Kissed by the Spirit

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Matthew 13:44 (NAB)

We tend to seek meaning only in what we see externally, but hidden treasures are often missed and unappreciated. God’s gifts are discovered when we look below the surface, which is what Jesus said about treasures that are hidden and buried in a field. 

Thinking about things buried in the ground, made me think of certain vegetables that grow below ground,  while only their leaves appear on the surface. In order to find underground vegetables, like potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, radishes, garlic, leeks, onions and more, one would see the surface leaves first, but need to dig underground to find the good food. 

This week, there was a news story about a 28 year old woman who was found by search parties, after getting lost while hiking in the mountains of California. Her passion for gardening helped her to survive by being able to recognize the leaves of some leeks growing in the wilderness. She dug up those leeks, which became her only food sustenance for three weeks, until the search party found her.

Maybe there is a deeper lesson to learn about recognizing treasures that are hidden beneath the surface. Every human person is created by God and given a unique personality, gifts, talents, and special insights. 

At first meeting someone, we see only their surface leaves, but there is always more to learn about any individual, when we look beneath the surface.

People who go through tragic and adverse circumstances, might gradually bury their faith in God. The treasures placed within them at birth often get smothered under the ground of hardship and sorrow. We might be looking at someone’s outer leaves, not knowing what has happened below the surface. Unless we find out what is beneath, we may never recognize their good gifts and treasures. 

In listening to stories of people in the Nursing Home, one lady opened her heart to share her story with me over several visits. She was raised by an abusive father and a drug addicted mother. She followed her mother’s path, by using heroin, and eventually became addicted. She married and gave birth to two daughters, but ended up divorced. She is now in frail health, residing in the Nursing Home for the rest of her life. 

She desires to reconnect with her adult daughters, but they want nothing to do with her. They changed their phone numbers, never visit her and consider their stepmother, their only mother. This lady now has no one except a sister living in another state and her friends in the Nursing Home. 

In essence, God is all she has, and thankfully she has reached deep within herself and rekindled her faith, putting all her hope and trust in Jesus. 

It’s sad that people cannot forgive as God does. Her story reminds me that we were all born with spiritual gifts and great potential, yet problems and wrong choices pile up over time and push all those treasures of faith down below the surface of who we are. Our mistakes will never change God’s love and mercy towards us, because He loves us so much that He sees each person as a rare treasure buried in a field. 

God gave His best for us in Jesus, who paid the costliest price at the cross, to purchase the field of our soul and give us a new beginning. 

He knows about every problem, pain and trial that we have gone through, and He wants to uncover all the treasures that are hidden within us. 

God gave everything to purchase our redemption, and He did it with great joy. Now He wants us to use our gifts to share Him with others. 

Lord, help us to look below the surface in all people we meet, and to recognize the hidden treasures that you have placed within everyone. Give us a heart of mercy that points all people towards you. Amen

“But as for my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and follows me unreservedly, I will bring him into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall possess it.”

Numbers 14:24 (NAB)

Only Joshua, Caleb and a generation of youth survived that wilderness, and entered the promised land. When the Israelites first arrived at the border of the promised land, one man from each tribe was sent to scope out the land and come back with a report. Twelve men were sent, but only Caleb and Joshua returned with positive reports. Caleb had a gift of being able to encourage others to have faith and do the right thing. God referred to Caleb as a man with a “different spirit.”

The other ten only saw the negative implications, reporting that  the people in the land were too big, too strong and too powerful for the Israelites to overcome. This put the majority of the people into a panic and they feared the challenges of entering the new land. They turned away from the promised land, saying that their old lives were better, even though they lived in slavery.

In the end, Joshua and Caleb were the only adults of their generation, who lived long enough to enter the promised land. They did, however, bring along an entire generation of youth. Through the leadership of Caleb and Joshua, faith and encouragement was passed on to that younger generation. 

From studying Caleb’s character, a different spirit means facing every challenge with faith, over fear, and using the gifts God has given us to do for others what God has done for us. 

There is a revival of faith happening among generation Z today, which includes young men and women born between 1997-2012. These young people are wholeheartedly turning to faith in God, and inspiring others to do the same. God is actually raising up a spiritual army of young believers, who have a “different spirit”, like Caleb.

According to Pew research studies, the previous years of decline in youth spirituality and church attendance across the globe, has been trending  in a new direction, towards God. Generation Z youth are finding deep faith and having life changing encounters with Jesus. 

There’s been a documented spike in students involved in campus ministry, an increase in youth church attendance and student baptisms. This spiritual revival spans across all denominations, whether Catholic or Protestant. Faith was once fading, but is now showing up stronger than ever in this age group. All credit goes to the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. 

It required a different spirit to enter  the promised land back in Caleb’s day, and it requires a different spirit today, to enter the narrow gate that Jesus talked about. (Matthew 7:13) 

Generation Z has become the generation that is heeding the call, because they have that different spirit. Young people are passionately following Jesus today more than in previous generations.

Billy Graham once said, “When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.” 

Things changed five years ago, when Covid brought people to the end of different things in their lives, and affected the mental health of every generation, but something changed for the good, and the youngest among us are now turning to God. 

When secular publications, like the New York Post, refers to Generation Z as the “spiritual generation”, we know there is a true move of God happening and a spiritual phenomenon taking place.

I didn’t know this was happening until a relative mentioned it to me one day, and then I searched the topic, and found it is true. I wondered how I had been so unaware of this outpouring of grace, but I figured it’s because I live in an old person’s world, and hardly know anyone in that age group. Praise God for starting a movement, and reviving faith in a generation of youth with a different spirit. 

Lord, give us a “different spirit” as Caleb had and use the youngest among us to inspire faith in others as we walk that narrow path with you,  sharing your love, mercy and truth with the world. Amen

Christianity Sees a Resurgence Led by Gen Z | AllSides

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

John 1:48-49 (NIV)

That brief, mysterious first meeting  between Nathanael and Jesus shows us how deeply moved he was when Jesus said the words, “I saw you under the fig tree.” Those words convinced Nathanael that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. They were words that could only have meaning for Nathanael, and no one else. It makes us wonder what happened with him under that fig tree, but scripture leaves it to our imagination, not giving us the details. 

We can only imagine that Nathanael might have been in a place of desperation, praying and talking to an invisible God, then wondering if He really hears him. Maybe he was asking God to show Him if He is really there. Whatever it was, the defining moment happened when Jesus told Nathanael that He saw him under the fig tree. Jesus personalized His message with words that were significant only to Nathanael.

If we think about it, we’ve all had fig tree moments in our lives. It might have been a time when we received fearful news, or a serious diagnosis for ourselves or a loved one, or maybe it was a new overwhelming responsibility. 

In difficult times, we often wonder if God is still there, but He always finds a way to signal us that He is. Like Nathanael, He personalizes Himself into our fig tree moments, and in some way, confirms that He is with us, reinforcing our faith in Him.

I’ve had many fig tree moments, through various trials, but the most recent ones were related to my son’s traumatic brain injury. While Jon was in a coma for two weeks, I used to go to the UPS store to pick up his mail. One day a totally new person who I never saw before, was at the desk. He brought me Jon’s mail, but then he paused and said to me,

“I want you to know that I have been praying for your son.” It was kind and caring of him, but so unusual to hear it from a stranger who I’ve never met before. Jesus speaks peace to us in our distress, and sometimes He does it through a stranger. 

There was another incident, such as the day I was telling my banker about Jon’s accident, and a total stranger in the bank, came up to me afterward, asking his name so that she could pray for him. I have no doubt that it was another fig tree moment. 

Fig tree moments remind us that God sees us in times of our greatest distress, and while we think we are alone, wondering if God is near, He signals us that He is. Jesus heard and saw Nathanael, and He also hears and sees us. For all those times when it felt like no one else knows what we are going through, Jesus wants us to know, 

“I saw you under the fig tree.”

One day, I drifted into a mood of asking God why He doesn’t answer certain long awaited prayers. Faith is challenged when certain things we pray for, seem to be worsening. While in that state of mind, I turned on the Christian radio station in the car, and the person on the radio said,

“We tend to ask God to work within our plans rather than asking Him to lead us in His.” 

It seemed to confirm that God saw and heard me under my fig tree in that moment. Just knowing I was heard and seen by the Lord, is a gift in itself. If we open the ears and eyes of our heart, we’ll find that Jesus uses various means to give us signs that He is here with us. We can be assured that all will be okay, since Jesus is leading us according to His perfect plans.

Lord, thank you for loving us through special moments, where you give us signs, confirming that you are here. Open our hearts to know when a fig tree moment has just occurred. Amen

“For they have forsaken Me and have bowed down to Astarte, goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, god of Moab, and Milcom, god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways or done what is right in My eyes, according to my statutes and my ordinances, as David his father did.”

1 Kings 11:33 (NAB)

I’ve been reading the old testament book of Kings, and found that by using my imagination, reading can become like watching a movie. The movie would be a drama about the power struggles of kings, their families, and their individual rises and falls, but most of all, it’s about each man’s relationship or falling out of their relationship with God. 

King Solomon, the son of David, followed the faith of his father, for “most of his life.” God spoke to Solomon twice when he was a young man. Once, it was to offer him a blessing, for whatever he would ask for, and Solomon chose wisdom. God was like a proud father to Solomon, and so pleased with him choosing wisdom, that he gave him everything else as well. Solomon had it all, world renown fame, wealth, children and forty years of a peaceful reign over a unified nation. 

I have always loved Solomon for his wisdom and all that he wrote, but scripture says that in his old age, his heart changed toward the Lord, being influenced by his thousand wives and the pagan culture they brought to the palace, in worshipping and serving foreign gods and goddesses. By the end of Solomon’s reign, he had lost all interest in serving the God of his father, David. 

Today’s scripture reveals God’s response. The Lord felt very spurned and rejected by Solomon, and his death resulted in a divided kingdom. The tribes of Israel were torn apart, as ten tribes lived under one king and two tribes lived under another king, and they all waged war with each other for decades. God sent prophets to them to try and bring them back to God as one united nation of faith, but the kings had the prophets seized, silenced and often killed.

All this turmoil was the fruit of a nation turning away from God, sparked by Solomon rejecting God in his old age. The land was governed by men’s egos instead of God’s wisdom, which led to bad decisions, wars and injustice. The people also persisted in rejecting the God of their ancestors, as well the advice of the prophets sent to them. This sad and downward trend was still not the end of the story, because God’s mercy and His promises are forever. 

In reading all this I couldn’t help feeling the deep grief that God felt, being rejected by Solomon, who was the son of His pride and joy. While I was visualizing all of this, I could see Solomon through God’s eyes and felt God’s heart of a father in losing Solomon’s devotion. 

As I read some portions of scripture in this story out loud, listening to every word as I read it, I could feel empathy with God’s parental heart, and it brought tears to my eyes. 

It suddenly occurred to me that God permits us to go through emotionally painful situations, so that we can know how He feels about us. Jon is my adult son, who rejected God in his life, and was heading down a wrong path prior to his motorcycle accident. Long before the accident, he made matters worse, by estranging himself from his entire family, including his twin brother who he used to speak with daily. None of us knew why he changed in such a way, but through that heartache, I came to understand how God’s heart grieves over His sons and daughters who turn away from Him. 

No one denies that there is turmoil, division and strife in the world, and a need for peace, love and more of God in our lives. This story teaches those of us that anyone who has felt emotional pain, heartache, or rejection, before focusing on the cause, should pause and think about how God feels, being rejected by people He loves. Sometimes we need to take our pain to God and just ask, “Is it his how you felt, Lord?” 

Maybe God permits emotional pain in our lives, in order to unite our hearts to His, so that we will better understand Him, and know that He fully understands us. It is then that we hear Jesus speak to our soul and say, “Come to me, I know how you feel, I am giving you my peace.”

Lord, help us to bring all of our heartache and emotional pain and unite it with you in love. We trust in your boundless mercy to restore every person’s faith in you. Amen 

“As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

John 17:18-19 (RSV)

Jesus prays for us that we will consecrate ourselves as He sends us out into the world. Consecration is a term that brings back an image of Samson, who was raised according to Nazarite vows of consecration. The Hebrew word for Nazarite, is nazir, which means to be set apart or consecrated.

Peter refers to all believers in Jesus as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. That pretty much sounds like a “set apart and consecrated” bunch of people. 

(1 Peter 2:9) 

There is something to gain by learning about the Nazarite vows of consecration, whether we believe in the literal story of Samson’s strength  or not. His story was recorded in scripture to teach us something, and there are features about the Nazarite consecrated lifestyle which are also relevant to contemporary Christianity.

Like Samson, we also stumble in our human weaknesses, but God has abundant mercy, and gives us a lifetime of chances to start over. We may not do battle with Philistine armies like Samson did, but we contend with the spiritual battleground of our mind, every day of our lives. Paul described the Christian life as that of a soldier in a different kind of warfare. Instead of taking human enemies captive, we take thoughts captive, by lining them up in obedience to Christ.  

(2 Corinthians 10:5)

We don’t abstain from products of the grapevine, as the Nazarite vows required, but we can discern and abstain from attitudes that Jesus warned are potentially poisonous to the soul, like unforgiveness.

Everyone knows from movies or childhood bible stories that the secret of Samson’s strength was his promise to never cut his hair. Our faith, like Samson’s hair, has been growing throughout our life, during  struggles as well as blessings. No one can see hair grow, just as we cannot see faith grow, but our faith, like Samson’s hair, has never stopped growing.

Samson didn’t always keep his vows of consecration perfectly. He was tempted and briefly led astray, but he kept returning to God, by reconsecrating himself, and he finally received the strength to defeat the Philistine enemies. Samson shows us that God can make the weakest person strong, and He does it by His grace.

Christianity is a different kind of consecration than Nazarite vows. We don’t take vows but we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, signified by our baptism. We all have cycles of reconsecrating ourselves to God, throughout a lifetime. We fall, but we rise again, we repent and receive forgiveness.
We are re-strengthened continuously by God’s love and grace. We have the same human vulnerabilities as Samson, but we are not enslaved to them, because Jesus promised that whoever the Son sets free, is free indeed. (John 8:36)

Some days it feels like the Philistines are coming at us from all directions. It’s in those times that perseverance develops, because faith rewires our mind, transforming us from within. God knows exactly what we can and cannot handle and He never allows us to be pressed beyond what we can bear.
(1 Corinthians 10:13)

If we are going through a fire, it’s because God knows we will be able to handle it, and He never leaves us.

Peter tells us that faith is proven the same way gold is proven-by fire, and with each fiery trial, our faith is being purified, in order to bring praise, glory, and honor to Jesus, on the day that we finally meet Him. 

(1 Peter 1:6-7)

Jesus prayed for all believers in all  generations, to live a life consecrated and set apart for God. While our faith keeps growing, the Holy Spirit is turning us into spiritual Samsons, but we still have one great advantage over Samson; 

the resurrection power of Jesus working within us, which tears down every stronghold and lead us to victory.

Lord, through your love and grace, we consecrate ourselves to you. Thank you for your resurrection power which gives us strength in our trials, always standing with us, believing in us and never leaving us. Amen

“Wherever you go I will go,

wherever you lodge I will lodge.

Your people shall be my people

and your God, my God.

Where you die I will die, and there be buried. May the Lord do thus to me, and more, if even death separates me from you!”

Naomi then ceased to urge her, for she saw she was determined to go with her.”

Ruth 1:16-18 (NAB)

The words in this scripture are the words of Ruth to Naomi, her mother in law. The story began with a famine in the land where Naomi lived with her husband and two sons. They had no choice but to move from Bethlehem to Moab, which was a land populated with idol worshippers and pagan beliefs. It was a foreign environment for a Hebrew family to dwell in, but there was food there. 

Naomi’s two sons grew up in Moab and both married Moabite women. Tragedy struck the family when Naomi’s husband died suddenly, and not long afterward, both her sons also died. Scripture doesn’t tell us the cause of their deaths, but Naomi was understandably depressed. 

She told her two young widowed daughters in law that she was going back to Bethlehem to live with a relative of her tribe.

In those days, caring for an elderly parent was the responsibility of the adult children, or the next of kin. Having no one left in her family, Naomi released her two daughters in law to go find another husband and continue on with their lives. Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye and left, but Ruth stayed and clung to her. 

Ruth’s response indicates amazing dedication, clinging to her and promising to go wherever she goes. The average young woman doesn’t become emotionally attached to her mother in law, at least not until years later, after children are born and relationships deepen over time.

My own mother in law meant well, but she was hard to figure out at times, and my sister in laws were frequently offended by her. Over time and after having children, I gave her the respect she deserved as a loving grandmother to my children. If she said something that bothered me, I exercised patience and overlooked it. Before she died, she surprised me by saying that I was the kindest to her, out of all her daughters in law. I will always treasure her words, since it taught me to make an effort to understand and choose patience, even when it doesn’t come naturally. It’s a lesson I need to remember to this day.

Ruth sends a deeper message than simply being a loyal daughter in law. By telling Naomi that she is staying with her, is like promising to care for her and support her for the rest of her life. That was a big commitment, since Ruth was in prime child bearing age, and had her whole life ahead of her. She set aside her own personal hopes and dreams to care for Naomi, who was not even a blood relative. 

Ruth came from a culture of worshipping many gods, whose main god was a god of war, but she preferred the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who Naomi worshipped. She also came to love Naomi for the woman that she was, and followed her to Bethlehem, which shifted her destiny for the best. God had a great plan to reward Ruth’s kindness. 

Ruth didn’t know at the time that she would become part of the ancestral lineage of Jesus, the Messiah. In Bethlehem, she met Boaz, Naomi’s relative, married him and gave birth to a baby boy named Obed. The four of them became a family, with a new life together, and Naomi’s joy was restored by becoming Obed’s grandmother. 

Ruth and Naomi teach us that we may not see the virtue in people at first, but it is revealed later, through the life experiences that we go through with others. Ruth’s greatest virtue besides her kindness and loyalty, was her hunger for the one true God and His truth.

God loves bringing strangers into the household of faith. The greatest lesson in this story is that regardless of where we come from, our past, our sorrows or our losses, God is always leading us to new horizons and a  future filled with hope. We may know a Naomi who once suffered a tragic loss, but has found her hope and comfort in Christ, or we may know a Ruth, who instead of feeling like a stranger, has a role as a cherished member of God’s family, the church.

Lord, give us hearts that seek to understand and show kindness to others when we face challenging situations. Thank you for giving us hope in the good plans you have for each of us. Amen

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

A thirteen year old healthy boy named Julio woke up screaming in pain one night, as he clutched his head. He was rushed to the hospital and after emergency surgery for a ruptured brain aneurysm, his mother was informed that there was very little chance that her son would survive. 

The next part of this true story contains some elements of Catholic Christianity, which I hope doesn’t offend non Catholic readers, but it’s an amazing true story, which shows all Christians that God works in mysterious ways, whatever faith tradition we are aligned with. 

A Catholic friend of Julio’s mother had a relic of John Henry Newman, a 19th century saint. She had the relic for a long time, waiting for the right time when a miracle would be needed. After she heard about Julio, she gave the relic to Julio’s mother, hoping and praying for a miracle.

Julio’s mother knew nothing about Saint John Newman, but she placed the small relic on her son’s body, while he was lying unresponsive and comatose in the hospital. Then she prayed out of desperation that God would heal her son. 

A few days later, the relic vanished, and no one, including the medical staff, knew where it was, but on that same day, Julio woke up from his coma. He opened his eyes and the first thing he asked was, “Where did my friend, John, go?”

His mother asked, “John who?” Then he shared a dream he had while asleep in a coma. He was playing with a new friend named John and after they had a lot of fun outdoors together, John told Julio to open his eyes, because it was time to wake up, and then John vanished. Although Julio’s dream had everyone puzzled, he made a miraculous and full recovery. 

His mom wanted to learn more about  Saint John Newman, so she found a nearby shrine dedicated to him, and after Julio’s recovery, they went to visit it. They saw pictures and stories from different stages of Newman’s  life, and as they walked by a glass case with old photos, Julio suddenly stopped and pointed to a particular photo, saying, “That’s him, that’s my friend, John!” It was an old childhood photo of John Henry Newman, the same boy who played with Julio in his dream. 

Newman was 79 when he died, so how could he appear as a child to Julio, much less, appear to him at all,  during a coma? There are many unanswered questions, but one thing we can know is that there is no such thing as time, space or aging in heaven. Some people who have had near death experiences, saw a deceased relative who appeared at a younger age than the age they actually died at. 

In the movie, Heaven is for real, a four year old boy had a near death experience, and saw Jesus, and his deceased grandfather who he never met. The man he saw was a younger version of his grandfather, even though he died at an old age. Heaven is a mysterious place when it comes to the concept of time and aging. Both boys nearly died, both were healed, and both are alive and healthy today.

We may not have all the answers here and now, but an all powerful God can permit those who are in heaven to appear at any age, to anyone He chooses, according to His purpose achieved through it.

Whoever the “cloud of witnesses” includes, is not explicitly defined in scripture alone. They could be angels, famous bible characters, faithful deceased friends, relatives, or holy believers from generations past. People in heaven are living people, and some may be praying for us, or even visit us in a dream. God welcomes all prayers, whether from heaven or on earth. 

God’s ways are above our ways, and His thoughts are above our thoughts. A boy named Julio had no interest in saints, theology or doctrinal debates. He simply related what he saw and heard while dreaming in a coma, and he was healed.

Faith, hope and love will last forever, and the souls in heaven live in that reality. Instead of seeing a tragedy from a devastating perspective, we can rest assured that there is a faithful cloud of witnesses in heaven, praying for us, so that we can continue to run this race of faith with fortitude, for the rest of our days.

Worry distracts us from these truths, destroys our hope, and leads us to focus on the negative, but faith keeps us looking up to a loving God, whose ways surpass all of our human understanding, who is still performing miracles today.

Lord, thank you that your ways are far above our ways. Help us to trust in whatever miraculous way you choose to intervene in our lives. Amen

“For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them…”

Romans 12:4-6 (NAB)

I was at a dinner banquet this week, given for all the volunteers in the hospital. The volunteers are the ones who give their time to bring comfort or joy to patients and visitors who could be facing the most frightening time in their life.

Volunteers do various tasks like bringing patients from place to place for tests, giving directions to visitors, or helping the chaplain ministry by visiting patients to pray for them or serve them communion. There are pet therapy teams of volunteers, who bring dogs to patients of all ages. Some volunteers specialize in the pediatric departments, bringing toys and games to children as they are recovering. Then there are the magicians who entertain and bring joy to brighten up a child’s day.  

Seating at this annual event was random, and not assigned, so as I arrived, I sat at a table, and soon afterward, three magicians arrived and joined us at the table. The other seats were filled by my fellow chaplain ministry workers.

The magicians shared stories about their experiences on the pediatric floors, where they entertain children of all ages. Whether a child has survived a motor vehicle trauma, or is recovering from surgery, or was admitted for a series of diagnostic tests, those magicians are ministers, bringing joy to children. It takes something special to cheer up children who have been through the most frightening experiences of their young life. 

One magician shared an experience where the father was uncertain if his daughter was in the mood for magic, but he permitted him to try anyway. At first, the young girl looked very melancholy, but the magician began his routine and before long, the girl smiled and laughed. When he glanced at her father, he was crying. The magician asked him why he was crying and the father said that it was the first time in many days, that he saw his daughter smile. 

The three magicians shared a few other stories of their experiences, but they all agreed that they receive back far more than what they give to children, through their services. 

Those three magicians reminded me of the three magi who visited young Jesus, and probably made Him smile. Each volunteer brings gifts to their particular volunteer ministry to all ages, but it’s a special gift from God and a ministry to bring joy to children. 

Every volunteer does according to the different graces given to them by God. The church, world wide, is like a hospital in this world, ministering to the spiritually sick, recovering or the dying. Just as hospitals have a team of volunteers with diverse gifts, God has given specific gifts and talents among church believers throughout the world. Instead of using their gifts and talents to reap recognition or rewards, Paul teaches that we do everything for the Lord. So, whatever we do, we do for Him, because we all belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:8)

There were seven of us sitting together at the banquet table that evening and we all laughed with surprise to find out that five out of seven of us had won raffle prizes. I attribute it to sitting with the three magicians, who served for decades, by bringing joy to sick children.

Those who minister to children are especially blessed, since the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. (Matthew 19:14)

Lord, thank you for those who serve others, in hospitals as well as in the ministries of your church. Bless those especially who bless children, and help each of us to recognize our own gifts and calling. Amen

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.”

John 10:27-29 (NAB)

Everyone knows Jesus calls those who hear His voice and follow Him, His sheep. We are sheep, but we are not caged sheep. We live in freedom, always moving in and out of new pastures. We are not restricted to a penned in area, but we willingly follow our Shepherd, by whom we are being led, fed and cared for.

Though some new pastures are harder to adjust to than others, the Lord leads us there for good reasons. 

I grew up in the city of Chicago, with a concrete back yard, so I knew nothing about sheep growing up, but by studying, I have learned that sheep literally benefit by continually rotating into new pastures. They benefit nutritionally by changing varieties of grass, clover, and legumes to feed on. I never knew how essential it is for sheep to keep grazing in new pastures, and we were also not meant to stay in only one pasture.

It opened my mind to accepting that whatever pasture we find ourselves in, it was selected by our Shepherd,  and is for our spiritual nourishment. Unfamiliar pastures may be very uncomfortable at first, but whatever pasture we are in, our Shepherd knows what we need and what we can handle. According to the words of Jesus, we are always being held in His Father’s hands. How could there be a more secure place to be than in the hands of God?

Jesus assured us that even when the thief tries to steal, kill or destroy, no one, meaning literally no one, can snatch us out of our Father’s hands. That sounds like rock solid security to me. 

We spend most of our lifetime grazing from pasture to pasture, through the different phases of our lives. A new pasture may contain more of some fearful hills and lonely valleys than the previous one. The hills are high places or cliffs, where we have no where else to turn to, but the Lord always rescues us. The valleys are low places, those times when we feel abandoned and alone, but later, we find out that Jesus was there with us all along. In between the hills and valleys, are the open green pastures, which are times of refreshing when He nourishes our soul, and gives us periods of rest.

I can think of many stages in my own life where new pastures seemed impossible to adapt to, but I can also see how Jesus was with me, whether on that high cliff or in the lowest valley. He nourishes our souls in every pasture that He leads us through. We realize it when we look back at think about how the Lord brought us through a difficult time, and will do it again. 

Whatever pasture we are currently in, our Shepherd is with us always. We are secure because He promised us that no one can snatch us out of His Father’s hand. We don’t have to look frantically for His Father’s hand, but merely remind ourselves that we are already in it. 

With each new pasture He reveals new opportunities, new lessons, new gifts, and new levels of fulfillment, all which come from grazing in new pastures, and living the abundant life that Jesus spoke of. (John 10:10)

While we are safely held in the Father’s hands, led by the good Shepherd, we can move forward, not fearing the unfamiliar pastures, but anticipating more of His abundant nourishment, which He gives us to prepare our souls for eternity with Him.

Lord, help us to see the current challenges in our lives as a new pasture that you are leading us through, trusting that we are always your sheep, held in your Father’s hands. Amen 

“Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

Psalm 139:7-8 (NIV)

If I could add one more line to the verses above, it would be “When I stop at a stoplight, You are there.“

I was driving home one day last week, and talking to God in the car, while driving. My mind wandered off to how some of my relatives respond quickly and positively whenever I tell them good news about Jon’s progress, but when I report anything not going well, the men in the family become strangely distant and say nothing.

Jon is currently in a regressive stage in his behavior, while medicines are being adjusted. Whenever I describe the current situation to the family, the male relatives don’t respond, while female relatives are very supportive. Naturally, I seek moral support, but the men seem to think that I am looking for solutions and since they have none, they simply give no response at all.

I was venting to God about how frustrating this situation is, and as I finished my sentence, I came to a stop for a red light. Another vehicle was stopped to the right of me. My passenger window was open and the driver’s window, next to me, was also open. While waiting for the light to change, I looked to my right and the stranger in that vehicle was  smiling at me. Then he waved at me and said, “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” I politely smiled back at him and agreed, even though it was a strange statement. It had been raining all day, and the sun only just recently came out.

In the past, if a stranger spoke to me at a stoplight, they’ve usually said something rude or inappropriate, but this incident was neither. I felt genuine kindness flowing from that man, as if he were sent by God to that exact stoplight, at that precise moment, to send me an uplifting message. The light turned green, then he waved and said, “Have a good day.” I returned the greeting back to him, and then we parted, as I turned left and he went straight. 

I had a very unusual feeling about those few seconds spent at that stoplight. It’s very rare for strangers at a stoplight to greet someone just to say it’s a nice day. I think God sent that man at that moment for a purpose. Maybe it was to remind me to be more thankful than critical, reminding me that every day God gives us is a good day. 

Those few seconds showed me that God hears and understands what I’m feeling. He has many ways of showing us, but sometimes He shows us through total strangers. He sends people to comfort, encourage or correct us when we need it, but most of all, He sends people to remind us that whatever storms we are going through, the sun will come out again. Sometimes He sends a person to us, just to confirm that God has always been with us in the midst of the storm.

He uses others to comfort us when we feel alone and misunderstood, and He also uses us to bring a word or a smile of comfort to someone else who is struggling in a similar way.

On that day, when I was lamenting over my frustrations, God sent a sign that He heard me, and that His presence is always there. He used a total stranger to lift my spirit through a smile and a few kind words, all within seconds at a stop light. 

Where could we ever go without God’s presence? He is always with us, watching and listening to us.

Lord, we are never alone and always heard, and we thank you for the many mysterious ways you comfort and lift our hearts, by sending others to us at special moments. Amen