Peace and Good in Christ!
So how is your Lenten journey going this year? The gospel from the first Sunday of Lent calls us to several things that are good for our journey:
1) We are to be people led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2) We are led by the Spirit into times of solitude and silence for greater reflection upon our life in Christ. The Greek word for " desert, wilderness, or solitude," is "eremos." It is from this word that we get "eremite," or "eremitical." It is from these words that we get the word, "hermit," or, "semi hermit."
How does this apply to us?
Sometimes we need to get away from the hustle and bustle of life in order to better meditate and reflect on how we are doing in daily life as Christians.
3) Lastly, we are tempted by the devil in solitude. It sounds strange that the Spirit would lead us into the desert to be tempted by the devil! It is true that God tempts no one to sin. But he does call us to spiritual warfare within ourselves. When we turn to Jesus, Jesus is always the victor!
What does this mean for the average Christian? It means that we must come face-to-face with our own shortcomings and sins, and learn to do spiritual warfare to overcome them. The desert monastic tradition lists eight vices, from which we get the seven capital sins in the west. They are:
1) Gluttony, by which we mean eating or drinking when not hungry. It is overcome by reasonable and moderate fasting. The fathers are very clear that extreme fasting usually results in overeating after the fast.
2) Sexual sin, meaning any sexual activity out of heterosexual, monogamous marriage. This implies that if we give in to smaller sensual sin it will often lead to greater sensual sin. They are connected.
3) Avarice, or they need to possess things, situations, or people. In modern terminology it would be called the need to control.
4) Anger. This means that when we don't get the food we want, the sex we want, or the control we want, we often end up frustrated and angry. This is because the ego is still controlling our life. If you find yourself getting angry, it is usually because we are still self obsessed in our Christian life. The way out is through bringing the old self to the cross of Jesus Christ so that we can be born again to the resurrection of Jesus Christ every moment of our life!
5) Bitterness. When anger is not healed it often settles deep within the soul and creates a residual bitterness that poisons every relationship and every situation in our life. Rather than seeing the glass as half full, we constantly see it as half empty. It transforms us in a negative way from being a people of praise and thanksgiving into a people of grumbling and complaining about everything. It is healed by stirring up the Spirit through intentional thanksgiving and praise.
6) Boredom. When bitterness settled steep in our life we usually end up bored with everyone and everything. There is an old saying, "If you are bored it's because you are boring!" The way to heal our boredom is to simply begin doing positive things for Jesus by faith.
7) Self obsession. We live in a self obsessed culture, and it is difficult to get free of it. Our priority should be God first, other second, and ourselves third. It is by dying to the old self in Christ that we discover who we really are in Christ! If we let go of the self for Jesus, then we find out who we really are! We are born again!
8) Pride. When we are not healed of our self obsession we end up with full blown pride. And pride is the mother of all sends in the West's list of seven capital sins. The monastic fathers say that pride is healed by frequent meditation on the humiliation of Jesus Christ on the cross for the salvation of the world. Meditating on what God does for us out of love in Christ is enough to bring our pride low, so the Christ, and Christ alone can be glorified in our entire life. Then we get to share in the glory, and find ourselves happier than we could ever be to our own efforts, plans, or agendas.
To conclude, Lent is really about bringing us to the cross of Jesus Christ so that we might go forward to the resurrection completely free of the old self that often tries to regain control of our life after we have given our life to Jesus. It is a simple idea. But it is often hard to live. But, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens us!
Have a blessed Lenten journey this year! Then our Easter will be better than ever before!
In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder and General Minister
The Brothers & Sisters of Charity
at Little Portion Hermitage
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This week on "All Things Are Possible", John Michael continues his new series, "The Fire of God" and discusses
the Fire of Lust and how the Fire of the Holy Spirit helps us overcome sin and live in complete purity!
Watch "All Things Are Possible" tonight, March 4, 2015 on
The Church Channel: 9pm ET, 8pm CT, 7pm MT and 6pm PT.
Broadcasts repeat late night Saturdays and early Tuesdaymornings! For complete information please visit:
www.johnmichaeltalbot.com/how-to-watch
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John Michael Talbot Ministries
www.JohnMichaelTalbot.com
Troubadour for the Lord
350 CR 248
Berryville, Arkansas 72616 United States
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