Chapter 1: On the Knowledge of God

1. Love of God is an all-consuming, life-changing love, that changes our orientation towards everything else in life.

2. It is through the presence of the Holy Spirit that I come to “know” that Jesus Christ is God.

3. God gives the Holy Spirit to the Church and its members.

4. The prophetic witness was empowered by the Holy Spirit – spoke on behalf of God

5. The Apostles were sent fearlessly into the world, the Spirit of God was their strength –

6. The Holy Spirit enables us to lose the fear of suffering

7. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to love our enemies, cannot love enemies without the presence of the Holy Spirit

8. How do we know if the Lord loves us – Or, ‘ how do we know if the Lord’s love is in us?’

  • If we battle firmly against sin –

  • If we love our enemies

  • If we lay down our life for others i.e. are servants of one another

  • We become more and more like Christ through the Holy Spirit.

9. What is preventing me from reaching the point of ‘longing to suffer’ for the sake of the love of the Lord? Why do I avoid suffering, and seek comfort in food and the pleasures of the world?

“Christ said, ‘I will not leave you comfortless’, and we see, in truth, that He did not forsake us but gave us the Holy Spirit.’”

10. I have not yet allowed the Holy Spirit to teach me how to long to suffer.

11. What prevents me from praying for evil men?

12. To know the Lord’s love for us we must:

  • Hate sin and wrong thoughts

  • Continuously pray

  • Grace will be given

13. Grace is given through our obedience to God

a. Obedience, humility, love one another

14. We come to have an authentic knowing of God by living according to His commandments.

“Even children who have no learning at all, come to know the Lord by the Holy Spirit.”

15. If we take pains to explore the human heart we shall discover the kingdom of heaven in the soul of a saint.

16. As our love for the Lord increases so does our comprehension of the depth of His suffering, the more perfect our Love is the more perfect our ‘knowing’ God becomes.

“Know, everyone, that we are created for the glory of God in the heavens. Cleave not to the earth, for God is our Father and He loves us like beloved children.”

CHAPTER 1 QUESTIONS:

Q: Fr. Sophrony says that we don’t need riches or learning in order to know the Lord. What does he say we do need? (p. 21).

Q: What does he mean when he says “obedience”?

Q: What does he mean when he says “Sober”?

Q. What is it that Fr. Sophrony says we typically live for? (PG 22)

Chapter 2: On Love

1. My soul thirst, (has as its’ life, its’ sustenance, its’ breath, its’ fulfillment) for the living God

2. “The Holy Spirit is love and sweetness to the soul”

3. “Where I am, there shall my servant be”

4. The various degrees of love

  • The first degree: when a person fears distressing God by sinning in any way

  • Second degree: when the mind is undistracted (able to devote itself entirely to God)

  • Third degree: a person becomes aware of the dwelling of Grace within oneself

  • Perfect love: when a person acquires the grace of the Holy Spirit entirely (soul and body)

5. What to do when Grace withdraws from the soul we must learn to yearn after loss of Grace, seeking it again through tears and call upon the Lord, “O merciful Lord, You see my souls’ mourning and how I long for you”

6. The kingdom of God is being filled with the love of God and neighbor.

CHAPTER 2 QUESTIONS

Q: What did Christ give us in order for us to come to know Him?

Q: What do we experience when we have grace?

Q: What can we do to attract the grace of God? (page 26-7)

Q: What does Fr. Sophrony mean when he says that the “Lord bestows grace on His chosen one? (p. 27). Who are His chosen ones?

Q: What is it that prevents us from both attaining grace and holding on to the grace of God? (pg 29)

Fr. Sophrony says, “Where there is pride there cannot be grace, and if we lose grace we also lose both love of God and assurance in prayer. The soul is then tormented by evil thoughts and does not understand that she must humble herself and love her enemies, for there is no other way to please God” (p. 34).

Q: What is it that we must loath in order to take our first step towards a life in Christ?

Q: What’s so difficult about loathing or hating sin?

Q: In order to love God, what must we do?

Q. What do think God’s response is to you when you sin?

“An ordinary father grieves and is sorry for his son who must be punished for his wrong-doing; but for all his pity he tells his son that he has done wrong and that it is right that he should be punished for his crimes. But the Lord will never say this to us. He will ask us, too, as He asked the Apostle Peter: ‘Do you love Me?’ Thus in Paradise He will say to all the people: ‘And you, do you love Me?’ And all will answer Him: ‘Yes, Lord, we love You. You saved us by Your sufferings on the Cross, and now You have given us the gift of the Kingdom of Heaven.’” (p. 36).