When we read of animals being offered we should think primarily, although not exclusively, of the things belonging to the heart or will being brought into the service of the Lord and our neighbour and similarly when products of the vegetable kingdom are the focus in the various offerings we need to think in terms of those things within that belong to the intellect or understanding being offered to the Lord so that our ideas and concepts reflect the truths and principles of the Word. When we can see this then we can begin to see how the laws of the offerings can bring us into a fuller sense of how the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts might be acceptable in His sight which is our spiritual worship.
Anxieties and depressions, that are directly linked to inner spiritual work, are psychological states that arise due to shifts or changes taking place in the structure of our sense of self. These shifts are the effect of truths doing their work to expose previously unconscious patterns of feeling and thinking that are detrimental to our overall spiritual well-being.
Pontius means “belonging to the sea” and Pilate means “armed with a spear”. The office he held was that of governor. So he represents something in us that governs and is able to make judgements, assess things and deliver decisions. You will notice that all these abilities are abilities most associated with intellectual functions – the ability to weigh evidence, to question and probe and arrive at the “truth” of a case. These are functions commonly associated with reasoning and this, of course, is what Pontius Pilate represents within us, our lower reasoning faculties.
In this presentation we explore the meaning of the Abomination of Desolation Standing in the Holy Place and how it can be understood as descriptive of something found within us all.
The spiritual work we are given while in the material body is to cooperate with the Lord as the Word so that we can be created anew. This new creation is not of the material world but is a spiritual creation being a new form of mind that lives consciously from the Lord. To live from the Lord is to live from the Word and so we are given a Word in the form of the Texts of Divine revelation from which we can, if we choose to, begin to draw our mode of life.
We need to take care that we don’t diminish the status of the Sacred Scripture in our thinking. For it to be viewed as anything less than the LORD goes against the central tenant of angelic wisdom and so can do nothing but weaken the Word’s power to effect change in people’s lives.
Temptation is unavoidable in the spiritual life and this sermon explores this idea through seeing the picking up of one’s cross as a conscious choice to embrace the spiritual disciplines of self-examination and repentance.
Reading: Gospel of Matthew 24:3, 29, 30, 37, 39, 44, 46. Matt 24:3,29,30,37,39,44,46 When Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him, saying, Tell us, what is the sign of your coming and of the ending of the age?…After the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and…
Reading: Gospel of Matthew 24:3, 29, 30, 37, 39, 44, 46. When Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him, saying, Tell us, what is the sign of your coming and of the ending of the age?…After the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon…
http://logopraxis.online/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1dNJ08_web.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.8MB)READINGS Zechariah 8:1-9 And the Word of Jehovah was to me, saying, (2) So says Jehovah of Hosts: I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great wrath. (3) So says Jehovah: I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in…