SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Let me allow God to turn my emotional hunger into spiritual hunger for Him as I try to avoid pathways that lead only to my numerous cravings.” (Archpriest Steven John Belonick) “When the Lord came to the Samaritan city of Sychar (Jn 4:4-43), He and the disciples stopped near Jacob’s well. While the disciples go “away into the city to buy food” (vs. 8), an extensive conversation takes place between the Lord and a woman who has come to draw water. As the discussion is ending,

“A driving thirst for God is our starting point. Such thirst comes to all of us naturally, but because we are fallen and sick, we easily confuse our thirst for God with fleshly or psychological cravings. The Church Fathers speak of our unbridled physical passions, which lead us to seek short-lived gratification in flattery, vanity, pride, gossip, temporal goods, and material success. Any one of these passions can supplant our natural thirst for the living God.” (Dynamis 6/8/2

“[The] exodus of Jesus into the wilderness following His baptism has a dual symbolism: (1) it fulfills the OT type, in which Israel journeyed in the wilderness for forty years after its “baptism” in the Red Sea; and (2) it prefigures our own journey through the fallen world after baptism as we struggle towards the Kingdom.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Luke 4:1) “For Christians, pursuing Christ’s Kingdom within – the struggle for purity – must cover every aspect of our life…” (OCPM

“…the devil fashions his lies to resemble the truth…heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Matthew 13:24-30) “Error is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should immediately be detected for what it is. It is craftily decked out in attractive dress, so that, by its outward form, it might appear to the inexperienced—ridiculous as the expression may seem—truer than truth itself….The language of these deceivers

“The Greek word for joy is chairo. This word is related to charis, which means “grace.” Joy, therefore, is literally rooted in grace. Every time we experience a revelation of grace, joy is the natural consequence.” (Jonathan Jackson) “The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning ‘grace’. Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks…eucharisteo, thanksgiving…also holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning ‘joy’.” (Anna Voskamp) “Blessed are you. Blessed

"…I can approach the Lord, and He will enlighten me, rather than make me “ashamed.” Does this really need to be said? Well, yes. I think that at times I tend to avoid approaching Him, for fear He will somehow give me this big “thumbs down” or bite my head off. This is not a grace-filled “fear of God,” but a delusional self-loathing projected onto God. He doesn’t seek to shame me. Nor is He “disappointed,” like a self-seeking parent. God seeks to share Himself with me, to shar