{"id":8957,"date":"2014-09-16T17:46:03","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T14:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/?p=8957"},"modified":"2014-09-16T17:53:47","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T14:53:47","slug":"practical-spiritual-advice-5-pearls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/practical-spiritual-advice-5-pearls\/","title":{"rendered":"Practical spiritual advice \/5\/ &#8211; Pearls"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Pearls<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Psalm 86:5 <em>For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abundant in mercy to those who call upon You.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Prayer-Journey1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8967\" title=\"Prayer-Journey\" src=\"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Prayer-Journey1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Prayer-Journey1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Prayer-Journey1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Prayer-Journey1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Prayer-Journey1.jpg 1296w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a>What does this Psalm say about God? He is good, forgiving and abundant in mercy. But only to those who call upon Him. Those who do not call upon Him, refuse His help, or do not even admit that they need His help, are like starving people whom you give bread and they turn away from you. They don\u2019t want! They don\u2019t want good, they don\u2019t want life, so what can you do? The condition of salvation is: <em>\u2026to those who call upon Him<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Eph 1:7-8 <em>In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">How are we forgiven? We are forgiven through His blood.<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Eph 2:8-9 <em>For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,<\/em><em> <\/em><em>not a result of works, so that no one may boast.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Salvation is the gift of God. It lies in the fact that Jesus shed His blood for us and sacrificed His life. We have not been saved by our good deeds but because He paid for us. And we receive this greatest gift through faith. Christ died for all people but not all will be saved, only those who will receive this gift. Those who will refuse it will not be saved. Therefore, it is necessary that we should preach the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins. If we accept other religions and their myths and mix them up with the pure Gospel, none of us can be saved. We have the treasure, the assurance of salvation, and we cannot replace this saving faith by fables or pagan myths. Salvation is the gift of God, through the blood of Jesus, through faith. <em>\u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,<\/em><em> <\/em><em>not a result of works, so that no one may boast.\u201d<\/em> (Eph 2:8-9) Yes, I am saved for free, so I should do good deeds, of course. But I can\u2019t think that I do not need to repent, that I will do good deeds and God will save me. That\u2019s a deceit. I have to confess my sin before God, repent and then do good deeds. If we look at things truthfully, we can see that even with the best will in the world our good deeds are tainted by a desire for approval, self-fulfilment, pride and our selfish advantages. So this is how our good deeds look.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Heb 10:12 <em>But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A single sacrifice for sins! A regular offering \u2013 a killed lamb \u2013 was presented in the temple  of Jerusalem, but this blood could not save anyone. Jesus died once. The blood of the Lamb of God takes away our sins. His sacrifice at Calvary is made present in every liturgy. His blood is not shed physically any more; it was shed once for all, and all liturgies through the words of institution and epiclesis make present in this time and space what Jesus did at Calvary.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Heb 10:17 <em>Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When we stand in the light, under the power of Jesus Christ and His blood, and give Him our sins, let us think of the day, month and year of our birth: \u201cLord, I bring to light all from the date of my birth to this day. All my lawless deeds, all evil thoughts, all acts and words. Lord, now I stand before You as a sinner and I bring this all under the power of Your holy blood. Jesus, I believe that You died for all my sins.\u201d <em>\u2026and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We all must know the essence of perfect contrition. We do not have to confess venial sins to a priest. When we prepare for confession, we should first of all think of what it was that grieved God most. What is it that my conscience condemns me for most? And the next thing: What is my weakness? How did it become manifest? E.g. I fight with the problem of overeating, or I am being healed of the wounds of sin which God has already delivered me from but it has left spiritual wounds. I need to humble myself again and again and give this problem or weakness to God at once. Then, when I confess it to a priest in confession, it is a kind of self-humiliation, and when I humble myself in this way, God will give me the light in reward for it. It\u2019s no use reciting a list of sins in confession. There\u2019s no sense in it. I need to prepare and confess one or two cardinal sins and then some more, and thus my confession lasts a few minutes. If I have some serious problem, after confession, when I have been given absolution, I can tell the priest shortly what\u2019s the core of it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Although it is not compulsory to confess venial sins to a priest, it is useful to practise this kind of spiritual \u201chygiene\u201d. But even if we go to confession regularly, e.g. once in two weeks or once a month, the best practice is to give our sins to God immediately. Example: I do something silly, e.g. \u201cLord, I\u2019ve eaten too much\u201d or \u201cI\u2019ve been seduced into drinking by my friends. They said that I am not a man unless I drink. I know I shouldn\u2019t do it but I took a drink once, then another time, and then again. I let myself be deceived. But now stop! Lord, forgive me that I did such a silly thing.\u201d You need to humble yourself, to admit that you failed and not to continue sinning. Learn to stop and walk in the truth. Don\u2019t say: \u201cIt\u2019s no use stopping, I must go to confession anyway, so it\u2019s pointless\u2026 I\u2019ve spoiled everything, I give up\u2026\u201d No! I did this silly thing but now I arise and go. That\u2019s important! The old self in us is cunning, so we have to stand in the light: \u201cYes, this is in me, I\u2019ve done a silly thing, but now I am before You, Lord.\u201d You need to enter into the light, not let yourself be seduced and not allow the spirit of lies to drag you into addiction again. Stop! \u201cLord, I have sinned but now I start again. I\u2019ve spoiled it and it hurts me, but I won\u2019t make a step in that direction any more! I am changing direction \u2013 I am following You, Jesus!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Or another example: You have a prayer guard at two o\u2019clock at night but you oversleep. You get up at half past two and a thought passes through your mind: \u201cIt\u2019s no use praying now. I missed the chance\u2026\u201d But say: \u201cNo! I\u2019ll get up and pray even if I should pray 5 minutes only.\u201d You need courage. When you make a mistake, stand before God and don\u2019t say that it\u2019s pointless. It\u2019s not pointless \u2013 to stand before God as a sinner is never pointless \u2013 and then God heals us little by little.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Eph 4:32 <em>Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What should your relationship to others be like if you tasted God\u2019s forgiveness? God\u2019s Word says: <em>kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Women often say: \u201cI forgive but I don\u2019t forget\u2026\u201d God does not remember our sins, and what about us? If I forgive, I forgive as God forgave me. I realize my sins: Lord, and what about me? If someone puts an obstacle in my way, I should say: \u201cLord, thank You. This is my purgatory. Now, in this situation, I am innocent, but it\u2019s my purgatory for other sins. Lord, thank You.\u201d And when I start to give thanks, God will show me why it is so. It\u2019s no good venting my anger or falling into self-pity. However, instead of giving thanks we grumble and rebel. Thanksgiving is a practical thing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I had a car accident and crashed my car: \u201cLord, thank You that I am alive. Something much worse could happen.\u201d But we do not see what else could happen; we only see that now we\u2019ll have problems. If we start to give thanks, God will open our eyes. But we are in rebellion and grumble: \u201cLord, why is it so? Those people are unbelievers and are well off, have so much money, nice houses\u2026 I serve You and I have nothing, just problems and problems\u2026\u201d If we start to think like this, it is our ruin. Our old self unites with the spirit of lies, the spirit of the devil, and if we open our heart to lies and believe them, they will set us against God. This spirit of rebellion is in us and manifests itself every time we face a certain problem or cross. Immediately our old self shows its teeth. It\u2019s in us from our very childhood. Therefore we must learn the following: The first reaction \u2013 have I started to rebel? Stop! \u201cLord, forgive me that I was in rebellion. Thank You, thank You, thank You. And rebellious thoughts must out!\u201d We need to learn it practically and then God will work miracles and open our eyes. This is one step of the life of faith \u2013 to learn to give thanks for everything even if I don\u2019t understand. \u201cLord, I don\u2019t understand but I thank You. You see it. You see my powerlessness, my desperate situation\u2026\u201d Try to do it and God will give you the light and strength.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Application 1Jn 1:9<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Download:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Pearls.doc\">Practical spiritual advice \/5\/ &#8211; Pearls<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pearls Psalm 86:5 For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abundant in mercy to those who call upon You. What does this Psalm say about God? He is good, forgiving and abundant in mercy. But only to those who call upon Him. Those who do not call upon Him, refuse His help, or do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8957"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8961,"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8957\/revisions\/8961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vkpatriarhat.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}