وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

The mind does not understand how miracles happen, but it accepts them and finds joy in them.

A miracle is called a miracle because the mind fails to grasp it and cannot explain it. But the mind accepts it by faith... faith, with infinite power, greater than that of the mind, can perform things the mind fails to understand. This power is the power of God the almighty.

We respect the mind, and at the same time we know its limits.

We can not accept the proud mind which desires to understand all things, refusing that some are beyond comprehension.

The mind should be humble to know its limitation "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Rom. 12.3). The mind should submit matters beyond its level of understanding to faith.

If the mind wanted to nullify all that it does not understand it would end up destroying itself, lose the element of faith and put itself in a very narrow circle of very limited range of understanding.

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

Believers are moderate, they esteem the mind and use it in religious and spiritual affairs. There are philosophers and people of high intellect among the believers, who do not depend on the mind in pride or trust in its ability to understand all things.

However, in simplicity and humility they confess that their minds are limited and are unable to understand all this associated with God. With faith, their hearts and minds accept all that is beyond the level of the mind.

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

We mean humble in the sense that the mind is not proud of its own understanding or destroys all that is does not understand.

But does not complicate matters or insist on placing everything within its own limits. We will refer to this point later when we speak about the simplicity of faith.

Faith is not only a prayer said, but a life we live. If you are living a life of faith, the fruits of faith apparent in your practical life. Examine your faith against the virtues which are clear in the believer's life and these are many. As the apostle says, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith" (2 Cor. 13:5).

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

Conviction Of The Unseen
The apostle said about faith: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). We want to know what this verse means:
Conviction: is certainty, confidence and belief without doubt. It is not simply an idea, opinion or knowledge gained from reading or hearing about it, but certainty that unseen matters exist.

Here is a clear difference between believers and men of science.

The things that are not seen are not in the working field of the researchers. If they are not sure of something, they investigate it thoroughly with their instruments and apparatus. The same also applies to men of material beliefs.

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

Believers are not like this, they follow God's saying "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29).

The believer accepts the creation from nothing. The scientist's research refuses this matter, and refuses that five loaves of bread fed five thousand men (excluding the women and children) and that twelve baskets full of bread where left over.

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

The believer accepts all this.

The believer accepts firstly that God is powerful. He also accepts everything in a certain range of this unlimited power.

The believer frees himself from the doubts of the researches and the investigations of the unbeliever. Not only does he accept the unseen, but moreover, he lives according to and focuses his mind and affection on the unseen according to what the apostle's words. "While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:18).

You will ask, how can I see the hidden? And I tell you by faith.

What are then those unseen matters? The first is probably God Himself, His qualities, His works, and all things pertaining to Him.

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

God, His Qualities And Works
God is unseen, as John the evangelist said "No one has seen God" (John 1:18). Actually who can see the divinity? No one!

However, in spite of this, you believe in Him with all your heart, and with all certainty. This faith does not at all rely on your physical senses. You may say you see Him with your trained spiritual senses (Heb.5:14). This non-physical senses were trained to see the unseen, and we have the following examples from the Bible:

David said "I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved." (Ps 16:8). So how did he see the Lord in front of him and at his right hand all times? No doubt he saw Him with an eye of faith. In some of the translations it is written "I have seen the Lord...." that
means that he is continuously seeing the unseen and focusing on Him with mind and feeling.

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

With the same meaning Elijah said "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand"(1 Kin 18:15). How was he able to feel that he stands before God? And how was he able to always see the Lord in front of him? Not through the bodily senses since they can not arouse a believer's heart. But it is by faith that the Lord is before him. It is faith that sees the unseen.

If you are in faith, you will have confidence that God is always before you and will act according to this belief, that God sees you and hears you...

If you live in faith, you are sure that God is in the midst of His people, according to His promise "...I am there in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20) and "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matt.28:20). You do not see Him with the eye of your body, but you believe that He is in our midst. You do not need to see Him physically to believe. You believe without seeing, or you perceive the unseen.

[Mary Naeem]

الطريقة الكتابية لإطلاق النعمة هي التكلم بها هذا ما جاء في أفسس 4 : 29 إن الكلمة المنطوقة تعطي نعمة للسامعين, فيمكنك أن تعطي نعمة للسامعين بتكلمك لكلمة الله, ويمكنك أن تعطي نعمة (قوة لإحداث تغيير) للموقف. لذلك فإن أخطاء اللسان تحزن الروح القدس أفسس 4 : 26 - 31.
لذلك عندما تتكلم كلمات كتابية وكلمات صحيحة فإنك تعطي قوة لإحداث تغيير للسامعين لأن التغيير يحدث بسبب الكلمة. وبهذا يمكنك أن تردد الكلمة لنفسك فتحدث تغييرا لنفسك.
يع3 : 1 - 5 اللسان سيأخذك حيث تريد, وهو يفتخر متعظماً, وهذه تعني باليوناني يصنع "أموراً عظيمة وضخمة وفاخرة". وليست معناها أنه متكبر كما يوحى إلينا في اللغة العربية, لذلك فيمكنك أن تصنع وتخلق بلسانك أموراُ ضخمة وكذلك ممكن أيضاً أن يصنع أموراً سلبية فحسبما توجهه لسانك ستؤخذ لما تقوله.
كونك تتكلم فهذا يؤدي إلي قوة لإحداث تغيير.

[Mary Naeem]

المؤمن الصامت هو المؤمن الذي لن يرى نتائج في حياته حتى إذا كان صامت أثناء الترانيم أو في غرفته. فعليك أن تتكلم.
وحتى ولو وجدت في مكان به ترانيم غير كتابية, لا تجلس صامتاً بل صلي بألسنة بصوت منخفض لا يسمعه من حولك.
تعلم أن تكون في خضوع, فعندما تبدأ في أن تخضع ستجد نفسك تعشق وتحب أن تخضع وهذا شئ مهم فالكتاب يحث المرأة على الخضوع لزوجها وعندما تفعل هذا ستعشق وتحب أن تخضع أكثر وأكثر ومن هنا نستنتج سر وهو كيف تتعلم أن تكون خاضع.