Kissed by the Spirit

“Only think of me when all is well with you, and please do me the great favor of mentioning me to Pharaoh, to get me out of this place.

Genesis 40:14 (NAB)

Joseph is speaking here, to one of his fellow prisoners, a cupbearer for Pharaoh, the King of Egypt. For some reason, the cupbearer was in the same dungeon as Joseph, who was imprisoned after a false accusation.

Joseph’s hardships all began when he was kidnapped and abandoned by his own brothers, then sold as a slave to Egyptian slave traders. He was a teenager when bought as a household slave, and though his master treated him fairly, the wife of the master had a different plan in mind. When her husband was away, she tried to seduce Joseph and when he refused her advances, she falsely accused him of rape. Her false accusation sent him to the dungeon, which was the prison of the day.

Joseph was imprisoned for a crime he never committed, but he maintained a reputation of being honest and upright during his incarceration. While in prison, he developed friendships and earned the respect of both the prisoners and the jailers. 

The cupbearer who was with him in prison, previously worked close beside Pharaoh, and was soon be released. Joseph asked the cupbearer to speak to Pharaoh on his behalf when he returned to the palace. The cupbearer promised to do so, but after he was released, he completely forgot about Joseph.

For days, weeks and months, Joseph kept hoping and praying that the cupbearer would speak to Pharaoh on his behalf, but he didn’t. Once more life seemed so unfair in every situation that Joseph faced, but Joseph kept his faith and hope in God, and God never forgets anyone. 

Two long years passed since Joseph was in prison, but God’s timing was perfect. Pharaoh had a very disturbing dream one night and asked the cupbearer if he knew of anyone with a gift of interpreting dreams. He suddenly remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him. Despite the waiting, there is always a good purpose in God’s timing. 

Joseph’s breakthrough moment came, as God gave Joseph the supernatural knowledge that he needed to describe Pharaoh’s dream and tell him what it meant. Joseph became more than a freed man, he became God’s man of the hour, promoted by Pharaoh to second in command over the entire nation of Egypt. 

God is a rewarder of those who trust in Him and Joseph placed all his trust in God, never seeking revenge toward those who mistreated him. God gave Joseph the wisdom to devise a plan for storing grain, before a drought was about to spread across the land. His grain storage plan saved the lives of many in Egypt as well as in the surrounding lands during a famine. The years Joseph spent in the dungeon were not lost years, but years of preparation. Nothing is lost when we entrust our lives to God. 

Life seems unfair at times, and Joseph sets the example for anyone who has ever been betrayed by loved ones, falsely accused, unjustly incarcerated or forgotten. The life of Joseph teaches us that God always was, is and will be our greatest hope, because He never forgets anyone. We can trust God when everyone else has disappointed us. Joseph foreshadowed Jesus, in forgiving all who mistreated him.

When Joseph was finally reunited with his brothers and his elderly father, there was only love between them all. Joseph’s life proves that years spent in waiting for God’s justice are a preparation period for better days to come. 

All things work together for good, to those who love the Lord. If we learn anything from Joseph, it’s that we don’t need an itinerary for our destination in life, when we live life, knowing God is our driver.

Lord, give us the patience to wait and the faith to trust your timing. Guard our hearts from bitterness, so that we may forgive and bless others as Joseph did. Amen 

“.. God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the GRACE which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago.”

2 Timothy 1:8-9 (RSV)

We are called by virtue of God’s purpose and grace which comes to us through Christ. It’s an amazing concept, and leads us to the story of the man who wrote one of the most timeless and beautiful gospel hymns, Amazing Grace. John Newton was born in England in 1725. His mother died from tuberculosis when he was seven. She was a woman of faith but after she died, he received no further example of faith and grew up with a hardened heart, in pursuit of a thriving career as a slave trader.

In 1748, while working in the slave trade business on the African coast, he was transporting a ship full of slaves one day, when a violent storm arose and severely battered the ship. He watched helplessly as his fellow sailor was washed overboard and died at sea. Convinced that he was about to die next, John called out to God, asking for forgiveness and mercy. It was his first time praying since he was a young child. 

Something took hold of his heart through that simple prayer and for the rest of his life, he considered it to be the prayer that touched his soul and changed his life. Years later, as he remembered that prayerful moment, he wrote, “How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.”

After John prayed that prayer, the storm slowed down and his ship arrived safely to its destination, along with all who remained on board. It inspired the lyrics, “Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.”

John was then promoted as captain over two slave ships, instead of just one, following that journey. Despite having such an epiphany of faith, at that stage of his life, his pride and ambition governed his actions more than the amazing grace and mercy of God did. He continued slave trading for six more years. Later in his life, he looked back and described himself with the lyrics, 

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”

After those next six years, his conscience finally led him to repent and quit the slave trade business for good. He became an Anglican minister for the Church of England. He got married and worked tirelessly as an abolitionist, to end slavery altogether. He and his wife had no children of their own, but they adopted his two orphaned nieces. In 1772, he discovered his poetic talent, and wrote many songs and hymns, the best known being “Amazing Grace.”

From the hour he first believed on that storm tossed ship, to the day of his death, John Newton never stopped marveling at the amazing grace that God showed him through every stage of his life. Amazing grace leads a person to surrender their heart to God throughout their lifetime, all the way to the end, which is reflected in his lyrics, 

“Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”

When his eyesight failed in his old age, John Newton was inspired to write, “I was blind, but now I see.” When his memory began to fail, he told Betsy, his niece, “I always remember two things very clearly, that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”

Jesus is a great Savior because He stays with us, even when we make bad choices or act in ignorance. John Newton’s life was not much different than most people’s. Our level of commitment to our faith may waver as a result of changing priorities and sorrowful events, but Jesus stands unwavering at the door of our hearts, knocking and gently asking for entry into every room and compartment of our lives.

He does it with an abundance of love, patience, grace and mercy, until we are completely His. The words in the song “Amazing Grace” express more than the journey of John Newton’s heart, but every one of us at the different stages in our journey of grace.

Amazing grace gives us hope for all our loved ones or friends who may be making wrong choices or have closed the door of their heart to God. The Lord can turn any life around to experience His amazing grace in all the ways that the lyrics of the song have described it.

Lord, thank you for your amazing grace, motivated by your love for us and we pray that you give grace to all our friends and loved to discover this beautiful truth about you. Amen

“And I will lead the blind
 in a way that they know not,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
 and I will not forsake them.”

Isaiah 42:16 (RSV)

I literally lived the words of this scripture a long time ago, when I was eighteen years old. It was the day that I took the El train, from my home on the north side to a clinic, in order to donate a pint of blood. For those readers who are not familiar with the Chicago area, the El train, stands for the “Elevated” train, the public transit system which runs high above ground level. 

After donating a pint of blood, I felt perfectly fine and headed back to the El station. I climbed a long stairway up to the train platform, to catch a train back home. As I approached the top of the stairway, my vision suddenly became spotty. 

It seemed that having one less pint of blood in my system, abnormally decreased the amount of blood flowing to the visual parts of my brain. My vision was quickly fading, yet I never lost consciousness or passed out. I walked onto the El platform, and as frightening as it was, I was completely blind. I didn’t ask anyone for help being too proud to make a scene or draw attention to myself.

At that moment, I heard the train coming, but could not see it at all. I walked totally blind, following the sound of where the train doors opened. I made it safely inside the train, by feeling my way along. Thankfully, I walked into the train and not under it or in front of it. I sat down and my vision started to return. It still surprises me that I never lost consciousness from the interruption of normal blood flow during those few minutes.

It’s just a brief example of the grace and goodness of God, who led me in my blindness, guided me to safety, and saved my life that day. If God saves a life, it’s for a reason, since we all have a purpose to fulfill. 

God doesn’t merely save us “from” things, but “for” things. 

He doesn’t just save us from death or Hell. If He saves us, it’s for the purpose of living in fellowship with Him, and to seek His guidance, and let Him light all the dark paths throughout our lives. God desires to have a personal relationship with us, so  we can live our life in faith filled security and confidence, knowing He always has good plans for us. 

However frightening or unfamiliar something is, Jesus promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. (Matthew 28:20)

I have only experienced a brief moment of what it feels like to be totally blind, but the way He guided me to safety in those few minutes, stayed with me long after that day. Now, whenever I have a problem or a crisis that feels like I’m walking blindly through it,  I know that God is with me, guiding me and lighting my path every step of the way. He literally saved my life that day and I know that He will forever be my light in any darkness.

Lord, thank you for always being our light in all types of darkness, and for the way you continue to smooth the rough paths and guide our steps to level ground. Amen

“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)

Someone once said, “your best friend is your unpaid therapist.”

I had a friend for fifty years who was not a professional therapist, but she had a natural gift for helping a person look deep within themselves and benefit from her insight. She was a very selfless, intuitive person who always saw the good in everyone. There were things that Helene and I would never agree on, but we had a long, loyal friendship, regardless of our differences, which is what true friendship really is. 

In December of 2021 Helene was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and by February of 2022, she passed away. One year later, I had another friend that passed away prematurely, but Helene was the one I knew the longest, or rather, the one who knew me the longest. Friends are valuable to us because they give us a sense of being known, and everyone needs to be truly known.

Today’s scripture states that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Many people are blessed with close relationships with their siblings, but others are blessed with friends who are closer to them than any sibling. Whether a sibling or not, a close friend is a gift from God. 

When we lose a gift by whatever means, it leaves a vacuum inside, called grief. I believe that Jesus is our truest friend who sticks closer to us than any friend, brother, sister, mother or father. He fills the vacuum of grief within us and blesses us with His friendship.

I recently saw a meme that read “Grief is just unspent love.” 

After any kind of loss, we need to find a new outlet, purpose, or direction to reinvest our love and spend it in a new way. 

For me, writing has become one way of redirecting my purpose. Through writing, I’m able to pay tribute to friends, honor loved ones who I’ve lost, and encourage the faith of my current friends. It’s been a blessing to build new friendships through writing these meditations. 

Some of the people who are receiving the meditations are long time friends, some are new friends, and some are friends of friends, who I have never even met, but they are all gifts to me, and especially to God, who loves each one of them.  

Rick Warren, who wrote the timeless devotional book called “The Purpose Driven Life”, said that our number one purpose in life is to know how much God really loves us. Until we get a grasp of how much God loves us, we can never truly love Him, ourself or anyone else. We all suffer during seasons of loss and grief, but when we realize how much we are loved by God, He inspires us not to waste our pain, but to use it in helping others. 

We can always discover a new way to reinvest the unspent love that is stored within us. Jesus taught by His own example, that love is meant to be spent, so let’s go shopping for more ways to spend our love. 

Lord, lift up all hearts today, and in knowing how much you love us, lead us to new ways of spending the love that is within us. Amen

“As he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward, beseeching him saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion answered him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Matthew 8:5-8 (RSV)

Capernaum, in Hebrew, literally translates to “Village of Comfort.” How beautiful and fitting it was for that Centurion to go to the Village of Comfort to ask for a miraculous healing, and then also receive eternal life through faith in Jesus, as his Savior.

Jesus just entered the town of Capernaum when the Roman Centurion approached Him. He traveled until he got close enough to ask Jesus to heal his servant, who was paralyzed and bedridden. We don’t know the background or the story behind the servant or how he became paralyzed, but we can imagine.

There might have been a tragic accident or a fall, where his spine was fractured or crushed. It says that he was suffering dreadfully, and probably in extreme pain. The servant was beloved by his master, the Centurion, who empathized with the bitter state of his tragedy.

Jesus, hearing his request, offered to go with him to his home, but the Centurion refused, saying he was unworthy for Jesus to enter his home. As a man of authority himself, he understood the power of giving orders, so he humbly asked Jesus to just say the word, and his servant would be healed. Jesus was so impressed, that He told the crowd, “In no one in Israel have I found such faith.” 

(Matthew 8:10)

Jesus never met or touched his paralyzed servant, but he was instantly healed. There was something about being in the Presence of Jesus, that the Centurion could sense His divine authority and knew that He only needed to say the word, and it was enough. He knelt reverently before Jesus, and invested all his hope in the Son of God, and his investment paid off. 

We all live in a Village of Comfort, but it is necessary to invest all our hope and faith in Jesus, even when cannot see results. In difficult seasons, it’s challenging to keep hope or feel His comfort, but faith requires a waiting period while we trust.  

There was a time in scripture when the Israelites lost patience and invested no faith in God. While they journeyed in the wilderness they became extremely thirsty. Moses prayed and God led them to water, but the waters He led them to, were bitter and undrinkable. The people quickly became angry at God and Moses. Many lost all faith and left to go their own way. They gave up hope before waiting to see what God planned to do next. 

God told Moses how to put something in the water that made  it drinkable. He did what God said and the people who remained, drank an abundance of clean water and were satisfied. We learn through the story of bitter waters, that it’s better keep hoping and trusting in God, than to wander off in the wilderness without Him. His plan is always for our good, and He will help us solve every problem, one step at a time. 

Without faith it is impossible to please God, which is why Jesus was so impressed with the faith of that Centurion. His faith was rewarded and his servant was healed. He intends for us to receive the same gifts by putting our faith in Jesus, and trust in His plan while we wait. He makes the  bitter waters sweet, and speaks the word of healing and comfort to all who wait for the Lord.

 Like the Centurion, we have invested all of our hope and faith in Jesus, His cross and His resurrection. In the meantime, as we journey through this life by faith, we can become a village of comfort by encouraging others to keep hoping and trusting in Christ. 

Lord, help us to keep our faith and hope in you and to inspire others to do the same, trusting in your plans to unfold for our good. Amen

“….How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”

Matthew 23:37 (NIV)

When I first read these words of Jesus, only part of it made any sense to me, mainly because I know nothing about chicks and mother hens. I thought it referred  to chicks who resist their mother’s attempt to pick them up and regather them to their brood. It wasn’t until I read about the bonding  behaviors between mother hens and chicks, that I learned how they gather in a different way from others in nature. 

I always thought of chickens as unintelligent, barnyard birds, until I learned how a mother hen and her chicks have bonds that seem to rival some mammals. A mother hen has a variety of clucks which send messages to her chicks. The chicks know their mother’s vocal sounds, and the mother knows her chicks by their vocal sounds and scents. 

The mother hen teaches her chicks through a variety of clucks. There are “soothing, comforting” clucks, “warning of danger” clucks, “come back home” clucks, “eat some good food” clucks, and many others. Each cluck sound has a different vocalization, with its own meaning, and the chicks learn them all within the first few days after being hatched. 

Evidence has proven that full grown mature chickens still recognize their mother’s clucks and personalized vocalizations. I found it interesting that Jesus compared Himself to a mother hen, out of all the parents in the animal kingdom, and wondered what He was implying.

Jesus desires to gather His people like a mother hen gathers her chicks. Mother hens don’t gather chicks by force, coercion, or dragging them back when they wander off, as some species do. Chicks are allowed to roam freely, until their mother makes a particular cluck sound which signals them to respond and gather themselves home. 

“Gathering chicks” in the chicken world, happens by chicks responding to their mother’s personalized clucks. She calls and the chicks hear, and then gather themselves to her. They return to their mom and find cozy, secure rest under her broad wingspan. That’s the kind of gathering of chicks that Jesus was referring to. 

He knew that since chicks roam freely, and may wander too far from their mother, they could risk facing danger. The chicks who wander too far may panic and try to save themselves, but the mother’s vocal cluck signals her chick to come back to her, and find safety under her wingspan. 

Maybe Jesus was saying that we are like chicks, who respond to His voice. He also reminds us that we have free will and He will never force or coerce us to follow Him. When we become stressed and distracted, we may try to save ourselves at times, like those wandering chicks, but Jesus calls us to come back to Him, to give us His rest. He patiently waits for us with open arms, just as the mother hen waits with open wingspan to cover her chicks. 

The mother hen is an interesting creature in the animal kingdom, and Jesus knew it. The heart of Jesus is like a mother hen, that beats with love, courage and a readiness to sacrifice, yet giving us our free will to discover our own potential. When we wander too far in a wrong direction, His voice speaks to our spirit and soul, leading us back into His arms. 

God created hens and chicks to be gathered using distinct cluck sounds, and Jesus calls each of us in a similar yet distinct way. He brings us closer to Him, by communicating to our spirit with gentle persuasions of love, instead of force. 

Lord, thank you for the loving way you call us and speak to our soul and spirit. May we always hear your voice and be drawn ever closer to you. Amen

“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Acts 7:55-56 (NIV)

St. Paul was there when Stephen was stoned to death, but at the time, his name was Saul, and he was basically a first century terrorist, who led a frenzied campaign of hatred against the early church, dragging Christians out of their homes and murdering entire families. It all happened during the reign of the Roman Empire, after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

Stephen was the first martyr of that early church. While he was being stoned to death, he saw a vision as the sky opened up and Jesus appeared to him, standing at the right hand of God. Stephen was thrilled to tell the angry crowd what he was seeing. Then he forgave his murderers, as Jesus also once did, and died in peace. 

It was about a year or two after Stephen’s death, that Saul was on his way to commit another mass arrest of Christians, when he was suddenly thrown to the ground by a mysterious blinding light. He became totally blind, but heard a voice asking him,

“Saul, Why are you persecuting Me?”

Saul asked, “Who are you?” and the voice answered, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Saul and Jesus never met before, but it was made clear to him that by persecuting Christians, Saul was persecuting Jesus.

These are the things that cause Jesus to stand up from His throne in Heaven. He stood up when Stephen was being stoned for believing in Him, and He stands up for any innocent people who are suffering for their faith in Him. 

Many scriptures depict Jesus seated on a throne, but Stephen saw Him standing up at the right hand of God. The Nicene and the Apostle’s creed both describe Jesus “seated at the right hand of the Father,” but Jesus must stand up for special reasons. 

He stands for all those who are living in places where even today, they are imprisoned or persecuted for their faith in Him. He stands up for widows and orphans who are oppressed, and where anyone is deprived of basic human rights or religious freedom. He stands up in seeing the murder of innocent babies, children, and the lack of dignity towards aliens and strangers.

When people believe in Jesus, and sacrificially stand for Him, despite the consequences of punishment, He hears, sees and stands up in Heaven for them. 

After Saul repented and believed in Jesus, he received his eyesight. He became the last apostle, changing his name to Paul, praying for others, and preaching the gospel wherever God led him. Jesus was standing up when He inspired Paul to write thirteen letters that became books in the New Testament.

I can imagine Jesus standing up in Heaven today, watching, hoping and empowering His church in every nation of the world, to be united as a beacon of love and light that spreads His message of mercy, to all who are suffering, and to lead many more people to Christ.

Lord, thank you for standing up in heaven, to strengthen your church with perseverance, as you see and hear the prayers of all who suffer for their faith today. Amen

“.. being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

The church had its beginnings recorded in the book of Acts, but it didn’t end there. Christians ever since, became the continued pages of where the book of Acts left off. God began a good work in His church and in each of us individually, which continues until the return of Jesus. 

In 1956, five young American Christian missionaries felt called by God to go to Ecuador and bring the good news of Christ to the natives in the jungle. They landed in a remote area of the jungle with high aspirations of sharing God’s love with natives.

A few days after they arrived, a wildly violent tribe attacked the missionaries and murdered all five of them. Their deaths sparked a passion among their relatives and church friends, and a new group assembled to go to Ecuador as a follow up mission trip. 

They were prepared to share God’s love and forgiveness even if they died in the process. They met the particular men of the tribe who killed the five missionaries, and told them they forgave them as they shared the teachings of Jesus. 

One of the men who killed the five missionaries confessed that he saw their souls floating upward to the heavens, from the ground where their bodies laid. The entire tribe wanted to learn more about God, Heaven, Jesus and His resurrection. The once violent tribe embraced the Christian faith as an entire group, and became baptized. 

A seed of faith that was first planted by five martyrs, then watered by their blood, was brought to completion by God, through the Holy Spirit. Those who were once part of a violent tribal life, became gentle, loving people through faith in Christ, and it continued to all the following generations. God turned the hearts of the natives toward Him, and today, the population in Ecuador is 94% Christian. 

God is doing a different thing today than He did in the 1950’s, or in the 80’s, 90’s or at the start of this millennium. Whether it is through spreading His truth to transform a nation or one single individual, we can be confident that He has good plans to complete, and is working behind the scenes, on behalf of all human souls. 

It’s easy to forget this truth because all we see in the world is chaos, hatred and bloodshed, but God sees things from a spiritual perspective, in the realm of the spirit world, that we cannot see. 

We can be sure that He also feels compassion for any lives that are lost, since He said in His word, 

“For I have no pleasure in the death of any one, says the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

(Ezekiel 18:32)

Jesus is doing exactly what He said He would do. He is building His church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. 

(Matthew 16:18)

He is bringing good out of evil, eternal life from death, and turning hard hearts into tender hearts, by His Spirit. Good seeds of faith are being sown in people of every nation, and nothing is impossible with God, because He is not finished yet. 

I don’t draw my hope from what is seen, but from what is written in God’s word, and by hearing the testimonies of people from other nations, on Christian cable news, telling how God is transforming the hearts of people in their own nation, as underground churches are thriving. 

Lord, you are still in control, and every good work that you started, will be brought to completion. We trust in you. Amen

“When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”

1 Samuel 18:1 (RSV)

The Bible describes the friendship between David and Jonathan as “soul knit to soul”. David had a closer relationship with Jonathan than he had with his own seven biological brothers. Besides having siblings, David and Jonathan both had wives and families of their own, and yet their friendship was so special, that it formed an eternal bond. Their “soul knit to soul” relationship can occur between two people, whether they are friends, spouses, siblings or a parent/child relationship. 

I can imagine that Jesus and His mother, Mary, shared this type of bond, and that their souls were also  “knit together,” according to the bible’s terminology. I can imagine it because I had a “soul knit to soul” relationship with my own mother. 

After she retired, my mom sold her home in Illinois and moved to the warm sunshine state of California, where my older brother, his family and her first grandchild lived. The geographic distance between us never changed the bond between us. We visited each other yearly, and spoke on the phone every other day. A few times, when I was going through a problem or a difficult situation, before ever telling my mother anything, she would either have a dream about it or receive a strong premonition to call me. When she was dying and became unresponsive, she waited for me, until I was at her side and then breathed her last. I believe that our souls were knit together, just like David and Jonathan’s.

I once recognized knit souls like this between two elderly sisters, my friend’s mother and aunt, (her mother’s sister). When Wendy’s aunt passed away at 95, I attended her funeral. I shared my condolences with Wendy and her relatives, and then walked over to talk to her mother, who was grieving for her only sister. They were the closest pair of sisters I’ve ever known, totally inseparable throughout their lives, even into their mid 90’s. Their souls were knit together like David and Jonathan. 

Wendy’s mother was now sitting at her only sister’s funeral, crying while tenderly holding a framed photo on her lap, caressing and stroking her sister’s face in the picture. I couldn’t get that heartbreaking scene out of my head, and I remember praying for her for weeks afterward. 

As sometimes happens with “knit souls”, Wendy’s mom, the surviving sister, died suddenly only three weeks later. It was all so strange since I had been praying for her since seeing her grieve at her sister’s funeral that day. Three weeks later, I was  attending her funeral. 

As I was thinking about all these  knit souls, I realized that it’s a gift from God, since He is the prototype of every “soul knit to soul” relationship. God the Father always was and is infinitely knit together with Jesus, His Son. 

Knit souls are gifts from God that He shares with His creation. He gave it to David and Jonathan, the two elderly sisters, to my mother and me, and to multitudes of others, since the creation of the world. Many who are reading this may be thinking about a particular “soul knit to soul” pair, whether it be souls knit between spouses, parent/child, siblings, or close friends.

We only need to look at the Trinity, to see that God is the originator of all souls knit together. It gives us a taste of what God the Father and Jesus have infinitely always shared together. Now He wants to include us in their relationship.

Here is what Jesus said to His Father, about us:

“I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

(John 17:26)

Jesus is the One who helps us to know God, His Father. He makes His Father known to us in ways that God has never been made known before. He does it so that the love that the Father and Son share together may now live in our hearts. Through Jesus, our souls are knit to God. 

Lord, thank you for the gift of knitting souls together and for the greatest gift of all, Jesus, who has eternally knits our souls to God. Amen

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Psalm 91:1 (NIV)

My son Jon, had a best friend from his late teen years through to adulthood, but for some unknown reason Joe never visited Jon after his traumatic brain injury from the motorcycle accident. His other friends visited him, but we always wondered where Joe was. Jon’s brother even tried to contact Joe, but received no answer. 

One day, thirteen months later, while I was visiting Jon at the Nursing Facility, Joe suddenly walked in. He walked straight over to Jon, who was sitting in a wheelchair, put his arms around him, and hugged him, saying, 

“I love you, man.”

It was obvious that Jon instantly knew who Joe was, because his face lit up and he started crying. As Joe kept his arms around Jon, it was an emotional moment for all who witnessed it, and I’m glad I was there to enjoy that moment.

To watch the embrace between two friends, whose friendship spanned over 25 years, was touching, but I still wondered why it took 13 months for Joe to finally show up. Joe told me that he moved to Tennessee a few years prior, and then he opened up further, telling me that he was struggling in the past few years with substance abuse. He was finally hospitalized and received the help and rehab that he long needed. 

Joe shared how God stepped into his life, and with rehab and the intervention of the Holy Spirit, he was now living in the shadow of God’s rest, sober, drug free and trusting Jesus. He looked directly at Jon, as he told the story of his own redemption and healing, and then he prayed for him.

Joe’s visit was as great a gift for me as it was for Jon. I had no idea about his struggle with drugs or how the Lord intervened in his life, but I was grateful to hear his story and see their reunion that day. Later, while I was driving home, it seemed that God was saying to me, “Rest in My shadow and everything will be alright.”

I believe God is saying this to everyone who is in a situation that overwhelms them with anxiety. To dwell in God’s shelter and rest in His shadow, for me, means talking to Him daily through prayer, keeping His words of scripture in my heart, and releasing the worries of each day to Him. 

We may not receive all the answers or solutions to our problems, but God will send the blessing of His shadow into our storm. As we persist to live in His shelter, His shadow sweeps over us, giving us assurance that He is truly with us, as we find our rest in Him. 

A shadow is evidence that someone is there. It’s possible to see a shadow without seeing the actual person. In the same way, no one can see God, but His shadow indicates His Presence, which brings us peace and rest. God sent His shadow to Jon that day, through the loving presence of an old friend’s visit. He also sent His shadow to me by letting me witness the reunion between them. If we keep our eyes open, we will see how God chooses to send His shadow next into our life.

After leaving the Nursing Facility that day, I felt assured that God is in control. It doesn’t matter how many questions are unanswered, or how uncertain tomorrow may be. If we choose to dwell in God’s shelter, He sends us His shadow, which is a blessed reminder that He sees us, is with us and has everything under control.

Lord, tomorrow is in your hands and as we choose to dwell in your shelter, may we all find rest in your shadow each and every day.  Amen