Counterfeit preaching and lies about the existence of evil and the devil as well as his existence in this world confuse people hindering them to reach the truth. However, through learning the words of God, it is probable to understand the truth. One of the best gospel passages for us to learn about the devil, evil and temptation is the reading in Matthew’s Gospel about the Temptation of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Matthew 4:1-11)
Patience is literally defined as, “The suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. Patience may spring from constitutional fortitude, from a kind of heroic pride, or from Christian submission to the divine will.” (KJV new version Dictionary)
God calls all humans for repentance; He says: “Return to me, and I will return to you.” Repentance is our way to salvation for we shall we be cleansed from our sins. Father Anthony Mourad of Coptic Orthodox Church defined Repentance as, “Repentance is both the Journey and the Destination of our salvation.” He added saying, “The Church labels this phenomenon by stating that there is both Repentance to life, as well as a life of Repentance.” (Malachi 3:7)
Human’s virtue lies on their goodness in heart in doing good by others with love. Our relations amongst shall be based by love and care-some on a daily basis. It means to share our feelings in times of sorrow and happiness. When we grieve for those who are sad and be delight for those who are happy, there exists love.
Entreaty according to the King James Dictionary is “To make an earnest petition or request” People make entreaties for a variety of reasons. For example they say, “If God hears my heartache; I will do this it for him. If Saint Mary hears my vows or supplications, I will submit an umbrella for the service of Church.” Or else they promise to give as much their capacity. When their vows were fulfilled, they say, “Our Lady has given what I pleaded.” They submit an umbrella as an entreaty in her for honor in the Church.
The Hope in God is unshakeable and basically confidence in Him. Every humans hope in reaching our destiny is unquestionable if God is on our side. So, our hope depends on how much strength we have to hold on to His hands. Even if we are in a bad situation and circumstances, God is will heaves us through. We hope and pray that one step in our lives would be the stepping stone to our future.
Almost half of our sins are mostly caused by our speech. Therefore, it is off the essence to know about the sins of the tongue. The first is the seriousness of the sins of the tongue; the bible says, “for by your words will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned. Speech of the man could bring Judgment on him. Lord Jesus Christ early sins of which He spoke of in the sermon of the Mount is the sins of tongue. He said, “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matthew 12:37, 5:22)
Defined in Kings James version dictionary, “Righteousness denotes one who is holy in heart and observant of the divine commands in practice; as a righteous man. Applied to things, it denotes consonant to the divine will or to justice; as a righteous act. It is used chiefly in theology, and applied to God, to his testimonies and to his Saints.”
The day of which Saint Gabriel saved the three children from burning fire, will be celebrated on December 28 in all Orthodox Incarnation Church.
The Holy Church evokes her children to live in unity, even if we didn’t come from the same tribe, nationality, speak different languages, and if we are different in age, gender, differ in our level of knowledge and wealth.