Making Progress In Self-denial.
Soul training. Learn from Evagrius (my soul) that the self-denying struggle to keep the commandments of Jesus in spirit, truth, and thought is progressive:
First you must force yourself to make an honest effort to choose the right in all circumstances in line with the Word of God regardless of the cost. Along with an endeavor to establish good and godly habits from the inside out. This will start the process of bringing your ill-passions from your passionate parts (the starting place of your negative emotions) to a normal functioning according to God's original design.
Next, the door will be opened for you to make progress in your hidden man of the heart milieu of awareness. Here you will be able to establish good and godly habits in accord with that corresponding domain, but needless to say not without the working of and uncreated energy of the Spirit of God. This will bring your mind of the heart to a normal operation according to your original nature or the common nature of the Model set before you. You were designed primarily for the apprehension of Truth and the contemplative knowing of God.[1].
Use the self-denying intuitive word on the soul given by Jesus, Paul, Evagrius, Hesychios, Palamas and others down through the centuries. The fundamental elements of the struggle, for keeping
the commands of Jesus in reality, have been clearly analyzed by them and you must track and follow their detailed instruction, for what good would it be to re-invent the wheel?
Therefore, to be that Christian and committed spiritual athlete as seen in the Prototype keep the commandments by turning from temptation in your very words and actions. You will find that you gain everything by abstinence and self-denial and in reality are not deprived of anything of real lasting value. Some glosses to keep in mind are, "if you love me, keep my commandments", "come out from among them and be separate", "take up your cross, deny yourself", "some come not out but by fasting and prayer", etc.
Once you have moved through purification and it has had its effect to God's chosen degree, your endeavor to obey out of love moves inward to the root of the problem. One of the things that forces you inward other than the nature of the thing itself, is the track record of your failures. Although repentance will be a way of life, it will now become a weapon and reflexive skill in spiritual warfare, demonstrating your true growth in humility and meekness.
Calling on the name of the Lord - the Jesus Prayer which is built on His name, will take on a new depth as you go along (although the prayer itself stays the same in form), to coincide with your need according to your progress and spiritual development.[2]. At this time however, i do warn you concerning your expectation:
"Whosoever committeth sin" - at any level of spirituality - says the Lord, "is the servant of sin" (John 8:34). "No man can serve two masters" (Mathew 6:24). "What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" for ye are the temple of the living God". (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). One who is easily overcome by small sins is all the more enslaved to great sins - and let it be known that the great ones are more subtle and hidden. It is impossible to conquer the major ill-passions, if one has not first defeated the more trivial ones [The Evergetinos - a complete text. Book III, pg. 73.]
To have the right reason for true Christian spiritual athletic training is to gain control of the energies of your mind-of-the-heart according to the original intended design. To have the desire and temper parts (of you, my soul) renovated and transformed by the Spirit into that which God determines as a-la-natural after the likeness of Christ.
And then moving on, to further gain righteousness out of the struggle against temptation. To keep the commandments of Jesus from the heart. And even here there is a progression: First from the Old Testament we are exercised in the learning and choosing right from wrong based on the commandments relating to every practical aspect of life. Also from the Old Testament we learn of commandments that can only be fulfilled from within an inner entity reality and context. Example, "circumcision of the heart", "the just shall live by faith", "as a man thinks in his heart", etc. And next there are the 1,050 commands of the New Testament that are beyond your capacity to analyze (but to your benefit to try), especially those ones pinpointed by Jesus which are relational and reciprocal in nature.[3]. Example , "Judge not, lest you be judged, for with the measurement you use, it will be measured against you", "forgive and you will be forgiven", "love you neighbor as yourself", etc.
Applied from the following text and author - timiosprodromos3.blogspot.com
Words inside of brackets { } are added for personal clarity.
[1]. "Evagrius teaches us that this ascetical {self-denying} struggle to keep the commandments in thought has a natural progression: first we reach moral perfection {choosing the right}, moral virtue {choosing good and godly habits}, by bringing the passionate part of the soul, the seat of the emotions, to its operations according to {original} nature; then we progress to noetic {hidden man of the heart reality} perfection, noetic or intellectual virtue {good and godly habits on the spiritual dimension}, by bringing the mind (nous) {mind of the heart} to its operation according to {original} nature in the contemplation {contemplative knowing} of God."
[2]. "Using the ascetical {self-denying} psychology {intuitive word on the soul} of Evagrius Pontikos, we have analyzed the deepest strands of the struggle to keep the commandments in thought. Hence, the Christian, above all the tonsured {committed} monastic {spiritual athlete}, struggles first to keep the commandments of God by rejecting temptation in his actions. Then when he is purified, he struggles to keep the commandments of God by rejecting temptation in his very own thought processes. The Jesus Prayer {built on His name} is used as part of this ascetical {self-denying} struggle, both at the stage of keeping the commandments in action and at the stage of keeping the commandments in thought."
[3]. "The Orthodox {right reason, correct seeing} Christian, especially the Orthodox {true Christian} monk or nun {spiritual athlete}, realizes his or her struggle to attain to the operations of the mind (nous) {mind of the heart}, desire (epithumia) and temper (thumos) according to {original} nature, to attain to noetic {mind of the heart} and moral {right} virtue {good and godly habits}, as a struggle against temptation, or, more positively put, as a struggle to keep the commandments of God, first the ethical {pertaining to right and wrong} and spiritual {pertaining to inner entity reality} commandments of the Old Testament, then the sublime {beyond analysis} commandments of the New Testament."
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Author: bimonics
Location: Rocklin California USA
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hello, my name is grant. my user name is bimonics which is short for bible mnemonics. i am blessed with a wonderful loving wife; a gifted, mature, christian lady. between us we have 8 children and at present 27 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. i was born in 1952, to...
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i was lost when jesus found me. i am still lost without his company, and without all that he does. i was a lead guitarist in a rock band, until i gave up my old life and picked up the bible. i am still a guitarist for the rock that...
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