, and bitterness that covers this fallen world. When the sun of the countenance of Jesus shines on us, our worries, burdens, pains, fears, and every other reaction to this fallen world vaporizes. Our lifestyle changes, and we live as children of God.
“Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain” (Phil. 2:14–16).
In this week’s Sunday Gospel, we read: “And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.” (Mark 2:2b–3) It was the hearing of Jesus’ words and the teaching about the Kingdom of God that birthed the faith in these men to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus’ feet. They were fully convinced—even making a hole in the roof to get the paralyzed to Jesus—that Jesus would restore their friend’s life. They were experiencing the Kingdom of God…
Sunday Gospel: Mark 2:1–12 (NKJV)
And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” 6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
A Gradual Descent Begins
We are in the Season of the Kingdom of God, the first Season of Salvation in the Divine Calendar. These ten weeks help us understand what part of our soul God wants “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). We might notice already that the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to a certain weakness deep in our soul. God wants to transform this weak spot into a glorious image toward the end of the Divine Calendar. That is why the keyword for this season is Repentance.
In this in-between age of the first and second coming of the King of Heaven, we are all a work in progress. Yes, our faith in Jesus grants us entrance into His eternal Kingdom—He redeemed us by His death on the Cross. This work “is finished!” (John 19:29). But parts of our soul linger with the activities of our old human nature. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17).
We may experience a type of identity crisis. We know we belong to Heaven—to the Kingdom of God—but parts of our lives still testify we are quite earthly. The Holy Spirit wants to change this. But why? Because sanctification has no limit in our age, and the further we dare travel on the path of becoming more like Jesus in deed, word, and thought, the more powerful our testimony of the Kingdom of God becomes.
People notice when Christ is formed in a human soul—such a saint doesn’t need to say much to demonstrate the realities of the Kingdom of Heaven. Because “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Jesus Christ dwells in this soul—a “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13)—and His literal presence mystically minister to every soul interacting with this person in ways we can’t comprehend. I’m sure you’ve encountered Christians—typically an elderly gem of a soul—who radiate such irresistible warmth, making you feel you are melting in the person’s kindness. That is Jesus.
So we continue this season to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12b–13). The first two weeks revealed the Kingdom of God through John the Baptist and Jesus Christ Himself. The following two weeks showed the absence of the Kingdom of God through Zacchaeus and the sinful woman with the alabaster flask.
This coming week, and the three following, takes us on a gradual descent, showing what happens as we lose the vision of the Kingdom of God. This decline illustrates our experience of the departure of the Kingdom’s reign in our soul. But to avoid discouragement, we will also see Jesus’ redemption. We begin with the well-known story of the healing of the Paralytic.
Jesus is in Town
Verses 1–2: “And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.”
Jesus did not need a month-long social media campaign to gather people. People knew when Jesus was in town. Every person who encountered Him left transformed. They couldn’t stop speaking about Him. It didn’t go long before “Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction” (Mark 1:45). Jesus looked past our fallenness, seeing us redeemed in His glory.
People gathered quickly around the house in Capernaum. They wanted to listen to Jesus, because His words were “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63), and carried the Holy Spirit like “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
“And He preached the word to them.” What was this word he preached? It was about the Kingdom of God. Jesus gave parables, images, and direct teaching about the redeemed creation under God’s rule. The Kingdom is where God’s reign wholly unites with human society, the animal kingdom, and even creation—everything in Heaven and on Earth becomes one. Jesus spoke about what we all long for: the end of this current age of pain and suffering and the eternal Kingdom of righteousness and glory.
Inner Paralysis
In the crowd stood a group of four men and listened to Jesus’ message, but a fifth member lay home on his pallet. The paralyzed man could not hear the words of the glorious Kingdom because he was stuck in his disability. This is the first manifestation when our soul loses its vision of the Kingdom of God. Paralysis. We’re stuck. Can’t go back or forward. Imprisoned in ourselves.
It can be a mindset, an experience, a conviction, an emotional wound, disbelief—a deep root in our fallen nature that hinders us from moving forward. It is a specific sin we might not even recognize because it has become a part of who we are. “I’m paralyzed in this area, and there’s nothing to do about it.”
Bond of Love
Verse 3–4: “Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.”
But this group of four men remembered their paralyzed friend and wanted to bring him to Jesus. Maybe Jesus had spoken about Isaiah 35, and how “the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” (Isa. 35:6). Jesus proved everything He said by giving humanity glimpses of the coming age. He healed “the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). “For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20).
These men’s action of getting their paralyzed friend onto the roof, break it open, and lower him down with ropes before the feet of Jesus, proved more than their faith in Jesus’s ability to heal. What love they had for one another—nothing was to hinder them from getting their friend to Jesus. Their paralyzed friend was a part of them, and if they didn’t have such care for each other, the paralyzed man would most likely remain paralyzed.
This shows us the importance and the power of fellowship. In the end times, few will maintain their faith on their own unless God calls them into seclusion. We need each other, because “where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).
As we seek to understand the weak spot in our soul God wants to transform, it is crucial to interact with other believers. Our brothers and sisters in Christ bring us to the feet of Jesus when our paralysis hinders this from happening on our own. If we’re not called by God as a solitary—an extremely rare calling—few will preserve their faith through the hardships of the coming decades if intentionally living in isolation from other believers.
Restoration
Verse 5: “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’”
Jesus can heal even what we think must follow us into the grave. There is no damage of sin or weakness of our fallen nature He cannot restore. As for our inner paralysis that hinders God’s plan to move forward, we need to receive an understanding of its root and bring this sin before Jesus.
The picture from the previous weeks repeats itself. Our current focus is deep revelatory repentance. We will not experience the redemption of this area now, but we will taste it. Glimpses of our restoration make us hunger for it throughout the coming seasons. As we journey through the coming Seasons of Salvation and interact with the grace of God, the deep transformation of our weak spot takes place. In the Season of the Kingdom of God, we begin our repentance—understanding the absence of Jesus’s leadership—and seek God in prayer for our restoration.
Glorifying God
Verse 10–12: “‘But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’—He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’”
As we continue these weeks in repentance, and especially when God has fully redeemed our inner handicap, people will notice and know that God has acted in our life. The paralyzed man immediately arose at the word of Jesus—the grace of resurrection is awaiting. When this deadened part of our soul receives the stream of life from Christ’s resurrection, our weakness becomes our strength. We “take up our bed,” because “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Gen. 4:7). We shall rule over sin, because “sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).
When we walk out of our inner paralysis—our status quo—in the presence of all, we will invisibly declare the working of God’s grace. Those who know us will be “amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’”
I’m honored you took the time to read, and I pray God may be merciful to us all, helping us every day to follow Jesus. Again, it’s good to travel together with you on this journey.
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The post October 6–12, 2024 (Western): Jesus Is In Town first appeared on Father Elisha: Let me take you on an intriguing journey..
