Month: November 2023

“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 

“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

“And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.”

Ezekiel 34:26 (RSV)

As I think about those small graces that God sends us during times of adversity, it’s like a small shower of blessing that comes down in its appointed season. I received a few of these small showers this week. 

Looking back at the blessing of a totally surprise retirement party in 2023, I missed not seeing three surgeons who I worked with for the past twenty five years, who couldn’t make it since they were out of town.

I will always cherish the memories of those I worked with, but I remember thinking that it would have been a more perfect celebration if those other three surgeons could have been there. 

Shortly afterward, I offered to help a friend by bringing her to a doctor appointment in the office building attached to the hospital, where I used to work. I prayed my favorite daily prayer, before leaving the house, which is to ask for God’s perfect timing in all things. When we arrived, at first we couldn’t find a parking space in any handicapped spots. As I was about to head for the main front door to drop her off, we passed a newly opened space very close to the door. 

After her appointment, I was pushing her wheelchair toward the elevator, and as the door opened, there stood one of the three surgeons who couldn’t make it to my retirement party. We happily greeted each other with a big hug inside the elevator. 

That moment brought closure to all my years, by being able to say goodbye to someone who I enjoyed working alongside all those years. It was no coincidence that he was in that elevator at that moment, at that specific time on that specific day, because I asked for God’s perfect timing.  Finding a parking space close to a door for my handicapped friend was also another grace of God’s perfect timing. 

Showers of blessing and perfect timing doesn’t mean everything always goes our way with steadfast perfection. It means a shower of blessing comes at the right time and place and brings us brief moments of refreshing, when needed most.

Sometimes these showers of blessing come through a kind stranger on the phone, who offers extra help or an explanation. The past few weeks have been overwhelming, filling out forms and learning new things from attorneys regarding my legal guardianship of my son, who is living in a Nursing Home, disabled from a motorcycle accident.

It’s a mentally and emotionally exhausting tasks, but God sent some of the kindest and most helpful people along the way, who were a shower of blessing to me. God knows the perfect time and season for our next shower of kindness, in which He usually gives through the help of other people. We are never forgotten, and the Lord is attentive to every detail that concerns us. A shower of blessing is headed our way, and will arrive in His perfect timing.

Lord, thank you for being with us in every new task and responsibility, and for the showers of blessing that come according to your perfect timing. Amen