Emmanuel
'The Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Emmanuel.' Isaiah 7:14
The kingdom of darkness is rapidly spreading its dominion over lands and souls. The devil is proclaiming himself openly. Analysing his tactics can be fascinating, but instead of talking about the kingdom of darkness with the good intention of exposing it—and running the risk of being swallowed up by it—it is better to gaze into the kingdom of light. With every opposing plan of the enemy, God has a glorious counter-economy. The men and women of God throughout the generations meditated on and were illumined by these glorious counter-economies, without needing to pay too much attention to what the devil was doing.
The Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, points to the divine economies in our times, for, as Apostle Paul said, ‘all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come’ (1 Cor 10:11). The early fathers inherited from the apostles the understanding that what happened in the Old Testament on the physical plane is what is happening now in the spiritual realm. Where Zion was once the place of God’s temple in which He desired to dwell in the midst of His people, it is now the people of God themselves. The Temple is no longer made of physical stones, but of living stones—the holy people of God—in whom the Spirit of God wishes to make His abode.
The Lord always intended that the people of God, whether it be households, parishes, monasteries, or spiritual communities, would be New Testament manifestations of the Old Testament Zion. The Zion of old was a stronghold of worship and fellowship with the Lord, was comprised of holiness and righteousness, and so was able to ward off those coming to attack it, and be a place of healing and restoration for those within it. So now, in the New Testament economy, our spiritual Zions ought to be strongholds of worship and fellowship with the Lord, overflowing with prayer and intercession, that the powers of the evil one may be cut off from it and from all those who enter its spiritual gates. Our teens and young adults are being swallowed up in the world. What they need are strongholds in which the Lord dwells, where their bonds can be broken, their eyes enlightened, their souls dusted off, and where they can perceive their callings and responsibilities in this generation.
But attaining this status of Zion does not come automatically. It requires the entire life and being. The Lord said: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Attaining to Zion requires a life of unceasing watchfulness and repentance. Repentance not in the sense of feeling guilty and ashamed, but in constantly watching the heart, whether an evil thought about another person has entered in and is thus blocking the needed unity, or whether bitterness about a certain situation has sprung up and is preventing grace from flowing, or if the heart is distracted by earthly things and has lost its vision of God, His words, and His plans. Zion requires watchful servants, servants who have their waists girded and lamps burning, constantly watching for the Master. Zion demands warriors who are willing to give up bodily rest and comfort when the battle draws near and extra prayer and intercession is needed. Zion requires the entire person—their thoughts, desires, time, possessions, preoccupations. Did the Lord ask of His disciples anything less? Didn’t He say that even spouse or offspring cannot take His place in their heart?
The dynamics of the Kingdom of God are not automatic. We don’t just say some prayers, do our rule, go to Church, and everything is fine. There is a real war going on. It requires our heart, because the heart is in fact the battleground. The human being was created from the earth and was given dominion over the earth as king and priest. Therefore, the heart and the earth are closely interdependent. The freedom of the earth from the reign of the prince of the world requires the reign of Christ to be complete in the human heart. It requires the constant vigilance and watchfulness of the heart, full of love and devotion to the Lord. If the heart is lukewarm and sleepy, beseech Him to wake it up. The inner eyes must be opened to see the spiritual desolation in the world now. To see how humanity is being ravaged. Then no amount of bodily comfort will be able to lull the soul back into the slumber of sin, because it will know that this comfort is completely superficial.
May the Lord wake us up and give us strength to fight in spirit and in truth.
Icon written by Anya Geramichuk
Hey.. thank you so much for this... I hope it is okay to ask a question, please ignore if not. I am worried I pray too much... I asked God that He might fill the gaps in my day rather than distraction, that I would be able to pray ceaselessly, and I have suddenly got this huge hunger for prayer. I try very much to do it discretely - snatch a moment when my son is settled, when my hubby is busy, when I have done all my work / duties.. but I feel like I have been very spoilt because miraculously I get to disappear to my room and pray the hours, or my rosary, or the psalms often throughout my day. Thing is, my day feels all wrong if I don't get to do this - God always provides, He always gives me a moment where I can hide away, do a few prostrations and get on my knees without hopefully imposing on others. But I hear this voice in my head now `what are you doing that for? you are praying way too much... this is obsessive... there is no point in this... bla bla bla'. I ignore the voice and keep praying. I am so grateful I get to have all these moments in my day where I can pray rather than scroll on my phone or do some task that really isn't all that important. I see a friend and I have to go to my room and pray beforehand. Lach has a meltdown and I'm praying the Jesus prayer in my mind as I try and help him through it, so I can figure out what to do. Once I've helped him be safe and regulate I go to my room to pray for him and recenter with a psalm. I feel stressed or irritated and I run to my room to catch 5 minutes with Him so I can be better for John. Miraculously I found myself giving up alcohol a while ago - so I am no longer too sleepy to pray before I go to bed, and I wouldn't change it for the world. I don't watch the news too much because I'm so oversensitive it upsets me heaps, but I see enough to pray a rosary for whatever has caught my eye, troubled my heart all the same. I feel like the most important job I could ever do in my life is pray, because everything else flows from that. But I am worried it is too much - I am over the top. At the same time I would not change it for anything. I guess that is my question... am I praying too much? I do apologise if not appropriate to ask - please remove from the comments section if so. Thanks all the same, and for this post that you have shared. ALys
Thank you, Mother Cassiana. This post sat in my inbox for a couple of days. I just read it tonight, and it served to the immediate answer to a prayer I had offered just half an hour prior to reading it. God bless you!