opstaan 6

While I was wondering where is this going...

in fact, I was feeling so uncomfortable...

feeling like we are going deeper and deeper in politics

and I was like: Lord, where is this going?

And I began to see the list of names, like Lillian Ngoyi's...

And I began to see the list of names of women... 

that the Lord is burdening [belasten] at this time... 

with the impression, the birthing pains...

the push, the intercession, privately, of the birthing of this nation and people...

that many many women in South Africa, in Africa...

who are privately interceding, pushing, with the birthing pains...

of the change of garment, the change of God of the nation of South Africa.

And the Lord gave this word:

Oh Africa!

'You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.’ (Jeremiah 29:13)

'Know also that wisdom is like honey for you. If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.' (Proverbs 24:14)

'Then God said to Abraham: as for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai any more. Sarah shall be her name. Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her and give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of many nations. Kings of peoples shall be from her.' (Genesis 17:15-16)

'The Lord your God will bless you, as He has promised. You will land to many nations, but you will no longer need to borrow any more. You will rule many nations, but they will no longer rule over you. The gates are open.' (Deut.15:6)

As the Lord began to remind us...

how to position ourselves into receiving.

And to coming into His divine alignment with what He is releasing over our continent.

In this hour, the Lord reminded me, that He has been talking to us, whispering to us...

as a body of Christ, regarding our need to align ourselves with repentance... 

fasting and prayer, praise and worship, holiness, purity, humility...

which He calls humili-key, obedience, obedience and obedience.

And sensitizing us in this hour to be sensitive about treating others...

in the way that we would have them do to us

B.J. Labre

And ensuring that our respect...

it's a sensitive time to ensure that our respect for educational qualifications...

and all the requirements of previous experiences in certain circumstances...

do not become our worst enemy at this hour. 

And the impression that I was receiving from the Lord that this time He was saying...

the way and the time in which He has ushered us into, it's a time not only to look into people who have done things before, or who have qualified before, or who have helped or experienced in certain things.

For there are people that the Lord has been preparing behind the scenes.

In the basement, in the caves, in the behind the scenes.

And these people He is beginning to reveal now.

Even in different churches, where some people have been sitting on the back seat for a long time.

Not being able to speak, not being able to say anything.

Some because of lack of identity.

Some because they have been waiting for a sound and a time.

And an unction [zalving] from the Lord to come out.

B.J. Labre

But as we finish with this word:

‘When I lead you in the way you should go, you often start well. 

And as the next steps completely defy [tarten] your expectations, you default [falen,in gebreke blijven] into what you know, or what you did before, or what is logical, what's familiar, what is more acceptable to others and within reason.'

So the Lord says:

'As I lead you out of the land of captivity... 

'foolishness' is your strategic weapon...

foolishness in God, foolishness in faith...

some of the things that the Lord will burden you to do...

are the key to the deliverance [verlossing] that He has ushered in our midst at this time.

Get ready! 

You will be known as a people totally crazy, nuts and loosing it! 

Reject the pressure to have an answer for everything. 

Be confident in your obedience to Me' 

declares the Lord.

[12.5.20]

ivanovna 3

"We are all

- the blessed ones or fools-for-christ -

Ivan-ovnas, because our father

is Saint John the Baptist."

Blessed Maria Zakharovna Fedina... 

was born to a peasant family in the village of Goletkov, Elatomsky District, Tambov province. 

From her early childhood, she sought solitude and prayer. Maria’s father died when she was thirteen, followed by her mother’s death a year later. An orphan at 14, she would wander in the area between Diveyevo and Sarov, in search of food. 

She disregarded any weather, in summer or winter, in scorching heat or during winter storm, at a spring thaw or autumn’s drizzling rain, as she kept on walking, wearing just bast shoes, often in tatters [aan flarden], without leg wrappers [beenwikkels]. 

Once, during the Passion Week, she traveled to Sarov, knee-high in the muddy snow of the spring thaws. A man, riding a horse-drawn cart, caught up with her, felt pity and offered her a ride, but she refused. 

During the summer, Maria seemingly took refuge in the woods, because when she used to come to Diveyevo, her skin was entirely covered with ticks [teken], and sores turning into abscesses.  

It was said that, before she settled in Diveyevo, she spent 40 years under the bridge... 

praying unceasingly. 

-

No one ever heard any complaints... 

or moans of desolation... 

neither was she bad tempered...

or ever lamented her life’s unfairness. 

The Lord Himself, seeing her God-pleasing life, extreme humility and patience... 

has glorified her among the people. 

They would often take notice that, whatever she told them or warned them about, would happen. 

When she stayed with someone, they would receive grace from God.

-

Blessed Paraskevi Ivanovna... 

foreseeing her own death... 

used to tell her near and dear ones: 

“I am still alive and well behind the walls...

while the next one is scurrying and scouting about... 

as she then will settle here.”

On the day of blessed Paraskevi Ivanovna’s death... 

the nuns chased the blessed Maria away from the monastery annoyed by her antics. 

Suddenly, one peasant came to the monastery and said: 

“What a great servant of God you just kicked away! 

She told me everything about my sins and about my life! 

Bring her back or else you will lose her forever!” 

Immediately, someone was dispatched to get her. 

It was not long before she returned to the monastery.

Maria Ivanovna talked fast and a lot... 

at times in rhymes or in curses... 

more so after 1917. 

In this way, she disguised her clairvoyant accusations. 

Through the prayers of the blessed one, who greatly suffered herself from self-inflicted grievous illnesses and accidents, the Lord repeatedly healed the afflicted, a fact supported by multiple witness accounts.

During the dark times of Russia’s revolutionary trials, a flow of the destitute in need of counsel and prayerful intercession increased. Her prophecies and predictions helped many people to avoid danger and death, and to find a right path out of dire straits. 

-

Soviet authorities raised persecution of the blessed elder...

and prohibited her from accepting visitors. 

After the monastery closed in 1927, Maria Ivanovna found refuge in the homes of other believers. 

Shortly before her death, the blessed one was subject to arrest and interrogation... 

but she was found delusional and thus released.

-

Maria Ivanovna, foreseeing future trials of concentration camps, exiles and years of godlessness, used to strengthen the sisters foretelling about the rebirth of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery. 

Someone told her: “You speak about the monastery, Maria Ivanovna! But there will be no monastery!” 

“O Yes, there will be! O Yes, there will be!” she banged on the table.

-

At night from fourth to fifth of July, 1918, the day of the martyrdom of the Royal family, Maria Ivanovna ranted terribly crying: “The tsarevnas, by bayonets! Damn Jews!”  

She raged terribly, but the reason why she screamed about became only known later.

After the monastery’s dissolution... 

she stayed at the village of Puzo at first... 

but later moved to Elizarovo as per the blessing of Hegumenia Alexandra. 

She lived there till spring, when she was moved again to Diveyevo... 

and cared for by a deaf-mute brother and sister until 1930. 

At that time, she was moved to a farmstead near the village of Pochinok...

and, lastly, to Cherevatovo, where she died on September 8th, 1931. 

Maria Ivanovna was buried at a local village cemetery.

[bron]

ivanovna 1

Pelagia Ivanovna Serebrennikova [†1884]

"This woman will be a great lamp!"... 

This is what Saint Seraphim said about her.

Pelagia, 'the sea', was born in 1809...

into a wealthy merchant family in the city of Arzamas. 

Shortly after her forced marriage, the young woman visited the monk Serafim in Sarov and had a long conversation with him, which determined her future life and set her on the path of spiritual work.

After that, she began to study the Jesus prayer, which began to act gracefully in her.

-

As if she had lost her mind... 

Pelagia Ivanovna began to dress uncomfortably, and behave strangely in public places, causing gossip and insults, which her soul sincerely rejoiced, despising all the blessings of this world.

The blessed one, who lived on the street, ran through the city during the day and went mad... 

and spent her nights in prayer on the porch of the church.

Her husband, as well as her relatives not understanding the great path of his wife, subjected her to blows and torture, starved her to death and cold, put her on a chain... Only the grace of God gave her the strength to endure all those torments.

In 1837, Pelagia was taken to Diveyevo.

The sisters of the Diveevo community, seeing Pelageya Ivanovna...

had taken pity on her and took her to them. 

Her first cell attendant, however, hit her so hard, that it was impossible to look at her without pity. And Pelagia called on everyone to be beaten, because she was mad and hit the walls of the monastery buildings with her head and hands. She rarely went to her cell and spent most of the day in the courtyard of the monastery, either in a well full of manure, or in a gatehouse in the corner.

In summer or winter, she always walked barefoot, deliberately stood with her feet on nails, pierced them through, and tried in every way possible to torture her body. She only ate bread and water, and sometimes not even that. She hardly slept, unless, sitting, she dozed off a little, and at night she would leave and stand somewhere in the monastery regardless of rain or cold, turning east. 

Pelagia Ivanovna never cut her nails and never went to the bathhouse. However, never has she been sick. Three years before her death, she fell into a snowstorm and froze to the ground in the yard, and at nine in the morning stood out in the cold in just a sundress and a shirt!

-

Sure enough, she was the Diveyevo Monastery mother.

And everyone called the nuns her daughters. As nothing was done without her. Whether one send someone in obedience, whether one send someone to the monastery, or send them out - everything was done on the advice of the blessed old woman.

In Diveyevo people began to flock to her from all sides, people of different ranks and circumstances; everyone hastened to see her and to hear from her a wise word of edification, comfort, spiritual advice, or reproof and reproach, each according to his own needs.

And she, who possessed the gift of clairvoyance, told everyone what was necessary for him and soul-saving: with some loving, and with others menacing, while still others completely drove away from themselves and she threw stones at them, or she cruelly denounced, and her voice was like once to the blessed Christ for the sake of the holy fool Andrew, like a bell it sounded strong and graceful, so that all who listened to it would never forget the astonishing effect of her words. 

And she spoke almost incessantly, now allegorically, now directly and clearly, depending on the spiritual needs of those who listened.

There was a wonderful relationship... 

between this ascetic and the great elder Seraphim... 

the beginning of which he initiated... 

by a special revelation from above... 

and with the blessing of the Most Holy Theotokos... 

after his long conversation with Pelagia Ivanovna.

He had blessed her for the great feat [prestatie] of folly, bowed to her on the ground and said: “Go, go, mother, go to Diveyevo, take care of my orphans." 

After her departure, Father Seraphim said to the witnesses of this event: "This woman will be a great lamp!"

-

Pelagia Ivanovna spent forty-six years in the Diveyevo Monastery... 

year after year bearing the heavy burden of achievements... 

protecting the holy monastery with her prayer.

Pelageya Ivanovna under various circumstances of her life constantly repeated: "I am Serafimova", or "Serafim spoiled me", or "The old man is closer to us"... and to the end of her life she was vigilantly awake over the Diveyevo Monastery. "Look how many children I have!" - expressing all her love for the Diveyevo orphans. 

And the compassionate concern for the Mother Abbess Mary, about her work and problems in the management of the monastery, and her zeal for the truth, trampled and scolded, when she decided to reason with the saint - all this clearly showed in her the faithful and exact fulfillment of the great elder's request: “Go, go to Diveyevo, take care of my beings." 

And she kept and is still keeping them, for eternity. 

She loved flowers very much... 

and when she had them in her hands, she sorted them thoughtfully and whispered a prayer softly. 

Lately she almost always had fresh flowers in her hands, because they were brought by those who wanted to please her, and these flowers apparently comforted her. She looked over and admired them, and she herself became bright and cheerful, as if her mind was already floating in another world.

-

On January 30th, 1884, she rested in the Lord. 

She was 75 years old. 

On the ninth day after the death of the blessed, that is on February 7th, 1884, her funeral took place with a huge crowd of people. They buried Pelagia Ivanovna in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, opposite the main altar. On the tomb of the blessed old woman, a monument was erected with inscriptions on four sides:

1) Pelageya Ivanovna Serebrennikova, née Surina, with the blessing of the eldest of God, Hieromonk Seraphim, for holy obedience left all the happiness of earthly life, her husband and children, and undertook the feat of folly and persecution, beatings and chains, accepting the Lord for Christ's sake. Born in 1809, she lived in the monastery for 47 years, and on January 30th, 1884, died at the age of 75 to the Lord.

2) Happy are you when they reproach you, wear you out, and speak every evil word against you, lying for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is many in heaven. Having endured all here and conquered all by the power of your love for God, His love for the suffering of our spiritual weakness and intercession for us with the cross of your achievement.

3) Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveev Monastery blessed Pelageya. Who took up her cross for the sake of God, lived on earth wholly in God, and in heaven lives with God forever.

4) Blessed are the exiles for righteousness' sake, for that is the Kingdom of Heaven. In the thorny path of your achievement, you left no one who came running to you, and there, in the bliss of God's eternal glory, you found the abode you loved. 

[bron]

eudocia 12

Blessed Maria Ivanovna of Diveyevo always said: 

"Go more often to the grave of Dunya... 

where the angels sing incessantly." 

“All of us, the blessed ones, are Ivanovnas...

after St. John the Baptist.”

[bron]

eudocia 2

Blessed Evdokia... 

was born in 1856 in the village of Puza...

now the village of Suvorovo, in the Diveevsky district... 

in a peasant family of Alexander and Alexandra Sheikov.

From childhood on, she was ´out of this world´: quiet, in poor health, who did not like noisy games and fun... As a child, she had only one girlfriend - Maria, but she soon died.

After that, Dunya often began to go to the local Ascension Church to pray. But because of her weakness, she was unable to attend [orthodox, standing] services for a long time, so she knelt in the church and prayed throughout the service.

She always walked with a stick, and baptised everything around her with it. She wore only dark clothes and tied a scarf so that her face was barely visible.

Marthe Robin

Despite her physical weakness...

Dunya tried to help her relatives in the farming economy, but soon she fell ill.

Even in her teens, the Lord gave her the gift of clairvoyance for her chaste, pious life. At first, the relatives did not pay attention to Dunya's words, but then they noticed that everything turned out exactly as the girl said.

When it became clear that Dunya would no longer be able to walk, her relatives made a bench out of planks in her parents' hut, put foot cloths on it, and put a winter coat under her head. Here she lay.

Two young peasant women began to care for the young woman. And she also had a spiritual mentor - an astute [scherpzinnige] elder from Sarov, Hieromonk Anatoly. 

Afflicted with illness, Dunya began to lead a strict ascetic life.

St. Andrew the Fool

She devoted most of her time to prayer.

She prayed with her assistants from five in the morning until twelve in the afternoon, with a twenty-minute rest. The girls sang troparia and kontakia to the Queen of Heaven and the saints, read the Psalter, the Holy Gospel, canons and akathists. During prayer, everyone offered obeisances. In the evening, from eight o'clock to midnight, they offered a personal prayer.

Their house was small and dilapidated [vervallen], with only two windows in front. Dunya lay by the third side window. The stove in the hut often fell apart before their eyes, and in winter it was very cold. Her companions were sometimes so tired of the long prayers and household chores, that they fell to the ground and slept, despite the cold.

Remembering the Savior's suffering for sinful people, Dunya also took upon herself her heavy cross of constant sufferings. She didn't wash in the bathhouse, she didn't allow herself to change clothes until the shirt was completely rotten. She put pieces of bread on her bed, which then dried up into crackers, which clung painfully to her body. In addition, in her modest home, there were a large number of lice and cockroaches...

[bron]

xenia v

Maar het was mij destijds niet mogelijk, broeders...

tot u te spreken als waart gij reeds geestelijk en niet langer egoïstisch. In Christus waart gij nog zo jong! Melk moest ik u geven, geen vaste spijs, die kondt gij nog niet verdragen.

Zelfs nu kunt gij het niet, want gij laat u nog altijd leiden door zelfzucht. Of is het geen uiting van egoïsme en kleinmenselijk gedrag, dat er onder u naijver en twist voorkomt? Als de een zegt ´Ik ben voor Paulus´ en de ander ´Ik voor Apollos´, zijt gij dan niet al te menselijk?

-

Wat zijn Apollos en Paulus eigenlijk?

Niet meer dan ondergeschikten, die behulpzaam waren bij uw bekering, en wel ieder van ons op zijn eigen manier, zoals de Heer het ons vergund heeft: ik heb geplant, Apollos heeft begoten, maar God gaf de groei. Noch hij die plant betekent iets, noch hij die begiet, maar alleen God, die de wasdom geeft.

Die plant en die begiet staan op één lijn, al ontvangt wel ieder loon naar eigen arbeid. Wij zijn Gods medewerkers, gij zijt Gods akker, Gods bouwwerk. Naar de míj gegeven genade, heb ik als een kundig bouwmeester het fundament gelegd, waarop een ander voortbouwt.

Maar laat iedereen toezien hoe hij daarop bouwt. Want niemand kan een ander fundament leggen dan wat er reeds ligt, namelijk Jezus Christus. Of men nu op deze grondslag verder gaat met goud, zilver, kostbare stenen, of hout, hooi en stro, van ieders werk zal de kwaliteit aan het licht komen.

De grote dag zal het aantonen, want deze verschijnt met vuur, en het vuur zal uitwijzen wat ieders werk waard is. Houdt het bouwwerk dat iemand optrok stand, dan zal hij loon ontvangen. Verbrandt het, dan zal hij schade lijden; hijzelf zal gered worden, maar, om zo te zeggen, door het vuur heen.

-

Weet gij niet...

dat gij Gods tempel zijt?

En dat de Geest van God in u wóont?

Als iemand de tempel van God te gronde richt, zal God hem te gronde richten. Want de tempel van God is heilig, en die tempel zijt gij. Laat niemand zichzelf iets wijs maken.

Als iemand onder u wijs meent te zijn - wijs volgens de opvattingen van deze wereld - dan moet hij dwaas worden om de ware wijsheid te leren. De wijsheid van deze wereld, is dwaasheid voor God.

Er staat immers geschreven: Hij vangt de wijzen in hun eigen sluwheid...

En elders: De Heer kent de gedachten van ´de wijzen´, Hij weet hoe waardeloos ze zijn... 

Laat daarom niemand zijn heil zoeken bij mensen.

Want álles is het uwe, of het nu Paulus is of Apollos of Kefas... wereld, leven of dood... heden of toekomst... álles is van u.

Maar gij zijt van Christus.

En Christus is van God.


~1 Kor. 3~

xenia iv

Toch spreken wij onder de volmaakten over wijsheid...

Maar dat is niet de wijsheid van deze wereld, of van de machten die deze wereld beheersen, wier ondergang op handen is.

Wij verkondigen Gods wijsheid. Die verborgen was. Het geheime plan. Door God van alle eeuwigheid ontworpen en bestemd voor onze verheerlijking.

Geen van de machthebbers van deze wereld heeft ervan geweten. Als zij ervan geweten hadden, zouden zij de Heer der heerlijkheid niet gekruisigd hebben.

Dit zijn de dingen waarvan de Schrift zegt: Geen oog heeft ze gezien, geen oor heeft ze gehoord, geen mens kan het zich voorstellen, al wat God bereid heeft voor die Hem liefhebben. 

-

Maar aan ons heeft God het geopenbaard door de Geest.

Want de Geest van God doorgrondt alles, zelfs de diepste geheimen van God.

-

Ook onder ons mensen wordt iemands wezen alleen gekend door zijn eigen geest.

Zo kent alleen de Geest van God het wezen van God.

Wij hebben echter niet de geest van de wereld ontvangen, maar de Geest die van God komt. Hij doet ons inzien al wat God ons in zijn genade gegeven heeft. En daarover spreken wij, niet met woorden ontleend aan menselijke wijsheid, maar onderricht door de Geest, geestelijke gaven uitleggend aan geestelijke mensen.

-

Een ongeestelijk mens aanvaardt niet wat komt van de Geest van God.

Het is dwaasheid voor hem.

Hij is niet in staat deze dingen te vatten. Want ze kunnen alleen beoordeeld worden in het licht van de Geest. Een geestelijk mens kan alles beoordelen, maar niemand oordeelt over hem. Wie kent de gedachte van de Heer? Wie kan Hem raad geven? Maar onze gedachte is de gedachte van Christus.


~1 Kor. 2~

xenia iii

Want de prediking van het kruis...

is dwaasheid voor hen die verloren gaan.

Maar voor hen die gered worden, voor ons, is zij Gods kracht.

Er staat immers geschreven: Verdelgen zal Ik de wijsheid der wijzen, en het verstand der verstandigen zal Ik tenietdoen...

De wijze, de geleerde, de redetwister van deze tijd, waar zijn zij? Heeft God de wijsheid van de wereld niet tot dwaasheid gemaakt? In Gods wijsheid heeft de wereld met al haar wijsheid God niet gevonden. Daarom heeft God besloten hen die geloven te redden door de dwaasheid van de verkondiging.

-

Want Joden eisen wonderen.

Heidenen verlangen wijsheid.

Maar wij verkondigen een gekruisigde Christus: voor de Joden een aanstoot, voor de heidenen een dwaasheid, maar voor hen die geroepen zijn, joden zowel als heidenen, is Hij Gods kracht en Gods wijsheid.

Want de dwaasheid van God is wijzer dan de mensen.

En de zwakheid van God is sterker dan de mensen.

-

Denkt maar aan uw eigen roeping, broeders.

Naar menselijke maatstaf waren er niet velen geleerd, niet velen machtig, niet velen van hoge afkomst. Nee, wat voor de wereld dwaas is, heeft God uitverkoren. Om de wijzen te beschamen. Wat voor de wereld zwak is, heeft God uitverkoren. Om het sterke te beschamen.

Wat voor de wereld van geringe afkomst is, en onbeduidend, heeft God uitverkoren. Wat niets is, om teniet te doen wat iets is. Opdat tegenover God geen mens zou roemen op zichzelf.

Dankzij Hém, zijt gij in Christus Jezus.

Die van Gódswege heel onze wijsheid is geworden.

Onze gerechtigheid, heiliging en verlossing.

Daarom, zoals er geschreven staat:

Als iemand wil roemen, laat hem roemen op de Heer...


~1 Kor. 1~

xenia i