Fear of God
“With supernatural authority, Christ our God rebukes the wind and calms the sea (Mark 4:39). He intends to awaken his disciples from their trembling and bring them to a righteous fear – a holy awe and dread of God. In this passage the Evangelist Mark uses the word delia, meaning timidity or fright, and also phobos, meaning “fear of the Lord.” The disciples’ initial fright is delia, while their Master’s control over the elements evokes phobos: “Who can this be, that even the w
Jesus Christ
“Jesus participated in our nature and in our sufferings on earth…He understands our weaknesses and intercedes for us in the presence of God the Father.” (Foundation Study Bible, Hebrews 2:17) “Jesus Christ had to experience all of the things that the human being experiences. And in order to do that, He had to become a human being…Because He was made like us, He understands us…He understands what it is like to be one of us…He even understand the temptations and the assaults of
Confidence
“…the Lord will work with us, even in our shortcomings, even in our doubts, just as He worked with the Disciples. The Lord meets us where we are—in our various states of brokenness, and then works with us to raise us to states of spiritual confidence. This happens because of two things—His faithfulness to us and our trust in Him.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis) “Begin your day by acknowledging your dependence upon God and your need for God. Purpose by grace that your first t
Franticness
“When we are overwhelmed by stress due to the frantic nature of life, it is difficult to think clearly. We might tell ourselves, “As soon as I finish this project…as soon as our festival is over…as soon as the weekend rolls around, I’ll be at peace.” The problem with this thinking is there will be, almost inevitably, something that will keep us busy and—likely—stressed just around the corner. Unfortunately, we allow life’s “business” to distract us from our spiritual focus.”
Courage
“There is a fundamental relationship between courage and the light of being, one which functions as the primary expression of the good against evil.” (Lisa Coutras) “When you fear loss, you are hard-pressed to live a life of courage, for it is in living with courage that we are able to participate fully in life and become fully human.” (Abbot Tryphon) “Courage is not the absence of fear…Courage is simply doing what needs to be done even though you are scared and tired.” (Alex