Written by Greg Pantelidis BSc(Hons)
gregpantelidis@gmail.com
We must respect the right of every individual to accept, reject, or be neutral to gospel faith and gospel law. Do you know what the distribution in proportions is for these three categories?
Are you enslaved to greed, vanity, and pleasure? Only Lord Jesus can free you from this slavery. (See John 8:36).
We must have faith in Lord Jesus so that we allow the flow of virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gifts.
There are two modes of life: social life and solitary life. In social life we must practice humility, obedience, and continence. In solitary life we must practice humility, prayer, contemplation, and mysticism.
The solitary mode of life is the mode which allows mysticism and the Pentecost of the mind and the Pentecost of the heart.
Social pressures in the social life extinguish the mysticism of the solitary. We must beware of social pressures because they obstruct mysticism.
We must seek no praise for the practice of gospel law and Mosaic law. We must give all glory for practice of the law to the Lord. (See Matt. 5:16).
The enemy resists the deliverance that the gospel promises. That is why believers must make a firm decision in their devotion to Lord Jesus.
Never accept praise. Rejoice in admonition. Rejoice in rebuke. Seek forgiveness. Correct yourself. Work for your salvation.
We must be careful not to provoke others by our words, our countenance, or our behavior.
Do not expect anything. You will only reap what you sow. The power to reap humility, respect, and love rests with you. Sow humility, respect, and love and you will reap them. (See Gal. 6:7).
The story of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery has a spiritual equivalent. Egyptian slavery is the life of sin. The spiritual pharaoh is the dragon. The spiritual Moses is Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus delivers spiritual Israel from the spiritual slavery of sin.
The mystic leaves social life to practice the mysticism of the solitary life. Using faith, logic, and the guidance of a spiritual mentor, he enters the world of mysticism. To help his fellow brethren he enters social life and practices social precepts of mysticism.
Paradise on earth is to keep gospel law. Keeping the law makes life blessed, and prepares one for paradise and eternal life.
Have perfect faith in Lord Jesus. Have perfect obedience to Lord Jesus.
Lord Jesus is God in the flesh, the sinless one, the Defeater of all falsehood, our Almighty Creator.
In the secular church there are factions that are against each other. In the Orthodox Christian Church there are no factions, only differing gifts.
Do not accept any lawless thought. Abide always in the Ten Commandments. Have the Ten Commandments always before you.
You can receive the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit, only by faith and humility. The unbelieving and proud cannot receive the Shekinah.
Only today is alive. Yesterday is not alive. Tomorrow is not yet alive.
Pride is not humbled by first-place, praise, authority, and a teaching position. Pride is humbled by last-place, non-praise, obedience, and guidance by a spiritual mentor.
Pride is defeated by humility.
The three great powers of the enemy are: greed, vanity, and pleasure. The enemy is always warring against us with these three.
From obedience is born humility, from humility discernment, from discernment diorasis, and from diorasis proorasis. (See St John Klimakos, On Obedience, 105).
Every person is born blind and deaf in soul. Through the sacraments of the Orthodox Christian Church this blindness and deafness is cured. This is why only believers see in soul and hear in soul. (See Matt. 13:16).
An honest day’s work is refreshing.
Heretics may keep all of the other Ten Commandments except the first commandment, and be thus guilty of blasphemy against the Lord.
O Lord, do not let any person die with blindness of soul and deafness of soul. (See Matt. 13:15).
Salvation is of the Greeks. Initially salvation was of the Jews but now salvation is of the Greeks. The Greeks have Orthodox Christianity. The Greeks have the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit. The Jews have lost the Shekinah.
Humble your ego and you will destroy the idol that obstructs you. (See Ex. 20:4).
Train your son or daughter in chastity, charity, and obedience. By chastity is meant the general chastity of abstinence from all pleasures. By charity is meant towards all. By obedience is meant towards your spiritual mentor and your superiors.
Prepare for eternal life by living a life of chastity, charity, and obedience.
The mystery of the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit, is hidden from the world. Only the kin of Lord Jesus have a part in the fruits of the Shekinah. The world, possessed by unchastity, non-charity, and disobedience, does not have the fruits of the Shekinah. (See 1 Cor. 2:14).
What does the world seek? Wealth, praise, and pleasure. What does the Orthodox Christian seek? Charity, humility, and continence.
True love is practical love: To greet, to give, to serve, to teach, to help, to visit.
In every field advances have been made by trial and error. The wisdom of the experienced is passed on to disciples, and so each generation increases in skill and knowledge. In spirituality this is also required. The experienced produce the canons and the rule of spirituality, passing them on to their disciples.
Worldly people see spiritual people as foolish and the practice of chastity, charity, and obedience as a defeated life. Worldly people are devoted to lust, wealth, and praise, and these are the things they seek. Do you see how useless is the life of unchastity, non-charity, and disobedience? Do you see that true wisdom is chastity, charity, and obedience?
Renounce the false God of ego.
Have a clean heart, a clean mind, a clean body, a clean tongue, clean eyes, and clean ears.
Be careful never to transgress the precepts of chastity, charity, and obedience.
Observe how the enemy tempts us with pleasure, wealth, and disobedience. We must reject these temptations by practicing chastity, charity, and obedience.
Train your son or daughter in chastity, charity, obedience, and humility.
No one should become a leader unless they have trained long in obedience.
You must weep for all your sins. Never forget your sins but always remember them with sorrow and self-reproach. Even though the debt of your sins has been resolved through repentance and confession, you must always weep for them.
Salvation is only in the Messiah, Lord Jesus. (See Acts 4:12).
Do not harm your listeners by speaking of unchastity, non-charity, and disobedience. Let your speech be always about faith, chastity, charity, and obedience.
Have perfect faith and perfect obedience and Lord Jesus will do all the rest.
Beware of the three thoughts that attack in church: blasphemous thoughts, shameful thoughts, and vanity thoughts. All social situations have the following three temptations: vanity thoughts, shameful thoughts, and judgmental thoughts. Identify the thoughts which attack you and guard your mind.
Hell is the jail of the demons. No human person has a place there. Only the delusions of the demons lead us to the same jail, when we sin and do not repent.
Do you exalt your opinion? Be humble in opinion and you will have no disputes with others.
If someone tells you: “No one greets me, no one gives to me, no one serves me, no one loves me.” Tell them: Greet and you will be greeted, give and it will be given to you, serve and you will be served, love and you will be loved.
All means which teach sin should be rejected. Persons, literature, films, theatre, television, radio, internet, and all forms of media which teach sin must be rejected.
Do not accept grand thoughts about yourself. What do you know? What do you have? (See Gal. 6:3).
Have a neutral self-image. Ascribe your knowledge, virtue, gifts, and talents to God. Reject all praise. Reject both over-self-image and under-self-image. Have perfect faith in Lord Jesus and perfect obedience to Lord Jesus.
Change your thoughts and attitudes and your life will change.
Good governors aid the spiritual progress of humanity. Good family governors assist, good school governors assist, good work governors assist, good community governors assist, good political governors assist.
The mystical concept of the Shekinah is what the Messiah, Lord Jesus, came to give to His disciples. The Shekinah or Holy Spirit, leads the disciples of Lord Jesus from virtue to virtue, knowledge to knowledge, spiritual gift to spiritual gift, and from blessing to blessing. The people of the world who are not disciples of Lord Jesus do not receive the Shekinah. (See 1 Cor. 2:14 and John 14:17).
Keep confidentiality about your ideas, words, and practice. Only reveal things to the appropriate persons. Confidentiality will protect you from vanity, envy, and scandals.
Test and guard the input of thoughts and ideas you give to your mind. The economy of input to your mind will determine the output of your words and practices.
Consider the damage you may have done in material things. Consider now the damage you do to your body and soul by sinning. Do not damage your soul and body by accepting sin. Reject sinful thoughts. Reject sinful feelings. Reject sinful words. Reject sinful practices.
Be just: Always give when asked, be patient when you ask and are not given, forgive those who do you injustice, move forward to perfection, do not have rancor, do not hate anyone.
Patience is the most practical of the virtues. Patience is needed always. Everyday we must practice patience in the economy of our life.
Beware of the input you give to your mind. Reject blasphemy, vanity, unchastity, and judging. Let your mind only receive good input.
Remember the three common temptations: greed, vanity, and pleasure. Always guard against these with charity, humility, and continence.
The Lord cares for every single creation. All are dear to Him and He governs all the good that comes to them. We humans must trust completely in the economy of the Lord, for the Lord cares for all of us and loves us all equally.
An Orthodox Christian must have respect and love for all. But not all will respect and love him back.
Mental health is to always think good and positive thoughts.
Every person needs self-respect and self-control.
Be careful of the input you give to your mind. Input only good and positive thoughts. Reject all wrong thoughts.
Observe how the input of greed, vanity, and pleasure ruin the mind and induce all mental illnesses and mental problems. The input of vanity is the deadliest of all inputs.
Do not take vengeance. If a person has a conscience they will be sorry and mourn for the wrong they have done.
The definition of mental disorders is broader for an Orthodox Christian. Food addiction, short-temper, jealousy, malice, cunning, are all mental disorders for an Orthodox Christian.
Cast off the works of darkness: greed, vanity, and pleasure. (See Rom. 13:12).
The spiritual life is like the weather: one moment calm, another moment a storm, another moment strong wind, another moment serenity.
The Lord is holy and calls all to a life of holiness. (See Lev. 19:2).
For good mental health what is needed is the circumcision of the mind. The mind must reject greed, vanity, and pleasure and embrace charity, humility, continence, prayer, and guarding, in order to be healthy.
A humble and loving person is like Lord Jesus. A proud and selfish person is like the dragon.
Be self-responsible. Take responsibility for all the thoughts you have accepted as input to your mind. Repent, confess, and correct your thoughts.
Remember the foundations of Orthodox Christian practice: Faith, humility, hope in the Lord, prayer, guarding of the mind and heart, practicing with zeal and freshness.
In guarding of the mind you must always rank yourself lowest and have hope in the Lord. The Lord will grant you victory against wrong thoughts.
The will of the flesh is three things: greed, vanity, and pleasure. If you cut these you cut the will of the flesh.
When we know our brethren are suffering we must seek to help them as soon as possible.
The good person rejects the will of the flesh: greed, vanity, and pleasure. The good person practices charity, humility, and continence. The bad person accepts the will of the flesh. The bad person practices greed, vanity, and pleasure.
Be a true sage, rejecting the will of the flesh and practicing charity, humility, and continence.
Reject the will of the flesh: greed (the desire of the eyes), vanity (the arrogance of life), and pleasure (the desire of the flesh). (See 1 John 2:16).
Do not accept the will of the flesh: greed, vanity, and pleasure. Accept the will of the spirit: charity, humility, and continence.
Practice the will of the spirit and then teach the will of the spirit. (See Matt. 5:19). The will of the spirit is charity, humility, and continence.
Keep Mosaic Law and Gospel Law and you will have joy and a clear conscience. Blessedness is to have a clear conscience.
The basic moral law for all humanity is the Ten Commandments. All moral practitioners and moral teachers must practice and teach the Ten Commandments.
Remember to forgive your neighbor for damages, dishonor, or physical hardship. These are the three common unwillful temptations.
Practical sin is three things: greed, vanity, and pleasure. Practical virtue is the opposite to these three: charity, humility, and continence.
Live a lawful life, keeping Mosaic Law and Gospel Law.
Teachers of religion give various talks: Gospel talks, Torah talks, Dharma talks, Precept talks. It is not necessary to hear these talks more than you require. What is necessary is to conform your life to the message of the talk.
Be detached from all persons and you will respect, help, and love all persons.
Understand that you are a steward of the Lord. Your good thoughts, good ideas, good feelings, good words, and good practices, are gifts of the Lord. You must use these gifts for the common good. Do not claim ownership of any good you do, nor seek praise for any good you do. To know that you are a steward of good and not an owner of good will make you true and humble. Glory to the Lord!
Always think of the common good, practice and talk of lawfulness, refrain from talking of faults and lawlessness, always seek to build good and to repair wrong.
Our success in all things is according to our faith. (See Matt. 9:29).
We should always blame ourselves when we encounter material loss, dishonor, or bodily suffering. We should view these as due to our spiritual debt.
If you commit to Lord Jesus you must commit to a life of chastity, charity, and obedience.
Commit to Lord Jesus and you will be free and happy.
