Month: November 2023

“Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith.”

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB)

The Christmas season can be sad for some who have recently lost loved ones or are experiencing any type of loss. Even if it didn’t happen recently, this season has a way of rekindling the memories of relationships or lives of people we’ve lost.

The Christian life is compared to running a race. We are told to throw off everything that hinders us, so we can run freely. It’s easy to be distracted, entangled or weighed down by sorrows, losses or offenses suffered. I’ve learned that whatever is encumbering our race of faith, if we don’t throw it off, we end up wearing it like a heavy leaded garment. A heavily burdened and encumbered runner easily loses sight of the finish line. 

One morning, as I was walking my dog, and looking at the holiday decor on each home, I started thinking about how sad Christmas must be for some who have lost loved ones. I found myself taking a count of my own losses. I summarized in my mind, how in four years, I lost my husband and two long time friends, followed by my adult son’s tragic and disabling motorcycle accident. 

I found myself counting my sorrows and then I asked the Lord what He has to say about all this. The Holy Spirit’s answer came to me, 

“Don’t wear your losses, celebrate your blessings.” I realized I was wearing all my losses at that moment, which weighed me down, when I could be celebrating the lives of those I’ve lost, as well as the many new friends that the Lord brought into my life. Just being inspired to write a meditation each day is another blessing that I celebrate as well. 

Today’s scripture is telling us to throw off all that weighs us down, in order to persevere in running the race. Overthinking sorrow and grief can hinder and entangle us, because we end up walking around, wearing our losses like a heavy leaded garment. 

We are meant to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Anyone who has run in a marathon knows that their focus should be toward the finish line, not on what is happening along the side lines. The Christian life is a race of perseverance, keeping our focus all the way to the finish line. 

It’s an interesting thing about life; whatever trial we are facing, we will get through it, one step at a time. Whatever we’ve lost, whatever offenses we’ve suffered, instead of wearing our sorrows like a lead garment, we trade them in to Jesus in exchange for His rest, joy and peace that only He can give. 

One day in the future, we will look back and wonder how we made it through certain trials. Jesus invited everyone saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

(Matthew 11:28) 

It’s not a one time thing, we have to keep bringing our burdens to Him, and through it all, Jesus adds a little more perfection to our faith, through every trial we go through. 

I have received a special blessing from every lost loved one, and I celebrate their lives, and how they’ve enriched mine. Jesus is leading a great cloud of witnesses in heaven, who are looking down upon us, and cheering us on, all the way to the finish line. We make heaven rejoice when we continue to run, with perseverance, throwing off anything that hinders us. Jesus lightens every burden and gives us His joy and peace, along with an added spring in our step while we run this race.

Lord, remind each of us to throw off whatever is weighing us down today, and to celebrate every blessing in our lives, and we thank you for being the originator and perfecter of our faith. Amen

“…. but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.”

1 Peter 3:15 (NAB)

When Christ is sanctified in our hearts, He is set apart and treated as sacred. In other words, He is enthroned on our heart. Only Kings sit on thrones, so when we give Jesus the throne of our hearts, He reigns in every part of our lives, making us want to talk about the hope that is within us. Jesus said that whatever comes out of our mouths comes from our heart.  (Matthew 15:18)

The throne of our heart is never empty. If Jesus isn’t sitting on it, someone or something else will be. Once He is given His rightful place, on that throne, our words will naturally reflect that hope, which is why Peter tells the church to be ready at all times, to give an explanation of the hope that is within us. We each have our own unique story of hope to tell.

Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, in the Chosen movie series, has told his personal story.  It started when he was completely broke, after getting an acting part here and there, but barely able to pay his bills. He once had a small part in a soap opera as well as in a few sitcoms up to that point, but he was basically broke. 

One day, he was at a breaking point and dropped to his knees in his tiny apartment, in Queens, NY. He totally surrendered his life to Jesus at that moment, and something mystical happened, which changed his life. In that moment of prayer and surrender, his worry over financial needs was replaced with a new and unexplained sense of peace. 

After that, he went out and spent his last twenty dollars on a big breakfast, leaving all financial concerns in God’s hands. When he got home, he found four unexpected checks in his mailbox, which paid all his bills. A few months later, he got a call from Dallas Jenkins, the director and co-writer of “The Chosen” movie series. He was cast as Jesus in that series and just finished season four, to be released this February.

Roumie, half Egyptian and half Irish, portrays a middle eastern looking Jesus, who is so down to earth, friendly and lovable, that everyone who has seen the movie series, is drawn to him. The way he portrays Jesus is like no other film actor ever has. The series has touched many people, and even led to conversions. His portrayal of Jesus in this movie series is similar to the effect of a living icon. Art and media have always been the creative gifts and tools given by God, to help bring us all closer to our faith.

 Roumie not only plays the role of Jesus, but he has his own personal relationship with Jesus, and is ready to talk about his faith to any media representatives who interview him. 

The fruits of our faith are shared with others through a demeanor of peace, love, and joy. It is also expressed in how we live and show acts of kindness towards others. 

Still, there comes a time or a situation that requires our words by sharing our own personal story, explaining the reason for our hope. Today’s scripture refers to our readiness to give that explanation to those who ask us. 

I experienced this when I was 19, after surrendering my life to Jesus. I received His forgiveness and was completely delivered from an obsession with any and all possible forms of the occult. 

I knew I received amazing grace, but I had no idea that it showed on my face, until one day I was walking home, and a neighbor drove by and actually pulled his car over and asked me,

“Why do you look so different?” I was surprised by his question, but I readily told him how I had recently surrendered my life to Jesus.

I had no idea that my external image could reflect what was happening within my soul.  Anyway, that was the first of several opportunities I had to give an explanation of the hope that was within me. We never know how God will use that explanation to change another person’s life.

Sometimes that opportunity comes when we least feel like talking. Paul also wrote to Timothy about this subject. He told him to be ready, whether in season or out, to  speak about and encourage others in the faith, with great patience. 

(1 Timothy 4:2) 

Being ready in season or out of season means that even when things are not going as we would like, or out of season, we can always give an account of the hope that is within us. Whatever our current life situation is, whether in season or out, Jesus is still seated on the throne of our hearts. Since He never changes, our hope is unchanged, and that’s the hope we share with others.

Lord Jesus, we sanctify you and invite you to sit on the throne of our hearts. Help us to be ready to share the hope that is within us, whether it is in season or out of season, so that our mouths will always bring glory to you. Amen

“He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.”

Acts 1:7 (NAB)

It may not be for us to know, but God has times and seasons established for everything. Our birth, our death, who we meet, and every person that crosses our path during our lives. It’s not necessary to know everything that God has planned but it’s good to know that He has a perfect time for all things. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to pray and ask for His timing in everything we do. The times of our lives are in His hands.

I have discovered a simple, but impactful prayer to pray before I leave the house each day. I say, “Lord, let your perfect timing be done in everything today.”

When I prayed this in the past, interesting things happened, like the day I went to the bank to submit guardianship papers for my disabled son, Jon. As I was telling the bank official about Jon’s condition since his motorcycle accident, a total stranger walked over to tell me that she was going to pray for my son, and then asked his name in order to add him to her regular prayers. 

It’s amazing what happens when you ask for God’s perfect timing. I have been taking a  20 mile drive each week, to pick up Jon’s mail which goes to a mailbox at a UPS store in Lake County where he once lived. Before I left the house for the trip this week, I prayed “ Lord, let your perfect timing be done in everything today.”

I walked into the UPS store and when I asked the clerk for his mail, he asked me how Jon was doing. We talked for a few minutes and he shared with me his own situation of being guardian for his adult son, with autism. Then he paused, took my hand in his and said with all sincerity, that he would be praying for my son. 

Who runs into total strangers like this, that go out of their way in a public place, to pause from their own routine, to tell me that they are going to pray for my son? 

It happens through the intervention of God, and He chooses to work through people.

It’s kind of mind blowing but when we pray according to His will, why wouldn’t God act on our behalf. Asking God for His perfect timing is equal to asking for His will to be done, which is essentially how Jesus taught us to pray. I believe God wants to be invited into every aspect of our lives. It is a way for Him to manifest His presence through others. He arranges the timing and places to have a particular person behind the counter, or in a facility at the right time, to use them to express His compassion toward us. 

If we tune in and look for His signs all around us, and if we watch and wait for His goodness, we will find Him. He speaks to us through others, but we will know it’s God speaking to us, by the perfect timing. There are no coincidences, because when we ask, we will receive.

When Jesus spoke today’s scripture, He was responding to questions He was asked about end time events. We know that God has established times and seasons for all things. Jesus told the disciples, it isn’t necessary to know about all of God’s timing, but we can find confidence and comfort by trusting Him for perfect timing in our lives, one day at a time. To ask one day at a time is like asking for His daily bread, which Jesus also taught us to pray for. 

I challenge anyone to try praying for God’s perfect timing and see the difference in their day.

Lord, the times of our lives are in your hands. We trust in your perfect timing to be done according to your perfect will. We ask for it, one day at a time, as we ask for our daily bread. Thank you for wanting to be included in every aspect of our lives day by day. Amen

“And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:4-7 (NAB)

As we enter the season of Advent, we remember how Jesus left His glory in Heaven, and recall the details of how He made His entry into the world. 

Advent is the four week period that precedes Christmas. During this time, we meditate on the angel’s announcement to Mary, as well as angels who appeared in the sky to the shepherds and the visit by the wise men, who bowed to the little Son of God, bringing Him gifts that were fit for a king. 

Despite these wonderful images of the Christmas story, Jesus’ entry into this world was really very poorly received. It was filled with many inconveniences, awkward timing and  humbling circumstances.

The timing for Jesus to be born came at a very inconvenient time. Caesar decreed that every family register for a census in the city of their origin. This meant that Mary, who was nine months pregnant, had to travel with Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of the tribe of Judah, which was a distance of 70 miles on rough terrain.

Mary rode a long and bumpy donkey ride, while the infant Jesus was bounced around inside of her, all the way to Bethlehem. I would call that an inconvenience of poor timing, to say the least, but sometimes what appears to us to be poor timing, is right on time according to God’s schedule.

I’m sure Mary and Joseph prayed, as they arrived in Bethlehem, asking God to lead them to a place where they could safely have the baby, but there was not one single vacancy in the city Inns that day. They heard the words, “There’s no room for you”, over and over. Finally, they were given the option to stay in an animal stable. Most people would consider that another huge inconvenience. 

Maybe at some time in our lives, we have felt lost in a crowd, like Joseph and Mary. Some situations feel like we are at the wrong place at the wrong time, not fitting in, and we might hear words that make us feel there’s no place for us. 

Whether we experience a strained relationship, a health concern, a challenging work situation, or we are stressed with the task of being a caregiver, Jesus is there with us. He has experienced feeling alone in a crowd, being inconvenienced and misunderstood, but He is with us now to help us through our personal advent of humility. If we have asked Him to lead us, we can be sure that wherever we are, is where He wants us to be.

God knew His son was worthy of a throne and a palace, yet He led Mary and Joseph to a stable filled with straw, with the smells and sounds of barn animals. The entire trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was a humbling inconvenience, but it led to the fulfillment of a prophecy, since the prophet Micah once foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2-4)

When we pray and ask God to lead us, we can trust that whatever our situation is, we are right where He wants us. God is still working out His perfect plans through all our inconveniences.

Paul tells us that when Jesus came from heaven to earth, “He emptied Himself, and though he was in the form of God, He still did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

Jesus didn’t allow Himself to grasp the fact that He was the divine son of God, clothed in human flesh. He looked like an ordinary man but He had an extraordinary mission to fulfill, and He did it by emptying Himself, in order to give all of Himself for us on the cross.

What is the message for us through this advent filled with inconvenience and poor timing, which brought us our salvation?

Jesus, along with His humble and holy parents, show us by example, that inconvenience produces humility, when a person trusts in God. 

If we have ever been asked to do something for someone else, when the timing was at its worse, and then faced multiple inconveniences, that becomes our personal advent of humility. 

Among all the eyewitnesses and fortunate people who knew Jesus personally, very few understood that His suffering was all for them. His arrival into the world and His ministry was constantly misunderstood. On the night of His arrest, when He needed prayer and support more than ever, his three most loyal friends were sound asleep in the garden, instead of praying for Him, as He asked.

The original advent season began with a series of inconveniences and poor timing. Mary, Joseph and Jesus are all examples of showing humility throughout every inconvenience. 

As we go through our own personal advent of inconveniences, God is using each circumstance to bring more humility into our lives. Humility is the foundation of all other virtues. Through every inconvenience, Jesus turns the bitter into something sweet. He refreshes our soul with the sweetness of His grace. When we ask, we receive more grace and Jesus is never inconvenienced by our asking, since He lives forever to make intercession for us. 

Lord, we thank you for humbling and emptying yourself for us, in order to fill us with your grace. Comfort all readers today who are struggling with an inconvenience of timing or circumstances, and transform our hearts, to follow your example of humility. Amen 

“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