Month: November 2023

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 (RSV)

When I think about how patiently God has waited and endured the fluctuating highs and lows of my faith commitment in the past, I realize His patience has no time limits. He never gives up on us, He is patient, long suffering and His love endures all the ways and times that we may have disappointed Him.

Although He may be disappointed, God is never discouraged. He loves us exactly as love is defined in the first book to the Corinthians. It says  “believes all things, bears all things, hopes all things and endures all things” and that is how God loves us.  (1 Corinthians 13:7)

Whatever type of adversity shakes us and distracts our faith or our commitment to Him, God is still faithful, finding ways to bring us back to Him. 

His goodness to us is undeserved and beyond all rational understanding. 

Paul tells us to be imitators of God, who so patiently waits for us, who believes, bears, hopes and endures all things, and He expects us to do the same for others. We are called to imitate Jesus and walk in love as He loved us, with the same patience, long suffering and endurance.

Children naturally imitate their father or whatever father image they had growing up. My own earthly father was 63 when I was born and suffered a stroke when my mother was eight months pregnant with me,  so he was emotionally and mentally debilitated during all the years that I knew him. My brother Teddy, who was six years older than me, was the closest one to a father image that I had. I remember when I was young, I tried to walk like him and to imitate his hearty laugh.

There is a famous saying;

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery….”

Whoever we imitate, pays him or her our highest compliment. 

Imitating our earthly father image of our youth, should prepare us to imitate our Heavenly Father for the rest of our lives.

God pursues even the most hardened hearts and is willing to wait patiently until a heart of stone changes to a heart of flesh. He sees everyone with forward vision, meaning He knows what we can become, looking beyond our faults and shortcomings. Since God is not influenced by time or space, length of time is irrelevant to Him. His love and patience never runs out, and He can wait for decades, for someone to turn their life over to Him. It’s the kind of love we could never earn.

How do I know all this? Because He did it for me. The God I believe in  believes in us. His love bears, hopes and endures all things, for our good. He has always had the best plan for our lives, before we were born, and He wrote it down on the day we were conceived. (Psalm 139:16) 

He is patient and never forces His way into our life, He patiently waits for us to ask and invite Him.

God has allowed particular people to come into our lives, even some who test our patience, not to annoy us, but to give us a new opportunity to imitate His love and patience. He helps us to see others with the same “forward vision” that He sees us with.

Paul reminds us in today’s scripture verse, that being imitators of God means to walk in love as Jesus did. Imitation is the highest form of praise. When we think we have been waiting too long for a result, we are reminded that God patiently waited for us and He wants us to imitate Him. We can never love like God does, but we can try, and trying is the first step to imitating Jesus.

Imitation is also a deep expression of thanksgiving. We show God our gratitude with praise, when we seek to imitate His beloved son.

Lord, thank you for your unlimited patience and love, as you wait patiently for us to invite you into every part of our lives. Help us to show you praise and gratitude by imitating your love towards others. Amen  

A blurry old picture of me with my two brothers, Ted on the left, John behind me.

For newer readers, the story of Ted’s F-16 plane crash can be read on my website link.https://kissedbythespirit.com/for-the-good-a-memorial/

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 2:20 (RSV)

When I was a child I remember when my older brother, who was about twelve, got in trouble at school. He was misbehaving and the teacher called him out saying, “Young man, who do you think you are?” 

My brother, being the class smart alec, answered the teacher saying his full name, and the whole class burst into laughter. My parents didn’t find it amusing and neither did his teacher, but as an eight year old child, I thought my brother was hilarious. 

I never forgot that story and it makes me think about our identity as God sees us. Today’s scripture tells us who we really are, as we walk by faith.

Our identity in Christ can be under attack by the doubts that flood our minds or guilt we feel after failing in some way. Even confessed and forgiven sins of the past, will return to haunt our thoughts and our spiritual self image. 

The “accuser of the brethren” who targets every believer during their lives, will do so until Jesus returns, as described in scripture:

“Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Revelation 12:10)

Just when we start to succeed in walking by faith, an accusation is fired at us and asks, “Who do you think you are?” Let’s remember that Satan is terrified of believers who really do know who they are in Christ, and live in their identity as a child of God. We know how the story ends, and the accuser of the brethren will one day be thrown down and defeated.

Whether we need healing or a relationship restored, a new job, or we are answering the call to a new ministry, the enemy is going to challenge us. When our identity in Christ is crippled with doubts, guilt or fear, we can certainly answer who we are not. 

We are not the sum of our failures, we are not defined by the tragedies in our past. We are not our medical diagnosis, and we are not forsaken or forgotten, because it is God’s love that defines who we are.

Our water baptism represented our death to the old nature, and our resurrection to a new identity in Christ. Every believer is a new creation in Christ. The strategy of the enemy is to cripple our identity in Christ, but remember what Jesus said to anyone who was crippled. He told them to “Rise up and walk!”

Let’s rise up and walk in the identity of our baptism, alive to the newness Christ offers. We know exactly who we are. We are God’s children, who live by faith in the one who is holding our hand and telling us to stand up and walk.

The question, “Who do you think you are?” is not just a question for mischievous children, it’s a question for all God’s children, because every believer needs to know they are a child of God. 

Next time the accuser asks you who you think you are, this should be your answer:

I am chosen, crucified with Christ, forgiven, resurrected with Him in baptism and living daily by faith in Him who loved me and gave Himself for me…..That’s who we all are.

Lord, help us to rise up and walk in the secure identity as one of your beloved children, not defined by our failures or mistakes, but by your love, forgiveness and eternal sacrifice for us. Amen

“As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
 It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)

The Lord wants us to plant His word in our hearts, and in our minds, because He has a purpose for everything He says through scripture. We need occasional reminders of His truth, even if we need to tape a scripture to our refrigerator or to our bathroom mirror. 

His word will accomplish what He intended and it never returns void. It reveals His deepest truths, builds our faith and transforms our hearts. Even when we are unaware, His word is working in us, like a seed, producing spiritual fruit. 

Religious Jews have a prayer ritual where they fill small leather boxes with scriptures on parchment paper. Then they place one container on their doorposts, called a Mezuzah. 

All the males says special prayers, wearing little black leather boxes filled with scripture, called Tefillin. Those leather boxes are strapped to their arm and forehead. This is done as a literal observance of the following scripture:

“Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:8-9)

(A boy praying, wearing Tefillin)

We do not observe Deuteronomy in a purely literal way as they do, but we believe God’s written word is sacred and true. Instead of wearing leather boxes filled with scripture on our bodies, we wear His word planted deep within our minds and hearts. 

Sometimes we need a reminder of what God promises us through His written word.

God tells us we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and His special possession, and therefore, we can take every word to heart. If God said that we are chosen and special, that is how God sees us, and there is no debate about it.

(1 Peter 2:9)

We are not chosen based on our merit, we are called by God’s generous grace, and He desires that we cooperate with that grace all throughout our lives. God’s word tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is a love like none we have ever known. Like a powerful magnet, it keeps drawing us back to Him. There is an endless fountain of love and mercy in Jesus. 

(Romans 8:39)

The Bible compares God’s word to a powerful sword, that is alive and active. It cuts through and exposes the lies and the false persuasions of this world. According to this verse of scripture, the word of God is like our personal therapist. It cuts through and reveals the motives and intentions deep within our own heart. 

(Hebrews 4:12)

When Jesus said, “all things for which you pray and ask for, believe you have received it and it shall be done.” Notice that He didn’t say some things, or many things. He said “all” things. As we read the words of Jesus, our faith grows, we believe His divine promises and hunger for more of Him. (Mark 11:24)

God promised to be with us always. The Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah, telling us, when we pass through the deep waters, He will be with us, and we won’t be swept away. When we walk through the fire, we will not be burned, and the flames will not consume us. When we wear His promises in our heart and mind, we can walk through any fires and floods that come, and remain spiritually strong and unharmed, because Jesus is walking through it with us. (Isaiah 43:1-2) 

All of God’s word has a much deeper purpose, than just profound phrases to put on plaques and greeting cards. Whatever God says through scripture, is His promise to all of us. 

Once we choose to believe it, then His word becomes life changing.

We don’t rely on feelings, because Jesus is always with us whether we feel Him or not. We know it because He said so, and we wear His word in our heart, which is our weapon of truth.  

Our lives began as a seed, planted in a womb, by the Gardener of the universe, and He planted each of us in love, for a beautiful purpose. When we plant His word in our hearts and minds, we will reap the purpose He intended for us. 

There is so much spiritual strength in reading, memorizing, trusting and loving God’s word. Trusting the word of God has strengthened my faith and kept me through many difficult trials over the years. It is God’s love letter to us. 

Lord, we wear your word in our minds and hearts. Help us to grow in the discernment of truth, and make us whole in body, mind and soul. You have destined us for goodness and to know you, is to love you and to cherish all the words you have spoken to us. Amen 

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, a refuge on the day of distress, Taking care of those who look to him for protection.”

Nahum 1:7 (NAB)

Lately, I am learning how much of trust is rooted in waiting for God, since most of what we are trusting Him for, doesn’t happen immediately. 

While we find shelter in Him, in the day of our distress, we start to become familiar with His voice, and to recognize it in our waiting phase, which is a priceless gift.

Trusting God means not taking matters in our own hands, even if other people don’t seem to be doing their job, or when the waiting period seems longer than expected. 

Sarah was given the promise of a child by God, but over the years of waiting, she lost all trust in that promise. She took the matter into her own hands, and decided to give her maidservant, Hagar, to Abraham, her husband, and then claim her child as her own. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael and Sarah considered him her own son, until God fulfilled His promise to Sarah.

He gave Sarah and Abraham their own son, Isaac, and then a constant feud developed between the two sons, between the son of Hagar and the son of Sarah. Hagar’s son, Ishmael, is the patriarch of all Arabic people. Sarah’s son, Isaac, is the patriarch of Israel and all Jewish people. We can still see that feuding which persists today, beginning over 2,000 years B.C., and it all started when Sarah stopped trusting in God’s promise, and took matters into her own hands.

I’m not criticizing Sarah, and can totally identify with the urge to take matters in one’s own hands, especially Type A personalities like mine. One of the most difficult things is to trust God, in the waiting, but life brings many opportunities to learn to trust Him, and as we wait, He helps us to finally get it right. 

During their waiting period, God was good to Sarah and Abraham, giving them a son of their own, in their old age, and creating a nation from him. God honored Abraham’s steadfast faith during that waiting period. It’s good to know that God works patiently with all of our weaknesses and shortcomings, just as He did with Sarah’s. He knows our gifts, our personalities, our fears as well as our failures. God still loves us in spite of the bad decisions we make, all because He is good and He is the Lord of many chances.

Trusting God means believing He will prompt the right people to do the right thing at the right time, because we have asked and trust Him to. Trusting God is knowing we do not need to micromanage and oversee everyone and everything, like Sarah did. There is a freedom in trusting that our request is heard as we rest in God’s promises, which will be fulfilled in His own timing. 

Trusting God also means making Him our place of refuge, the shelter we run to, and we don’t need to panic over looming dangers or urgent needs. We have been given strengths, but our refuge place is not within our own strengths, but within God’s. 

What do people do inside of a shelter? They do nothing except to be still, pray and wait. 

Last weekend I spoke to my friend Larry, who lives in Israel, who has been frequenting his local bomb shelter whenever the sirens sound. While inside the shelters, they just stay still and wait. He told me that Israeli citizens receive an all clear on their cell phones when it’s safe to leave the shelter, but now most Israelis know when all is clear, by listening for a particular sound. There’s a familiar boom sound, made by the Iron Dome defense system as it intercepts the rockets fired. Once they hear that familiar boom sound from within the shelter, they exit without fear, in confidence that all is safe.

God is good to those who wait, and the more we shelter ourselves in Him, the more we become familiar to the voice of His Spirit, comforting us and guiding us as we take refuge in Him.

As the Israeli citizens can discern the positive sound that signals a rocket has been destroyed, so God is our refuge in the day of our distress, and we learn to discern the familiar sound of His voice. It’s not an audible sound, but a sound within our hearts, that allows us to move forward with confidence, without fear, in spite of dealing with serious troubles. God is our refuge, He shelters and protects us, as we remain still and wait, because we know that He is the Lord of perfect timing. 

Some days are more distress-filled than others, but God wants to show us His goodness every day. Trusting God simply means pausing in the moment, and asking for His help, direction or wisdom. He sends us help and sometimes we hear His voice through others. 

I need to constantly shelter myself in Him and listen for His familiar voice to lead me in the many new areas of responsibility I have as the legal guardian of a disabled adult son. One thing I know, Jesus walks through it with me in the day of my distress, and He does the same for everyone who has made Him their refuge and shelter.

Lord, help us to wait in peaceful stillness as we take shelter in you. Remove all our anxiety and show us your goodness in the waiting phases. Jesus, we invest all our trust in you, who spared nothing to save us, revealing through your cross, how much you love us. Amen

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Matthew 18:20 (NAB)

Once in a while, I hear an older song, that I forgot about. One day I listened to an old hit country song by Garth Brooks, “Friends in low places”. 

The song is typical of most country songs, about finding refuge from a romantic break up, by going to a bar called the Oasis, and hanging out  with old friends. It goes on about how the whiskey and beer chase all the blues away. 

As I listened, I amused myself by changing all the lyrics, and turning it into a Christian song. The friends who share our faith are in fact, our friends in high places, not low. Based on what Jesus promised in today’s scripture, where two or three gather in His name, He is in their midst. 

If He is in our midst just by gathering together and agreeing together in His name, it puts us all in very high places with Jesus. 

Every time we agree in prayer with other believers, He is among us, in Spirit, which is like having a bit of heaven in our midst. 

Our Oasis place of refuge is not a tavern, but anywhere we can agree with others who believe with us in prayer. The power is in our prayer, not the place, because Jesus will join us anywhere.

Whiskey and beer doesn’t chase the blues away, but the blood of Jesus and the power of His Spirit does. How blessed we are to have the Son of God tell us, “Wherever two or three are gathered in My name, I will be there with you”. It’s our true refuge and our oasis, because every Christian friend is a friend in high places, through the power of Jesus’ name in prayer. 

Thank you Jesus, for giving us friends in high places. You gave us your church and the promise of your Presence, wherever we gather and believe together on any one thing, all through your powerful and holy name. Amen

“On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Acts 9:3-5 (NAB)

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 leader, who led a frenzied campaign of hatred against the early church, dragging christians out of their homes and brutally murdering entire families. It sounds familiar today, but it all happened around AD 36, only a few years 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 of the sky open up and Jesus appeared to him, standing at the right hand of God. After telling everyone what he saw, he asked forgiveness for his murderers and died. 

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 bright, blinding light. He became physically 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 never met Jesus, and Jesus never encountered Saul, while He was living, but Saul was a religious zealot who despised Christians and hunted them down, from place to place. Jesus made it clear that by persecuting Christians, Saul was personally persecuting Him.

When Stephen was being martyred, he saw Jesus “standing” at the right hand of God, not seated on the throne. There are many scriptures that foretell that the Messiah would be “seated” at the right hand of God, the Father. The Christian Nicene creed even reads that Jesus “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

Jesus has indeed been seated on His throne in Heaven, at the right hand of His Father, but there are some things that cause Him to stand up. He was standing up, not seated, when Stephen saw Him, so perhaps Jesus stands when He sees the innocent being murdered.

There are so many things happening in the world today, that according to scripture, would make Jesus stand up. These are the causes mentioned throughout the scriptures, that draw attention from Heaven, as mentioned in Malachi 3:5:

Christians, living in certain nations, who are persecuted for their faith, the oppression of widows and orphans anywhere, all those living under oppressive regimes, who are deprived of human rights, the murder of innocent babies and children, and the mistreatment of aliens and strangers.

God so loved the world that He sent Jesus, who suffered for us all, yet most of the world considers the message of the cross as foolishness. Each time someone turns to the cross and receives the salvation of Jesus, I believe He stands up.

Jesus asked Saul why he was persecuting Him, and not long afterward, Saul repented and became a disciple of Christ, changing his name to Paul. He continued to hear the Lord’s voice, who stood up and inspired him to write thirteen books in the New Testament.

I can imagine Jesus standing up in Heaven today, at the right of God,  hoping His church will be the beacon of His love that speaks His message of mercy, leading many others to repentance.

Lord, we believe you are standing in heaven today, filled with compassion for all who are suffering. Help us to shine your light and point others toward you. We pray for an end to the suffering of all innocents and for the conversion of all the blinded Sauls of this world; may they hear and receive you, and value all human life. Amen

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

Galatians 6:2 (RSV)

Yesterday I went to my jeweler, the one who sold my husband and I our wedding rings. He is an honest man and I trust him. When I retired, I had intentions to visit him and turn my diamond wedding band into a small diamond cross pendant to wear around my neck. It was supposed to be a birthday/retirement gift to myself, since I have degenerative arthritis and my fingers are too swollen to wear rings anymore. 

I put the visit to the jeweler off for several weeks after Jon’s accident, but yesterday, I finally found the time to take the trip to his store in Chicago.

The jeweler’s wife was in the store that day. As I was talking to her, I shared my story about Jon’s accident. She had two sons as well, but lost one of her adult sons in a fatal car accident some decades ago. His framed portrait was on the wall in their store. He was only in his early twenties when he died suddenly, and then she whispered to me that her husband never talks about it. 

Her other living son is the father of her grandchildren, just as mine is. They were even of similar ages as my own, hers are 12 and 7 and mine are 11 and 8.

In spite of the sadness of the subject, we both shared our stories with one another. There is a moment of comfort in sharing a grief held in common with someone. I realized afterward that what we actually did was to bear one another’s burdens as today’s scripture says to do.

The loss of her son leaves a sorrow for which she will always mourn. In sharing my more recent grief about Jon’s brain injury, we were able to comfort each other and bear one another’s burdens. God sends us people who are suffering in a similar way, like an ointment, or a momentary balm of comfort.

I left the store, not only with a beautiful new diamond cross, but with the blessing of having a chance to share someone’s burden which she has been carrying for decades. 

There is always someone else who is also going through whatever we are currently experiencing, and God leads us to the right people at the right time to lighten and bear one another’s burdens.  

May God continue to lead us in His perfect timing, to the particular people to bear and share our burdens with. We do not receive explanations, but we know that it is through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of God. We also know that there is a blessing upon all who persevere in faith, through all adversities.

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

(James 1:12)

Lord, thank you for sending us people to bear and share our burdens with. Give us strength to persevere in faith, and to keep trusting that you love us and are with us in every trial we go through. Amen

COMFORT MY PEOPLE

“Blessed are they who mourn,

for they will be comforted.”

Matthew 5:4 (NAB)

Mourning is defined as the state of emotions of a person to whom something irreversible happened that leads to a feeling of sadness or regret. No one would deny that there are war torn areas of the world today where masses of people are in mourning, but one doesn’t have to live in a nation at war to be in mourning. Irreversible tragic events and shattered hopes can put anyone into a state of mourning.

Although I have lost two good friends to untimely deaths over the past two years, I have learned that mourning is the result of something more than physical death. The death of hope or hope that is shallow and limited to this life only, can lead to mourning as deep as a physical death. We were not meant to live with all our hopes invested in this present life only. 

Paul wrote that if we have hoped in Christ for this life only, (for all of our goals and dreams to be realized here and now), then we, of all people, are most to be pitied.  

(1 Corinthians 15:19)

In recently cleaning out my son, Jon’s storage unit, I discovered a file filled with documents of copyrighted rap songs he wrote, which he was trying to have published. Even though it never amounted to anything, those were his hopes and dreams for this life. Besides running his own small business for twenty years, doing asphalt sealcoating and patching driveways, his hobby was writing rap songs. 

In the last four years of his life, he lived as an atheist, rejecting God, while pursuing those song writing goals. There is something very sad about a person who pursues an ambition or a dream all for this life, without God, only to have those dreams shattered by one disabling accident. 

In his current mental state, he isn’t cognitive enough to mourn over what he has lost, but we, who are his family, are mourning for him. His twin brother, Michael, mourns for him in a unique way, after losing the fellowship of a friend and brother he has known since they were in the womb. 

This whole situation has given me a new perspective about mourning, as I am drawn to what Jesus said about it. I realized that mourning is not just a response to the physical death of someone, but an emotional response to the death of hopes, dreams, friendship and intimacy. 

When Jesus said, 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” His greatest and richest gift is the emotional healing which He offers to those who mourn. Isaiah prophesied of a Messiah who would give us comfort, saying;

”Comfort, give comfort to my people,

says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for….. and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” (Isaiah 40:1-2,5)

Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophesy, by comforting His people and letting His glory be revealed in a way it never was before. He blesses all who mourn by sharing His presence with us. He will comfort us and leads us beyond our shattered earthly goals and dreams. If Jon ever regains his cognitive understanding, I hope he will find comfort in Jesus, investing his hope in eternity. 

There are many scriptures promising restoration, but Jesus is offering Himself as a Comforter to all who mourn. Comfort is for the heart, it brings emotional healing more than physical restoration. It’s like receiving a warm hug instead of being handed a gift, and who wouldn’t want a warm spiritual hug from Jesus?

Lord, in whatever way we are mourning, help us to be blessed with your comfort, so that we, in turn, can comfort others. Give us supernatural assurance that your loving arms are wrapped around us, and reveal the glory of your presence to each of us today. Amen

“Blessed are they who mourn,

for they will be comforted.”

Matthew 5:4 (NAB)

Mourning is defined as the state of emotions of a person to whom something irreversible happened that leads to a feeling of sadness or regret. No one would deny that there are war torn areas of the world today where masses of people are in mourning, but one doesn’t have to live in a nation at war to be in mourning. Irreversible tragic events and shattered hopes can put anyone into a state of mourning.

Although I have lost two good friends to untimely deaths over the past two years, I have learned that mourning is the result of something more than physical death. The death of hope or hope that is shallow and limited to this life only, can lead to mourning as deep as a physical death. We were not meant to live with all our hopes invested in this present life only. 

Paul wrote that if we have hoped in Christ for this life only, (for all of our goals and dreams to be realized here and now), then we, of all people, are most to be pitied.  

(1 Corinthians 15:19)

In recently cleaning out my son, Jon’s storage unit, I discovered a file filled with documents of copyrighted rap songs he wrote, which he was trying to have published. Even though it never amounted to anything, those were his hopes and dreams for this life. Besides running his own small business for twenty years, doing asphalt sealcoating and patching driveways, his hobby was writing rap songs. 

In the last four years of his life, he lived as an atheist, rejecting God, while pursuing those song writing goals. There is something very sad about a person who pursues an ambition or a dream all for this life, without God, only to have those dreams shattered by one disabling accident. 

In his current mental state, he isn’t cognitive enough to mourn over what he has lost, but we, who are his family, are mourning for him. His twin brother, Michael, mourns for him in a unique way, after losing the fellowship of a friend and brother he has known since they were in the womb. 

This whole situation has given me a new perspective about mourning, as I am drawn to what Jesus said about it. I realized that mourning is not just a response to the physical death of someone, but an emotional response to the death of hopes, dreams, friendship and intimacy. 

When Jesus said, 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” His greatest and richest gift is the emotional healing which He offers to those who mourn. Isaiah prophesied of a Messiah who would give us comfort, saying;

”Comfort, give comfort to my people,

says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for….. and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” (Isaiah 40:1-2,5)

Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophesy, by comforting His people and letting His glory be revealed in a way it never was before. He blesses all who mourn by sharing His presence with us. He will comfort us and leads us beyond our shattered earthly goals and dreams. If Jon ever regains his cognitive understanding, I hope he will find comfort in Jesus, investing his hope in eternity. 

There are many scriptures promising restoration, but Jesus is offering Himself as a Comforter to all who mourn. Comfort is for the heart, it brings emotional healing more than physical restoration. It’s like receiving a warm hug instead of being handed a gift, and who wouldn’t want a warm spiritual hug from Jesus?

Lord, in whatever way we are mourning, help us to be blessed with your comfort, so that we, in turn, can comfort others. Give us supernatural assurance that your loving arms are wrapped around us, and reveal the glory of your presence to each of us today. Amen

“God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:9-11 (NAB)

Jesus laid out His priorities to his disciples after He commissioned them to preach, teach and heal. He spoke about seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. The greatest priority of all is to know the exalted and powerful name of Jesus. Paul reminds us that His name is higher than any other name and that every knee will bow before Him one day. 

We are all a Trinity, three in one, created in God’s image. We have a spirit, a soul and a body. Our spirit is the part of us that  communicates with God. We pray with our spirit and He speaks to us through our spirit. Our soul is the essence of who we are, and it’s the part of us that lives forever. Our current bodies do not live forever, but Christianity teaches that the dead in Christ will be raised on the last day with a physically perfect and incorruptible body, yet one that will be recognizable as ourselves.

There is a movie currently showing at the theatres called “After Death.” It’s a two hour film documentary of many people’s documented near death experiences, which occurred after a near fatal accident. Among the interviewers, were a cardiologist and a psychiatrist, and one of the many persons interviewed was an orthopedic surgeon, who had a near death experience, (NDE) after surviving a drowning accident. The film shows the differences and similarities among each person’s experience as their soul temporarily separated from their body. 

After hearing each individual’s description of their serious accident, how it affected their life and their family’s lives, it makes one wonder if tragic accidents serve a hidden purpose in a person’s life. Accidents and serious illnesses are life altering events, but survivors can still find an underlying lesson and a purpose for living after their experience, whether they have an NDE or not.

Each person who had a near death experience, saw their body lying at the location, as they traveled upward toward a light. They all experienced a brief time of heightened restoration, peace, joy  and wholeness which they lacked in their natural state of life. All of them felt sorrow in waking back up in their physical bodies, with a longing for the sense of contentment they had during the NDE.

A person in pain with multiple body fractures, had zero pain during his NDE. A little girl blind from birth saw and described sights she never saw during her natural lifetime. A man who lived his life with no faith, had a totally different experience, and I won’t ruin it by sharing the details. The beauty of his experience is that he recalled his childhood faith in Jesus, and cried out for mercy. God abounds in mercy, as the scripture in Roman’s 10:13 tells us, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The Lord perseveres in extending His mercy to us, and in some cases, even revealing it to a soul who is temporarily separated from their body.

Each person lived a very different life after their NDE. A man, abused by his earthly father had a brief conversation with Jesus, about forgiveness and love. He woke up with a new attitude and went on to forgive, love and establish a relationship with his abusive father. Most people returned to life with a renewed sense of purpose to love in a deeper way than they had ever done before. 

Suffering accidents, illness and tragedy in life is a tough subject to write about, but one thing we can all learn, is that there is another side to the sorrow and sadness in all lives. We are here to learn the lessons God is trying to teach us, the main one being that our souls live forever, and love never dies. God gave Jesus a name exalted above all names, and there is power available to us now, by calling upon His name.

God intervenes through tragedies to change some people’s perspective, if they were heading down a dark path in life. God will spare a life in order to save a soul. In other cases, people were believers with faith in Jesus, but God gave them a deeper revelation of His presence and of His immense love and mercy.

So, what someone perceives as a tragedy, accident, or sickness, is really an act of God’s generous grace, love and mercy. 

After all is said and done, the name of Jesus is still the most highly exalted name above every other name. His name is above the name of cancer, stroke, physical trauma  and mental illnesses. His name is exalted above paralysis and over any physical limitation that we suffer. Jesus gave us His own highly exalted name to pray in and believe in for healing.

His name contains a message of love, that is beyond our ability to fully comprehend in this physical body. He wants to reveal how much He loves us and He desires that we live our current life in loving others. Our salvation is dependent on receiving His message, and living by faith in His highly exalted name.

We don’t need an NDE to receive His love, or to seek first His priorities. We were meant to exalt His name by forgiving and being forgiven in our lives, as we nurture the only soul we have in preparation to spend eternity with Him. 

Lord Jesus, your name is above all names, all tragedies, and all illnesses. We speak your name in the love and mercy you bring to every heart today and trust you for healing, as you lead us closer to you. Amen

“My shield, my saving horn,

my stronghold, my refuge,

my savior, from violence you keep me safe.” 

2 Samuel 22:3 (NAB)

“He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of David his servant.”

Luke 1:69 (NAB)

The first verse was a song of victory sung by David, praising the Lord as his “saving horn”, written after the final victory over all his enemies.  

The second verse was a verse proclaimed by Zechariah, the priest and father of John the Baptist, when he was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied of the coming Messiah as a horn of salvation for his people. 

At first reading these references to a horn of salvation, I assumed it is a horn one blows as a trumpet, or a shofar, but after reading commentaries, I learned that this horn refers to the horn of a bull or any animal that had horns, used as weapons. It’s not defensive, but an offensive weapon. The Messiah, Jesus, is God’s offensive horn that offensively charges at our spiritual enemies and defeats them. He fought the fight for our salvation and won our victory.

David sang a song of thanksgiving which filled this entire chapter of 2nd Samuel, praising God as a refuge and a stronghold, who fights for us. There’s no way around defining a “horn of salvation”, other than it being a weapon of offense and victory. Every enemy of our soul has been defeated by Jesus, the horn of our salvation. For this, like David, we should offer songs and dances of praise and thanksgiving to God. 

Zechariah repeated the words of David from this exact song of praise in the book of Samuel. When he was in the temple on the day he was able to speak, and the moment came to name his own miraculous baby, John, the Holy Spirit filled Zechariah and he prophesied of the Savior who was to come and be the “horn of salvation” to his people. 

Jesus is the offensive horn that charges at every force of darkness, which held people in bondage. The first scripture reading by Jesus in the temple was to proclaim Himself the one who sets all captives free. He described Himself as our victor and the horn of our salvation. 

There was history behind this whole concept of horns. The earliest altars of God had four horns protruding from the four corners. The horns of the Holy altar in Jerusalem had provided a refuge for any fugitives. Those who caught hold of the horns of the altar were granted asylum and refuge from punishment.

Jesus, the horn of our salvation, is also the horn on the Holy altar in heavenly Jerusalem, who is our refuge, our stronghold and our safe place. He bore our punishment and fought for our salvation. We cling to the horn of our salvation, trusting Him to finish fighting for us.

Lord, thank you and we love you for the offensive horn that daily fights our battles and we cling to the horn of the altar which is Jesus, our Messiah, who sets all captives free and wins our victory.  Amen