The Jesus Prayer

Jesus Christ

What do Christians use if we want to meditate? We talk to God. We do not call it meditation, but prayer.  I found something quite by mistake. It is "The Jesus Prayer". Actually, it comes from the Greek Orthodox part of Christianity. I love it.

"The Jesus Prayer is not recited as a Mantra, but as a prayer to the Person of Christ. 

The Jesus Prayer. - 'Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.'

Power Of The Jesus Prayer Is In The Name Of Our Lord
The prayer begins with the name of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts we are told, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) The power in the prayer comes from our proclaiming the Lord’s name. 

In its simple form we confess our faith in Jesus Christ as our God and Lord. Saint Theophan the Recluse emphasizes the importance of this prayer when he says, “Only with the help of this prayer can the necessary order of the soul be firmly maintained…” (Art of Prayer, p 92) 

Here he powerfully says that this particular prayer is essential if we are to put our soul in charge, being fully directed at God. Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov6 says, “By the power of the name of Jesus the mind is freed from doubt, indecision and hesitation, the will is strengthened and correctness is given to zeal and other properties of the soul.” (On the Prayer of Jesus. p 25) 

He is saying that as we engage in this prayer the mind is freed from its confusion caused by the attack of numerous thoughts that distract us from God. As the mind is tamed though our repeated repetition of this prayer, the mind is brought under control through God’s grace so that we can use our rational faculties to direct our bodies in an appropriate way allowing us to act in a manner that is consistent with the teaching of Jesus.

Clicking on the Jesus Prayer will take you to the website where it is explained in detail. I hope that you receive the blessing that I received from this.

What Are we Doing?

I hate Obama, I hate Romney, I hate political commercials! Not all of this is true. I believe that both Obama and Romney are good people. As a Christian, I have to stand behind Romney. The reason for that is because President Obama has crossed the line and signed things into law that I do not believe are moral.

I believe that the only way to serve God is to serve others. I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. I stand by the tenant that sex should between a man and a woman in the holy bonds of matrimony. You may think I am being simplistic in my beliefs, but that is not it.

I had a loving, sweet brother who was one of the first homosexuals in this country to succumb to AIDS. I was 11 years old when he was born and I felt like he was my little boy for a long time. I practiced my parenting skills on him. I took care of him and my little sister who came along two years later. I would like to think that I will see him in heaven because he accepted Christ when he was around 11 years old. But, if that were so, how could he follow the gay lifestyle? I am not letting this eat me up because Paul was responsible for his own future and made his own choices.

I believe that living together without the benefit of marriage is wrong. I did it, knowing that it was wrong. I justified it because of so many excuses,  but when we got married, the feelings that we share were so much more intense than they had been in the four years of "living together." The big word then was "Commitment" and that made our commitment to Christ and the Church even stronger. We both longed to go to church during our time of living together, but did not feel that we should go to church and be hypocrites. Now, we are committed Christians because we know that God has forgiven our sin, because we came to him with a clear heart and confessed our sin and asked for forgiveness.

I believe that we should not speak ill of others and try to always be kind and use Christ as the model for our lives. I believe that we should not harm others by word or deed. Christ would not cast a stone at the prostitute who was about to be stoned. He said: "Let you who are without sin, cast the first stone." So, I will not cast stones at those who I feel are morally wrong. What they do is between them and God. As long as it does not hurt others. If I feel that they are morally wrong, I will not support them.

I believe that we become human at the moment of conception. How could we be anything else? God created us in his image. He says that we should not kill. Why then do people think that it is alright to kill a being that God created in his image? You should not blame a baby for the sins of their fathers. A baby is a precious gift from God no matter how conceived.

I think I really dislike Atheists because of their self-serving belief that there is no God. I have experienced some very nasty comments from Atheist on the Internet. They seem to look down their noses at those of us who believe in God. They tend to treat us as if we are idiots. If there is no God, they do not have to worry about who they hurt. Why should they care about what goes on in this world? Why not murder the innocent? What difference does it make to them if the earth is kept clean for the future. They will not be around. Personally, I feel sorry for them that they do not have faith in someone more than themselves. There is a dictum from Blaise Pascal, called Pascal's Wager, that is put into more modern simplified language by Albert Camus:

·          I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is. Albert Camus  

I think this is true to a certain extent, except if you do not truly believe there is a God and just say there is because you want to be on the good side if there is. God can see your heart and it would mean giving your life over to him completely, not just in case there is.

GOD LOVES YOU AND SO DO I! 

You may not agree with what I have said, but I hope you believe in my right to say it. I don't care to hear about dissenting opinions, I avoid them when possible. I do not argue and will not argue with your opinions. If you leave hateful, obscene comments, they will be deleted.

           GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME

           ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD

Truth

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I started a class on Sunday called "The Truth Project" by Dr. Del Tackett, who is associated with "Focus on the Family." The major question Dr. Tackett poses is: "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?" How do we know what we really believe.

There are five of us in this study. We hope some others will join us, but it is okay if they don't. The class is on a video with a facilitator. We are praying for each other each day.  "The Cosmic Battle: Battle between God's Truth and the lies and illusions of the world, the flesh, and the devil. The arguments and pretensions that set themselves up against the knowledge of God, against His nature and His word." There are bible references for everything and I am really looking forward to the study this week.

Wednesday morning, I am joining another group to study Deuteronomy. They meet from 9:30 a.m. to noon. This is a Beth Moore Study group. We have a facilitator and I think she said that she has 16 signed up. I am looking forward to this class also. Since I miss Sunday Morning Bible Study, both of these classes will ensure that I don't fall behind on my studies to be able to help others to understand the Gospel.

If you are interested in "The Truth Project", you can go to the TruthProject.org .

I pray that you all have a wonderful day in Christ!

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME - ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!

ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT

( I received this in an email from a dear Christian friend. If you find it in your heart, please pass this to your friends. It is so important that the U.S. goes back to its Christian roots. I am afraid that if we allow this part of our lives to disappear, life as we know it will go down the drain. Christianity offers freedom more than any other religion or philosophy. Women have value and are heard. Children are cherished and not murdered before they are even born. Christians are taught to respect others and to rear their children to respect others. Christ fills our hearts with love and caring for others. The only way to serve God is to serve others.  "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13" - Barbara Duke )

This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever faced, and from the looks of the polls, the Christians aren't voting Christian values. We all need to be on our knees.

Do you believe we can take God at His word? Call upon His name, then stand back and watch His wonders unfold. This scripture gives us, as Christians, ownership of this land and the ability to call upon God to heal it. I challenge you to do that. We have never been more desperate than now for God to heal our land.

This election is the scariest I remember in my lifetime. 2 Chronicles 7:14. 'If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.'

During WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill, who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour for one minute, to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people, and peace. This had an amazing effect, as bombing stopped.

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America .

The United States of America, and our citizens need prayer more than ever!!!                                         If you would like to participate, each evening at 9:00 P.M. Eastern Time (8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific), stop whatever you're doing, and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, for peace in the world, the upcoming election, that the Holy Bible will remain the basis for the laws governing our land, and that Christianity will grow in the U.S.

Someone said if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Thank you.

Please send this link on to anyone who you think will want to join us in this prayer.

GOD IS GOOD - ALL THE TIME!!!