#Salvation #Carry_Your_Cross

James 5:11
Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

"Let not a heretic seize you because he can cite some examples from the Scriptures, nor let he who seems learned arrogate them. The devil, too, uses the evidence of the Scriptures (Lk. 4:10-11), yet not in order to teach, but to entrap and deceive."

+ St Ambrose of Milan

#Salvation #Dont_Conform

Mean what you say. Swear by nothing

James 5:12
But above all things, my brothers, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yes be yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into condemnation.

“If any Roman soldier serving overseas is caught favoring the barbarians and the Persians, not only is he in danger but so also is everyone who was aware of how this felt and failed to make this fact known to the general. Since you are the army of Christ, be overly careful in searching to see if anyone favoring an alien faith has mingled among you, and make his presence know - not so that we may put him to death as those generals did, nor that we may punish him or take our vengeance upon him, but that we may free him from his error and ungodliness and make him entirely our own….

Tell me this. If a man were to have slain your son, would you endure to look upon him, or accept his greeting? Would you not shun him as a wicked demon, as the devil himself? They slew the Son of your Lord; do you have the boldness to enter with them under the same roof? After he was slain he heaped such honor upon you that he made you his brother and coheir. But you dishonor him so much that you pay honor to those who slew him on the cross, that you observe with them the fellowship of the festivals, that you go to their profane places, enter their unclean doors, and share in the tables of demons…”

+ St. John Chrysostom

#Apologetics #Original_Faith #Knowing_Jesus #Prophecy

James 5:13-14
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

Saint John Climacus in “The Ladder of Divine Ascent defines a Christian as “an imitator of Christ in thought, word and deed, as far as this is humanly possible, and he believes rightly and blamelessly in the Holy Trinity”|.

“Do whatever good you may. Speak evil of not one. Rob no one. Tell no lie. Despise no one and carry no hate. Do not separate yourself from the church assemblies. Show compassion to the needy. Do not be a cause of scandal to anyone. Stay away from the bed of another…. If you do all of this, you will not be far from the kingdom of heaven” (Step 1).

#Knowing_Jesus #Original_Faith

Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Children sing a hymn

James 5:15
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

James 5:16
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

#Reflection #Family #Knowing_Jesus


James 4:14
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

James 5:17-18
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

James 5:19-20
Brothers, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20. Let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

☦️🕯️Never let anyone tell you that, in order to be Orthodox, you must be Eastern. The West was fully Orthodox for a thousand years, and her venerable liturgy is far older than any of her heresies.🕯️☦️

♰ St. John Maximovitch ♰

Sirach 31:23-24

Whoso is liberal of his meat, men shall speak well of him; and the report of his good housekeeping will be believed. 24. But against him that is a niggard of his meat the whole city shall murmur; and the testimonies of his niggardness shall not be doubted of.

Wine in our lives

Sirach 31:25-26

Shew not thy valiantness in wine; for wine hath destroyed many. 26. The furnace proveth the edge by dipping: so doth wine the hearts of the proud by drunkenness.

#Reflection #Discerning #Persecuted_Church #Evil