Month: January 2025

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

God’s plans for us are always good. We might feel that something was missing, that we lacked an essential relationship or missed out on some advantage in our life, but God was with us all along and He doesn’t make mistakes. His plan has always been to prosper us spiritually, and to give us hope and a future.

When my mother was eight months pregnant with me, my father had a major stroke but survived. He was much older when they married and being their last child, I grew up with an elderly father, who had emotional and cognitive deficits resulting from his stroke. He was more like a grandfather, who was physically present, but emotionally absent. 

The father I knew was emotionally disconnected from the family, through no fault of his own, and so we never had a personal relationship. 

My mother handled this lack by staying upbeat and strong in her Christian faith. She filled the role of being both a mother and a father, by taking us to church, baseball games, theaters and vacations. When she observed my older brothers’ interest in science, she bought them chemistry sets and a high quality telescope. I remember looking through that telescope one summer night and seeing Saturn’s rings. Through her example of faith and love, I always felt that my brothers and I had a great childhood, being nurtured and encouraged to pursue our own gifts and talents. 

Still, I must have had a subconscious longing for a father relationship, which was evident by a recurring dream I had as a child. I dreamed that I was lost in a crowded room full of strangers. I finally was relieved to see my father across the room, at a distance, so I ran through the crowd to him, but when I got to him, he didn’t know who I was. I woke up feeling a strange emptiness and lack of a father’s affection. I dreamed this disturbing dream more than once during my childhood.

Later, as a young adult, I opened that door of my life to God and came to know Him as my true father. Now, I  am confident that He is the one who truly knows me and would greet me with open arms in a crowded room full of strangers. When I run to Him, He is the Father who is happy to see me, and always loves me as I am. 

He loves us not because we are good, but because He is good. I have been blessed to finally know the security of a father’s love, because of my relationship with Jesus. Whatever I lacked growing up, has been restored through Him, the One who was knocking on my door from the start. 

Whether we’ve lost something we once had or we never had it at all, God knows exactly what we are lacking. If we listen, we will hear His Son’s voice at our door, knocking, whispering and calling us by name. 

I have learned that the Lord is as patient as He is generous. Jesus knocked on my door for years, until I finally heard Him and invited Him in. When we offer Him all that is empty within us, He heals, restores and fills us with more of Himself. 

He is the same Lord who filled the widow’s empty jars, and sent down heavenly bread to His hungry people in the wilderness. He opened wombs that were once closed, healed every type of disease, and gave sight to those born blind. It’s never too late for the Lord to bring healing and deep restoration to an area that we are most lacking in. 

He is a good Father, who stands before us today with open arms, overflowing with “Paternal love” for us. All we need to do is open our door and run into our Father’s arms.

Lord, refresh our image of you, standing and knocking on the door of our lives. Come inside any area that is lacking in us and fill every empty place with the abundance of your love and grace. Amen

“Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

”Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
 and the glory of your people Israel.”

Luke 2:27-32 (NIV)

Simeon was very advanced in age, but he had been waiting and praying his whole life, to behold the Messiah with his own eyes, before he dies. 

With faithful anticipation, Simeon praised God in the temple, year after year, although no Messiah appeared. 

Over the years, his sense of anticipation never ceased. He kept coming to the temple expecting that perhaps this is the day, that he would behold the Messiah.

One day, he spotted a certain couple carrying an infant who was a little over a month old. He was moved by the Holy Spirit, that this was not just any baby boy, but the One he was waiting for. Simeon walked straight over to Mary and took the infant from her arms into his, looking at Him in amazement. Then he worshipped and praised God, to finally behold His Son, the Savior and gift to the world.

If we could only go to church every week with the same sense of awe and anticipation that Simeon had, it would enrich our church experience. Simeon knew that the Messiah would come one day, but he wanted more than knowledge. He wanted to experience Him, by touching and being touched by Him. It was a life changing moment for Simeon to behold Jesus, the Messiah.

Maybe we could go to church with Simeon’s attitude, wanting more than the knowledge that God is there. Maybe we could take our faith a step further, and have the same anticipation that this is the day that we will experience Jesus in a new and deeper way, to spiritually touch Him and be touched by Him, as Simeon did, by beholding Him.

Going to church with Simeon’s  anticipation, means more than hoping to hear a good sermon or sing a favorite song or hymn. It’s more than knowing we are in God’s house. It’s about coming to church, and anticipating the Presence of Jesus, as if for the first time. 

I asked myself if I ever come to church with Simeon’s anticipation. 

I think I come in obedience and in gratitude, and with my many needs for God to meet, but Simeon’s mindset was much different than that. He came to the temple with an attitude of praise, yet always seeking to behold the Presence of the Savior.

Meditating on Simeon, reminds us to continually expect to behold Jesus in a new way. As we sit in our pew, do we consider that this is the day that the Lord might show up in a way that we have never beheld Him before? 

That is Simeon anticipation. 

To behold Jesus is to adore Him for who He is, and not for what we need from Him. To behold Him is to desire Him even when we have no answers to difficult questions in our lives. By faith we say, “I don’t understand much of what is happening Lord, but help me to behold you, like Simeon.”

I heard of a man who told his story  of living as an atheist, making many wrong choices over the past thirty years of his life. One day he walked into an empty church, looked up and said, “I don’t know who you are; I don’t know how this works; but I’m a mess. Please help me.” 

Jesus responds to that kind of plea. 

The man didn’t come to church to hear great preaching or great music, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but he came there seeking one great person. He spiritually reached out for Jesus, and was touched by Him. Like Simeon, he beheld the Lord for the first time, experiencing His love and mercy, and his life was changed forever.

Jesus said “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

(John 20:29)

We are the blessed ones, if we are  coming to church, without physically seeing Jesus, yet believing in Him. We can follow Simeon’s example, by coming into the temple with life changing anticipation, to behold Jesus, in a new way. 

Lord, give us Simeon’s anticipation  that this is will be the day we behold you as if for the first time, and be touched in a new way by your loving and merciful Presence, as we enter your house with praise. Amen

“Let those who seek my life be put to shame and disgrace. Let those who plot evil against me be turned back and confounded. Make them like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them on. Make their way slippery and dark, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.”

Psalm 35:4-6 (NAB)

When I graduated from 8th grade, my great aunt gave me my first bible. It was white leather with a gold zipper, gold letters on the front, and all the words of Jesus were printed in red. I thanked her and put it on a bookshelf in my bedroom, where it remained unopened for six years. 

I never knew that the powerful treasure hidden within those white leather binders would eventually transform my mind, soul and spirit. After pursuing my own path, eliminating God from my life, during my teenage years, at the age of eighteen, He gave me a wake up call one night, through a dream.

I dreamed I was running anxiously to catch a train. I finally got there, and feeling relieved, I jumped on board, but discovered I had jumped aboard a train of coffins, traveling through a cemetery. I woke up with my heart racing, but had a new respect for God and a curiosity for His truth. I remember wondering, if there is a God, what does He expect of me? My heart opened up and the Holy Spirit started guiding me on a new path, closer to Him.

The following year I had a life altering experience by praying and surrendering my life to Jesus. From that moment on, that white leather Bible became my love letter from God, and I haven’t stopped reading scripture since. I later discovered the treasure and power of combining prayer and scripture. 

A day came when I needed to use that powerful tool for the same great aunt, who gave me the bible in the first place. She and my mother moved in together in sunny California, since they were both elderly widows, and decided to spend the rest of their retirement together. 

They were living peacefully until the estranged schizophrenic adult son of my great aunt started to regularly visit and harass them, asking for money. He was frequenting their home, asking for money. After giving him meals and money out of their kindness, they finally told him they had no more money to give. The day they refused him, he became angry and started kicking at their front door. Thankfully, he left and though they were unharmed, the threat of him returning was very stressful. 

The day my mother told me about this, I was so worried, but also felt so helpless, living in another state. They knew to call the police if he returned, but I had a bad feeling about it and really didn’t want him to ever return again. 

While I was unable to protect them, I began praying and reading Psalm 35. I could not protect them, but I knew God was able to. I lived far away from them, but God was near them, so I decided to put all of my worries and anxieties in God’s hands. 

I prayed, reading out loud what God promises us in Psalm 35.  I prayed that psalm, saying, “Lord, send your angel and drive him away like chaff in the wind.” I asked God to do exactly what the psalm says He would do, and a few days later, my mother called me. She told me that he ended up in a nursing home due to a double foot amputation, resulting from diabetes. 

I was shocked, but relieved and thankful that my mother and great aunt were safe. He was alive and well cared for, and could no longer harm two helpless old ladies. God worked it out with a fair and just solution for all. 

I have prayed this Psalm many times since then, and sometimes it’s not necessary for an angel to drive an enemy away. Sometimes God makes a way for us to be at peace with our enemies. Whatever the situation is, God will send His angels to protect us. When we pray God’s words, from scripture, we will see amazing and powerful results.

The words written in a white leather bible, which for years sat neglected on a book shelf, opened my heart to a mighty God, who fulfills His own promises, when we dare to believe Him for it. 

Lord, you are a shield of protection for us, and your word is filled with promises, wisdom and expressions of your love. Thank you for angels who execute your faithfulness according to what is written in your word. Amen

“At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.”

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NAB)

My mother was talented in so many areas. She was an excellent seamstress, a water color artist and very gifted in the craft of embroidery. She once made me a beautiful tapestry embroidered picture which I still have in a frame. As I looked at it one day, I thought of the well known metaphor of the tapestry. 

The backside of an embroidered work of tapestry appears as a cluster of multi colored threads that make no sense. No picture can be seen from looking at the back of a tapestry, but from the front, it is a beautiful work of art. In the same way, we cannot make sense out of the illnesses, losses and tragedies that we experience, but one day, we will see the front side of the tapestry of our lives. 

People of faith trust that there is a design to the sorrows and trials woven throughout our lifetime, like the threads in a tapestry. Research has proven that those who have faith in God, trusting in him as a Master designer, have better outcomes to medical treatment, and live longer and healthier lives.

Jesus never promised a trouble free existence, but He assured us that He will lift and lighten our burdens, when we come into Him. 

(Matthew 11:28-30)

I said something like this once to a lady who had lost her husband, without knowing her faith outlook. She asked, “How is losing someone I loved lifting my burden?” 

I started to explain my point, but then decided to simply acknowledge her suffering, and make a point of telling her that God loves her and that I would pray for her. 

After our conversation she thanked me for the kind words, but I realized how much harder life is for someone living without faith in God. 

The tapestry metaphor doesn’t only apply to those who have lost a loved one, it refers to any loss that is confusing or hard to understand. It can refer to the loss of a relationship, loss of health, or anything in life that puzzles us and leaves us with unanswered questions. 

Without faith and hope in God, no one could survive the sorrow that a loss can cause. The tapestry reminds us that people of faith trust in a Supreme Designer, even when we can’t see the front side of His design. For now it looks like a mass of jumbled threads or a blurry reflection in a mirror, but we believe that God is the designer of the tapestry in each person’s life. He takes our losses and turns them around for the good of our eternal souls.

If we look at the backside of the tapestry of Jesus’ life on earth, most unbelievers would say that He was an innocent victim of injustice, torture and murder through a political system that needed to be overthrown. He definitely was a lamb led to the slaughter, but the front side of His life’s tapestry reveals a completed and beautiful work of salvation. 

In Jesus, we see the love and mercy of God, who never stops weaving opportunities for each of us to draw nearer to Him during our lifetime. The backside view looks like a mess and a tragedy, but there is a front side view to every story. 

Let’s anchor our faith in the Chief Designer, who knows how to weave a beautiful work through His choice of colors and threads in our tapestry. We may not always like the color of thread He chooses, but He knows how it will all work in the end, and His perfect design will benefit our souls for eternity. At present we know only partially, but one day we will know fully. 

Lord, help us to trust that the tangled threads we see now, will one day reveal the front side of your perfect design in the tapestries of our lives. Amen

My mother’s handiwork-she told me that the boy in the picture is Jesus 

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

1 Peter 1:8-9 (NIV)

Peter speaks of loving and believing in the God we cannot see, which results in the joy and salvation of our souls. In all other relationships, we use a physical sign of assurance, such as hand holding, which is a gesture of affection, protection, guidance, and comfort. It’s an expression of love and support between parents, children, lovers and friends, and it crosses all ethnic and cultural boundaries. 

Jesus made it very clear that He loved little children, and told us if we want to get to heaven, we would have to become like one of them. A young child is totally reliant and trusting in their parents for all things. There is a spiritual place of childlike reliance, trust and humility, that Jesus invites us all to.

Trusting Him without seeing Him, can be difficult under pressure. Peter tells us that loving Him without seeing Him, brings inexpressible joy. As much as we all believe and desire this, problems come along, drag us down, and we forget that Jesus is with us, extending His hand to us. It requires a childlike reliance and trust to believe what we cannot see. We need to find that childlike heart within us.

I still remember a dream that I had at the age of five. The memory of this dream has stayed with me, and it still helps me find my childlike heart during the most challenging and stressful trials. I dreamed someone took hold of my right hand and walked me out of my burning school building. I was led peacefully through the halls, around corners and safely outside the door. When I looked up, Jesus was next to me, holding my right hand. It was a divine life lesson through a vivid and realistic dream.

Life resembles a burning school at times, when we walk through fiery trials, not knowing what’s around the next corner, but as we trust Jesus with childlike faith, He holds our hand and guides us to safety.

Our  “school of life” is not to make us scholars, but saints. Jesus is the one holding our hand. He never promised to put out all the fires in our lives, but He knows where the all the fire exits are, and He will peacefully lead us out, if we keep our hand in His.

Lord, give us childlike hearts, trusting you in all our ways. As we keep our hand in yours, lead us and give us inexpressible joy and perfect peace. Amen

(Matthew 6:9-13)

Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer to pray, but also to use as a template for all prayer. In breaking down one line at a time, maybe we can better understand what He is teaching us:

      Our Father who art in heaven;

God is the King of the universe and yet He wants us to address Him as Father, because we are sons and daughters, not subjects or servants. He has a beloved son, but He wants to be our Father as well. A child doesn’t need to earn His father’s love with good deeds. A natural father loves his children from the day they were born, before they could do anything right or wrong. God also loved us first, before we even knew of Him. 

     Hallowed be Thy name;

The name of God is to be hallowed, which means to treat it as sacred and holy, because He is sacred and holy. I love the contrast of the first and second line in this prayer. He is our loving intimate father but He is also the most high, sacred and holiest God. We are loved by a holy God who also wants His children to be holy, as His Spirit searches and purifies our hearts.

     Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven;

This line reminds us that there is more to come and our life in this world is not all there is. God has a coming kingdom, and until that kingdom comes, He desires that we let His will be done in our lives. In all that we pray and ask for, our wishes and desires are still yielded to His will, saying as Jesus said, “Thy will be done.” We can say it because God always knows what’s best for us and we trust in His perfect will.

      Give us this day our daily bread;

Bread is nourishment, and for us it is both physical and spiritually nourishing. Jesus is our daily bread of spiritual nourishment. Everyone is on a quest for nourishment, but sometimes we look for it in all the wrong places. We look for it through relationships or things we can buy, but Jesus called Himself the living bread of heaven. Jesus is our daily bread and no other bread satisfies the soul and spirit as He does.

      Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; 

We are reminded that forgiveness needs to be a two way street. Here is the biggest challenge in the entire Lord’s prayer. Every statement in this prayer is one that Jesus talked about regularly. He reminded us many times about forgiving others, through his parables. If we want to be forgiven, He says we must forgive others. There’s an old Irish proverb “We bury the hatchet but mark the spot.” Forgiveness is easier if we have a short term memory, and forget where all the hatchets are buried. 

       Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The previous parts of the Lord’s Prayer pertain to things which we  can take control of, by lining our will up with God’s. We seek His daily nourishment, we allow ourselves to be loved and fathered by Him, and we forgive our enemies, but this last line is a plea for divine help. It’s asking for what only God can do, in keeping us from all evil. He is our good shepherd, who delivers us from evil. An old testament title for God is “El Gibor,” which translates from Hebrew to, “God, our hero.”

Jesus saves the best line for last, in the conclusion to this prayer, that God is our true hero, who delivers us from all evil.  After the many times we have all experienced His deliverance from evil, it’s easy to finally say, 

“To Him be the kingdom, the power and the glory, now and forever.”

Amen

“When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

John 19:23-24 (NIV)

I think there may be a deeper meaning to that remaining fifth undergarment of Jesus, which was not torn and deliberately gambled for. The prophesy in Psalm 22, that men would divide up the Messiah’s garments and cast lots for His clothes is not something that could be staged just to appear to fulfill a prophetic scripture. Roman soldiers had no knowledge or interest in Hebrew messianic prophecies, and they didn’t know that they were doing what was prophesied a millennium earlier. 

John’s gospel confirms that the four soldiers, who were at the foot of the cross, said to one another, regarding that fifth garment, “Let’s not tear it, but decide by lot who will get it.” 

A skeptic could say that everything written in Psalm 22, might have been written from David’s own personal experiences, but some lines are too specific, especially verse 18, which says,

“They divide my clothes among them

  and cast lots for my garment.” 

That psalm foretold details of the crucifixion, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

There were five pieces of clothing, but only four soldiers, so they divided His clothes among them, and cast lots for the remaining fifth piece of clothing.

That fifth garment was a one piece seamless tunic, typically worn as an undergarment by temple priests since the time of Aaron, the brother of Moses. The priests who wore it, interceded for their people, as they offered a sacrificed lamb upon the altar. 

Traditionally, this tunic was woven by the priest’s own mother. I can just imagine Mary watching in horror, as the soldiers gambled for the hand made priestly tunic, woven by her, as her son hung on the cross. 

The Mosaic instructions for the care of this tunic undergarment was that it must never be torn. Not knowing anything about those Mosaic rules, the Roman soldiers cast lots for it, to avoid tearing it. 

The fifth garment would have been worn by Jesus when He healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons. He wore it at the feeding of the 5,000, while walking on the water, and on top of the mount of transfiguration. He wore it at the last supper, while telling His disciples that He is the sacrificed Passover lamb. 

The day finally came when His tunic was stripped off of Him and treated as a common piece of clothing to gamble for. The soldiers cast lots to see who gets the tunic, but they were ignorant that the one who wore it, was dying for them. 

Such disregard for the sacred, is no different 2,000 years later. Some of the most sacred truths of the Christian faith, are still treated irreverently by our current culture. All that is highly regarded by God, is often treated in low regard by the world’s standards. 

During my college days, I went to a pub that was frequented by many college students. One night the owner was celebrating along with his patrons, and he began pouring wine in everyone’ glass, while mimicking the words used when serving communion. I was not religious back then, but I was a still shocked, knowing it was inappropriate to mock something as sacred as communion. 

People often do sacrilegious things in total ignorance, just like the Roman soldiers who gambled and cast lots for that priestly tunic. They handled that fifth garment in a common and unholy way, although it was worn by the holy, incarnate Son of Almighty God. 

As sacred blood flowed from the foot of the cross for them, they casually gambled, playing a game to win the fifth garment.

I know from my own experience that God has incredible mercy towards the ignorance of all people. His grace reaches far beyond the foolishness of our hearts. The fifth garment is a reminder of how grace and mercy overcomes all ignorance. “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”  (Romans 5:20)

Sin and mockery of what is sacred, grieves God, but He has the heart of a Father, like the father of the prodigal, and He patiently waits for us to come back home to the truth. He gives people time to discover who Jesus really is, and His kindness leads all to repentance. 

(Romans 2:4)

God is not like people, who are quick to judge and condemn. He has a Father’s heart and responds with mercy instead of what we may deserve. 

The fifth garment reminds us of the patience, mercy and grace of God. Jesus was stripped of His priestly garment, to become our sacrificed lamb. “For by one sacrifice, He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:14)

Lord, we have all mishandled your fifth garment at some time in our lives, but you are a loving Father, who patiently draws our childlike hearts back to you. Thank you for your mercy and grace that is greater than all of our sins. Amen

“You are all fair, my love;
 there is no flaw in you.”

Song of Solomon 4:7 (RSV)

The Song of Solomon was written around 965 B.C. by King Solomon but it seems to correlate with a New Testament chapter known as the “love chapter.” The love chapter is 1st Corinthians 13, and it’s read at all Christian marriage ceremonies. 

The love chapter describes the perfect love of God, as we are encouraged to emulate it. It fits with the Song of Solomon, because it describes love as that which “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.” 

Bears, believes, hopes and endures, sounds like a rock solid commitment of devotion, even if everything around us appears to be crumbling. Since God loves us with this kind of devotion, it also pleases Him when we seek to do the same.

Both Jewish and Christian traditions across the centuries have adopted “allegorical” interpretations of the Song of Solomon, which has been read to portray the mutual love between the Lord and his people.

Christians have interpreted the Song of Solomon as the union between Christ and His bride, the Church. Jewish theologians view it as a picture of the ideal Israel, flawless, chosen and cherished by God. Both are beautiful insights into these sacred scriptures.

From the Christian perspective, the Song of Solomon, is Christ telling His bride, the church, that we are cherished and flawless in His eyes.

When Jesus looks at us, He knows us throughout, and sees the good and the bad, but it is His love for us that sees beyond our flaws. He is the one who cherishes us, who believes all things, bears all things and hopes all things. 

While we all know we have flaws, most of us don’t realize how much God loves us as we are, even before being cleansed and forgiven.

There are people who believe in God, but have doubts that He loves them. Some people were raised to believe that they are only lovable when they are good, or doing good things, but God loves us as we are, not because we are deserving. He doesn’t reserve or hold back His love from us, until we say we’re sorry. That is contrary to the truth of His word, which says, 

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

(Romans 5:8)

While we were sinners, God had passionate, relentless and unconditional love for us, long before we were remorseful or sorry for our sin. It is the love and kindness of God, that leads us to repentance in the first place.

Once we respond to the one who loves our soul, He shapes and develops us later. His Holy Spirit continually regenerates us during our life long journey of faith. If we try to see people through the same lens, that God is still transforming them, we can love better, by believing, bearing and enduring all things.

Through the Song of Solomon, we identify Jesus as the only one who loves us this perfectly, and cherishes us beyond our flaws. 

The truth that Satan keeps hidden from many well meaning Christians, is that God knows our gifts, sees our potential, and if Jesus is for us, nothing can succeed against us. 

Even if we give up on ourselves, become deeply discouraged, and are filled with doubt, God never stops believing in us, because in His eyes, we are cherished as His fair and flawless bride.

Lord, we surrender both our gifts and our flaws to you, and we ask that you shape and develop the beauty and talents that you have placed within each of us. Help us love one another as you have loved us. Amen

“The twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”

Revelation 5:8 (NIV)

It’s good to have an occasional glimpse of heaven to meditate on. 

Each of the twenty four elders in heaven are holding a golden bowl filled with prayers, our prayers. In their other hand, they are holding a harp, and then they all bow down before the Lamb, who is Jesus. 

These twenty four elders probably consist of the twelve apostles plus the twelve sons of Jacob, who are the twelve tribes of Israel. As they hold these golden bowls, they bow down before the High Priest of Heaven, who is Jesus. The entire image confirms the idea that worship goes hand in hand with prayer. 

This image of heaven describes a vivid combination of sights, scents and sounds. All of our senses are stimulated in heaven. There will be golden bowls to see, fragrant incense to smell and harp music to listen to. These elders hold our prayers within their bowls, and present them to Jesus, who told us to pray, asking anything in His name.

While we face times of adversity in our lives, it can be a struggle to believe that God still hears our prayers. John’s vision of heaven revealed that God not only hears us, but He values our prayers enough to put them in golden bowls, which are then lit up to become a fragrant incense, permeating heaven.

There are no boundaries of time or space in heaven, so our prayers are ever present before Him. We may forget what we asked for a year or two ago, but Heaven never forgets. Every prayer we pray, endures in His eternal presence through the smoke of fragrant incense. He answers us in due time, according to His plan and purpose. Whatever we ask for in Jesus’ name, carries the aroma of Christ with it, all the way to God’s throne. (2 Corinthians 2:15)

Knowing this, we put our hope and faith in God, through Jesus, and offer Him praise along with every petition. 

He loves us for who we are, and not for what we do. Therefore, we praise Him for who He is, even before He does what we ask. 

David knew this truth and he offered praise to God with every petition, as we can see by reading his Psalms. I find it is very therapeutic to praise God for who He is, even before He answers our prayers. 

Since my son’s motorcycle accident in September of 2023, after being in a coma for two weeks, he has been awake and moving ever since, but still isn’t responding cohesively to any questions. There is no doubt that he has a long road of recovery ahead. 

God has really kept me in peace, and I attribute that peace to living in a state of constant praise. Praise is truly the secret to inner peace. When people ask me how I stay calm through all that has happened, I  believe it’s because of praise. Not a day goes by that I don’t listen to christian contemporary praise and worship music. Each day I say something that praises Jesus, even if it’s only telling Him I love Him.

A situation may be really bad, but  God is really good. When we keep that in mind, and His praise is on our lips, He keeps us in perfect peace. There is something supernatural and amazing that happens deep within us, when we live in an attitude of praise. 

I know my son is receiving good medical care, but my hope is founded on more than the field of medicine. I believe in those golden bowls in heaven, filled with prayer requests, and that is the vision I keep before me. I thank each one of you for the prayers you have added to those bowls. 

God is good, and whatever His plan is, He considers every single prayer that is offered up to Him. He collects our prayers in golden bowls, which are then lit with fire, spreading a fragrant incense of our petitions, all throughout heaven. That image alone deems Him worthy of praise. 

Lord, we praise you and thank you that all of our prayers come before you as fragrant incense in golden bowls. We believe that you will hear, smell and answer all that is asked in  the holy name of Jesus. Amen

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:20 (RSV)

The Passover holiday memorializes the Israelites’ exodus from slavery, which is also called the Feast of Unleavened bread. Jesus celebrated a Passover Seder feast every year of His life. At His last Passover, which was spent with His twelve disciples, He told them He would not drink the Passover cup of wine again until they drink it together in His kingdom. Every feast, holiday and ceremony established by God, is a foretaste and hint of our life to come in heaven. 

Throughout generations, unleavened bread or Matzo is eaten for the week of Passover. It’s a reminder that God’s people left in great haste from Egypt to journey to the promised land. During their journey in the wilderness, God sustained His people with bread from heaven, called Manna. It was a supernatural nourishment provided by God, for forty years, until they arrived in the promised land. 

God still supernaturally sustains His people today, for the same purpose: To bring us to the promised land of heaven. 

Manna was a foretaste of the living bread, who came later from heaven. Jesus called Himself the bread of life, saying, “If any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever.” 

(John 6:51)

Jesus is our living bread, who gives us supernatural sustenance throughout this life, in order to lead us all to heaven. 

Since the 11th century, an interesting Passover tradition was added. An extra place setting was made at the table for the prophet Elijah, who is believed to attend every Passover Seder in spirit, until the Messiah comes. The front door of the home is to be left open during the Passover Seder as a symbol of invitation to Elijah’s entrance. 

The mystical tradition of leaving the door open as an invitation, reminds us of Jesus saying that He stands at the door and knocks, waiting for us to open the door and invite Him in to dine with us. 

I’m sure Elijah handed over his place setting and the open door to Jesus, long ago.

Another Seder tradition is to break off a piece of matzo, wrap it in a linen napkin, and then bury it in a hiding place in the home. The child who finds it later receives a reward.

In the deep mysteries of God’s wisdom, this Passover tradition also points to Jesus, the bread of heaven, and lamb of God, who was sacrificed for us. Jesus died, was wrapped in burial linen and then placed in the hiding place of a tomb. All who find and believe in Him, are promised the reward of eternal life. 

We can go another step further and invite Jesus to be our guest beyond the Passover table, but at every table of our lives. We set a place for Him first at the table of our heart, then at the table of our family. 

We invite Him to the table of our mental and physical health needs, our job concerns, financial obligations, and at the table of our personal pain, grief and sorrow. 

Jesus sits at the table with us when we have stressful decisions to make or when we receive a difficult phone call. He is seated next to us when we are going through something so intense that the best we can do is to whisper His name, because we are too sick, weak or discouraged to pray. He is sitting at every table of our life, if we open the door and invite Him to enter in.

The feast of unleavened bread, that celebrates freedom from bondage, is fulfilled in the form of living bread, in  the gift of Jesus’ Presence.

He frees us from all bondage and a day is coming when we will be invited to a heavenly Passover Feast, where He prepares a place setting for us at His table. 

Jesus, Lamb of God, we invite you to every table in our life, and thank you for the wondrous mysteries of the Passover Feast and the place you are preparing for us at your table in heaven. Amen