Author: Maria Barroso

“For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.”

Mark 3:10 (NIV)

It’s kind of a natural assumption to think, “If Jesus wants to do this for me, He will do it,” but scripture shows us that the greatest miracles happened when people added some type of action to their faith. Jesus healed many who “pushed forward” to touch Him. It makes me wonder if more persistence through action is required of us, in order to receive the answers or the miracle we are praying for. 

Jesus can do anything in any way, for anybody, but the greatest miracles in the gospels happened when people took action to push through obstacles and persisted in reaching Him. They did it by either calling Jesus repeatedly or pushing through a crowd to touch Him. 

The woman who was bleeding for twelve years crawled through a dense crowd, until she could reach out and touch the fringe of Jesus’ garment. She wasn’t going to stand still and wait for Jesus to notice her. As soon as she touched Him, Jesus felt power coming out of His body, so she actually initiated her own healing by her actions. (Luke 8:43-48)

Two blind men followed Jesus down the road, for a long distance, calling out repeatedly, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd was increasingly annoyed by their loud shouts, and rebuked them, telling them to be quiet, but they kept shouting until Jesus stopped, touched them and healed them all of blindness. He could have healed them after their first shout, but He seemed to wait for them to show their persistence by asking repeatedly.  (Matthew 20:29-34)

Ten lepers stood at the required distance from the crowd and kept called out to Jesus asking Him to have pity on them. Without ever touching them, Jesus told them to go show themselves to their priest. As they turned to go toward the temple and see their priest, they looked down at their skin and were thrilled to see that they were completely healed of leprosy. By doing what Jesus told them to do, their action resulted in their healing. Jesus  shows us a pattern of persistence through taking action of some sort, in all of these stories. (Luke 17:11-19)

Today’s scripture verse uses the phrase, “Pushing forward to touch Jesus”. Faith is something we do, whether it is pushing forward when we feel like giving up, or putting our faith into action by repeatedly asking Him for help. Jesus is not bothered when we repeatedly ask the same thing of Him. He gave us these gospel examples to show that repetitive asking is one of many ways that we show our love and trust in Him.

Jesus showed His love for us through actions, by suffering and going all the way to the cross, becoming our sacrificed lamb. We can now show our love for Him by putting our faith into action.

Lord, help us to be persistent so we can push forward, and touch you in a way that will turn our faith into a new phase of action, that is pleasing to you.  Amen

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

2 Corinthians 2:14 (RSV)

This is a two-fold, promise-packed scripture verse. Jesus leads us in triumph andspreads His fragrance through us, everywhere we go.

Both good and bad scents speak louder than words. No words are needed since our sense of smell tells us whether we want to pause and find where an incredibly beauty aroma is coming from, or escape as fast as we can from a very bad smell. A bad scent quickly drives people away, but a pleasant aroma triggers the urge to pause, wonder and search for the source. 

It’s interesting to ponder what this scripture might mean to be the ones who are spreading the aroma of Christ. It means that, without words, we are inspiring others to pause from their regular routines and search for the source of a pleasant aroma, which is Christ Jesus. 

There is a place for the right words spoken at the right moment, but the fragrance of Christ transcends any words. An aroma needs no words because our sense of smell allows the fragrance to speak to us. 

When I was not yet a believer and was ignorant of everything about the Christian faith, I worked part time at a department store, during my first year of college. There were two ladies in the advertising department where I worked, who I knew were practicing Christians. They both had unusually kind, peaceful and gentle demeanors. They occasionally mentioned their church but never preached or spoke about Christ to me. For whatever reason, they never spoke about their faith, they left their fragrance with me, which was a subtle but good impression.

Not long after working there, the Holy Spirit took hold of my heart and my search led me to a decision to place Christ in the center of my life. Somehow, their fragrance caused me to search for the source of all peace, which I found in Jesus. Many years have passed since then, and now I’m on the other side, hoping to be a fragrance of Christ to others, as they were to me. 

Words are always welcome, but His fragrance transcends all words, since it’s the aroma that inspires a search for the source all peace, love and joy. The Lord wants to spread His fragrance through all of us, while Jesus continually leads us in paths of triumph and victory through Christ.

Lord, continue to lead us in triumph each day as we spread the beautiful fragrance of you, wherever we go. Amen

“Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread forth the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:

“I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you….”

Isaiah 42:5-6 (RSV)

God created trillions of galaxies in the universe, and yet He still cares for each individual person He has created. It’s mind boggling to think about a God who is big enough to create all that and yet care for each one of us, personally. He not only cares, but He loves us as a father loves their child. Today’s scripture gives an intriguing image of the Creator of the galaxies, who is reaching out to take our hand and guide each one of us. 

There are situations in our lives that may cause us to feel downhearted, sometimes to a point of thinking that we have nothing and are all alone. Since God made all the galaxies out of nothing, He can certainly make something out of our nothing, as well. He brings beauty out of ashes, hope from despair and new life from what was once lifeless.

We were created to discover those moments when we look up and call upon the God of the galaxies. He waits patiently for these moments with us, and then responds by taking our hand and guiding us through our storm. God’s love for us, is relentless, because we are of immeasurable value to Him. If that were not so, He wouldn’t have let His Son die for us.

Many people can’t comprehend a God who is so personal, or that He is anyone more than a vague Presence, watching us from a distance. God is big enough to manage trillions of galaxies, and still intervene in the lives of the 8.32 billion people on this planet. He is not limited, but we are limited in our ability to comprehend His interest in us. I believe He looks at each of us at times and says,

“If you only knew how much I care, you would believe Me for much more…”

The Lord knows every one of our thoughts and understands all of our anxieties. David wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.”  (Psalm 139:2) God knows us better than we know ourselves.

He doesn’t need our friendship, our worship, or our obedience, but He definitely desires it. He tells us through so many examples in scripture, describing His desire for a relationship with us. He uses the parable of a father searching for his prodigal son, the husband searching for his unfaithful wife (Hosea 1:2), and the good shepherd who left 99 sheep to search for the one who strayed away. There’s no question that we can love, because God is the first person who ever loved us. 

That’s the God I’ve come to know and love. He pursued me for the first nineteen years of my life, until my eyes were opened and I finally looked to Jesus and surrendered my life to Him, through a simple prayer. 

Since that day, I have lived with an awareness that God is not only real, but that Jesus walks beside me every day. 

The God of the galaxies is also our Heavenly Father and He desires a relationship with us. The Holy Spirit shares this truth with everyone, though not everyone embraces faith in Him. We who believe cannot prove it scientifically, but we know it’s true, because faith is not a feeling or a fantasy, it’s an inner conviction of unseen truth.

Lord, Thank you for being powerful enough to command the galaxies, yet patient enough to take our hand and draw our souls closer to you. Amen 

“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 13:2 (RSV)

The Holy Spirit is always on mission, setting us apart to do God’s work, and He is doing some interesting things these days among young believers, born between 1997-2012, known as Generation Z. Religious and secular publications have written articles about an unusual shift towards spirituality among this age group, which includes all Christian denominations. 

There’s an entire generation of young people, of all denominations, Catholic and Protestant, who are embracing a new call to follow Jesus in various ministries and paths of discipleship, which is great news for the future of this world. 

I was listening to the personal testimonies of a few young men who are seminarian students in this age group, telling their stories of how they were called to the priesthood. It started with a stirring in their hearts, a personal wake up call by Jesus, a love for God and a desire to serve Him. One young man felt his calling at an Easter vigil service, when he heard Christ asking him within his heart:

“How would you like to be another Christ for Me in this world?” That was his turning point, leading to his decision. 

I was touched by that phrase, “be another Christ for Me in this world.”Most of us will never be called to full time ministry, but we are still called to be Christ to others, in whatever place we are at, in this world. God knows that the world needs more of Jesus. We all befriend and rub shoulders with unbelievers every day. They may not go to church, and never read a Bible, but they are all reading us. They’re watching your life and mine. They watch what we do, what we say and we might be the only Christ they will ever see.  

The Holy Spirit transforms lives and then He sets us apart, calling us to serve Him in one way or another. On one occasion, the Spirit chose Paul and Barnabas to be sent to Cyprus on a specific mission, as today’s scripture verse describes. They both faced opposition and endured many hardships, but many came to believe through them. 

No one would use a product that hasn’t first been tested. Faith that has not been tested cannot be fully trusted for use. The book of Acts tells us that every believer in the early church was tested in some way.  Paul was once beaten and after recovering, he said, “It is through many hardships that we enter the kingdom of God.”  (Acts 14:22)

Our faith will also be tested through fiery trials, but Paul reminds us that the fire of testing leads us to the kingdom of God. Fire is not only a metaphor of tests and trials, it’s the source of the warmth of God’s presence. His fire lights our way through some of our darkest moments. The Holy Spirit appeared as fire over the heads of the disciples on Pentecost, and today, His fire dwells within us. 

As we each find our own mission to reflect Jesus to others, we may face opposition, but His fire also lights up our spirit with passion and love. A sense of purpose is the healthiest mindset for an overall sense of well being in every human being. We all need to find our purpose, because we have been set apart to shine His light to those around us.

Lord, thank you for setting us apart, especially the many young people who are turning toward you. We trust and hope for a brighter future, as you help all of us to be reflections of Christ to this world. Amen

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

2 Corinthians 7:10(NIV)

An old gospel song, titled, “It is well with my soul,” has a line in it that goes like this:

“My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”

Those song lyrics may not seem profound to everyone, but to anyone who has experienced the grace of God’s forgiveness, those words resonate with showers of grace. 

The cross is the common ground between Christians of all different backgrounds, because forgiveness in Christ has no denomination.

Even though they’ve been forgiven, many people struggle with regrets. Regret can become embedded in the human psyche, leading to all kinds of unhealthy thinking. That’s what Paul refers to as the worldly sorrow that brings death. We may retain regrets over words spoken, wrong choices we’ve made or having lived a wrong lifestyle. I’ve met people who are living with the painful regret of something they once neglected to do, when they had the chance to do it. Regret weighs so heavily on our human hearts, and although God forgives us of anything we ask, some people still need to forgive themselves. 

The beauty of God’s forgiveness is that He removes it completely from the official record, leaving no regret. He doesn’t forgive as broken people do, by burying the hatchet, and then digging it back up again. When God forgives us, He removes any and all transgressions as far as the east is from the west, so that we have no business ever bringing it up again.

With God, forgiven means forgotten. 

(Psalm 103:12)

I have learned that there’s something way more important to God than what we have done or not done in our past, and that is “who we are becoming.”

The purpose of every hardship, test, trial or sorrow is to shape us into the person God is making us into. He builds our character and increases our endurance through every failure or trial, and regardless of what we’ve been through or have been forgiven of in the past, we shouldn’t be holding on to regrets.

When I think about all the wrong choices and mistakes I’ve made, or the tragedies I have experienced over the years, I realize that I am a different person today than I was fifty years ago, and it’s all because of the grace of God. Jesus never left my side, and as time passes, I realize it more today. I am more rooted in my faith and by His grace, have more endurance. The Lord is still teaching me new things, but I know His grace is more than enough to sustain me through whatever comes.

Jesus said that Heaven celebrates each time someone repents. 

(Luke 15:7)  If there’s that much joy over one person’s forgiveness, who are we to interfere with Heaven’s celebrations? God has forgiven us, so that we can rejoice with Heaven, forgive ourselves, and start singing, 

“🎵 It is well with my soul.”

Scripture tells us that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Hope is what keeps us looking ahead, not backward at our past, because God still has good plans and many blessings yet to come, for our future.

Lord, we leave all of our regrets and past transgressions where they belong, nailed to your cross. Thank you for your endless love and the many blessings that are yet to come. Amen

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Matthew 5:6 (RSV)

Everything Jesus said about hunger refers to spiritual hunger, not the food that physically sustains us. 

He said “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger…” He also said “man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word out of the mouth of God”…He told us that those who “hunger and thirst for His righteousness, will be satisfied.” Mary, His mother, also spoke about spiritual hunger, saying in Luke 1:53, “He (God) has filled the hungry with good things.” 

I wonder if God is looking across the whole earth, searching the hearts of all individuals, to find those who are ripe and ready, with a deep hunger for Him, so that He can fill them with all His good things. 

In a meditation titled “The currency of time”, I wrote about my newest friend at the Nursing Facility. He is a 72 year old man with a history of severe depression, but was admitted to the Nursing facility for heart failure. I called him Matt in my meditation on 8/27, to protect his privacy. 

Matt has no wife or children, only brothers who live far away and one niece who lives nearby and visits him weekly. In listening to his life story, it seems he has been trying for a long time to find peace. He is at a stage in his life now, of directing all of his spiritual hunger toward Jesus. His heart is very open to the Lord and he let me pray for him one day last week. 

I bring him printed copies of my meditations, and read them to him, because he has cataracts which obstruct his vision and he is unable to read. He devours every word of what I read to him with such hunger, that it feels like I am actually feeding a starving person, every time I read a meditation to him. I never saw a heart so hungry as Matt’s and I pray that God will continue to strengthen and secure him in his faith. 

Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst for His righteousness will be filled. Based on Jesus’ promise, we can expect that people like Matt will be filled and find satisfaction in Christ, both in this present life and for all eternity. 

They already decreased his medication for depression, which I take as a sign of his recovery. I pray for the healing of his heart failure, for a successful cataract surgery one day, and that his soul will always find the peace and satisfaction that comes through Jesus Christ. May we all stay as hungry as he is, and find all of our satisfaction in Christ.

Lord, we pray for all the hungry hearts, who will find true peace through you. Help us to stay hungry and shine your light that leads others to that endless fountain of your love and mercy. Amen

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)

Some problems seem unsolvable, until someone comes along who has been through the same thing, and tells us it will get better. Whether it’s a kind word or a kind action, it certainly lifts our spirit. Every random act of kindness makes the world a better place, and words of encouragement have a positive impact, leaving a mark on someone’s life. 

This week my friend from Israel called to vent his frustration while his condominium building is still under construction. Most residents have moved out during the remodeling project, but my friend, Larry, cannot move out. He is 72, and has been handicapped for most of his life, with a weak arm and leg. He chose to tough it out during the inconvenient construction period, but it’s definitely beginning to stress him out. 

During our phone call, Larry also told me about a water filter technician, named Tomer, who came to his house to switch out his water filter system for a more updated one.  Tomer observed the chaos that  Larry is living in, and how he is barely able to venture outside or go to synagogue, which he used to do every Friday evening for Sabbath. 

After Tomer finished switching out the water filter equipment, he returned shortly afterward, with a large container of prepared meals for Larry to celebrate the sabbath with. It was enough food for two days. Since Larry is so isolated and shut in, that was an incredible blessing to receive from a total stranger. Tomer’s kindness to Larry, was totally unexpected and left a mark on him. 

In Israel, it’s called a “mitzvah,” meaning a good deed. I told Larry that maybe God is trying to tell him something through Tomer, that “Things are going to get better.”

Kind people like Tomer give us hope that there is still good in the world. I  believe it is God who inspires people to do random acts of kindness for total strangers. They leave their mark on others, by saying or doing something that encourages and lifts their spirit.

Stephen Colbert, in a recent YouTube interview, shared how he was influenced by some random acts of kindness, in his personal journey of faith. There was a pivotal moment in his life when he was struggling with his faith in God, after graduating from college. He was unsure of anything he ever once believed, though raised in a Catholic family, as one of 11 children. His father and two brothers were tragically killed in an airline crash when he was only ten, but his mother never departed from her faith and was always a strong Christian example to her family.

One day, he was given a Bible by the Bereans on the streets of Chicago. He was working in the city, at his first job after graduating, but considered himself an agnostic. He randomly opened that bible the Bereans gave him, to a page where Jesus talked about not being “anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself”. Somehow, those words spoke deep within his heart about his own anxieties and Stephen began to find his way back to faith in Christ. Not long afterward, he lost that bible. 

One day, he was riding public transportation to his job, and a young woman sat next to him on the bus, and began reading her bible. Stephen couldn’t hold back and said to her, “I once had a bible just like that, but I lost it.” The woman smiled and said, “Here, take mine.” She gave him her bible, without a second thought. He never even asked her name, but to this day, over 40 years later, Stephen Colbert still has that woman’s bible, filled with all her hand written notes in the margins. Today, he fully embraces his Christian faith with no hesitations. 

I found that story so touching, which shows how a total stranger can randomly leave their mark of encouragement on someone else. Every mark of encouragement we leave, reaps a heavenly reward. In the midst of all the chaos in the world, we are still called to build people up, one person at a time. If the angels rejoice in heaven over one soul who finds their way back to God, then any mark we leave, is of immeasurable value. 

We may unknowingly say or do things that leave our mark on someone else’s life. If we try to see a person through God’s lens, instead of through a political lens, or labeling them into groups of us against them, good things begin to happen. Jesus saw people as individuals, not Jews, gentiles, Samaritans, pious believers or sinners. He wanted to encourage and build up the faith of anyone who faltered.  We leave a mark by letting someone know that whatever trouble or doubts we have, it will get better when we put our faith in God.  

Lord, help us to do and say whatever may lift the spirits of others we meet, so that we can leave a mark for your glory, upon someone who needs it today. Amen

“Wherever you go I will go,

wherever you lodge I will lodge.

Your people shall be my people

and your God, my God.

Where you die I will die.”

Ruth 1:16-17 (NAB)

The words in this verse were spoken by Ruth to her mother in law, Naomi, but it’s also a popular scripture verse used at wedding ceremonies. They are words of love and loyalty, revealing Ruth’s commitment and devotion to Naomi, after they all suffered a family tragedy. 

In Hebrew culture a name can define a person’s character. The name Naomi, means sweet or pleasant. Naomi’s life was sweet and pleasant until the day her husband died suddenly, leaving her with her two sons. After her two sons grew to adulthood and married, they both died suddenly as well. The scriptures never reveal how her husband and sons died, only that Naomi was left with no one, except her two widowed daughters in law, without any grandchildren. 

In her grief, Naomi thought that the Lord was punishing her, and she even told someone to call her Mara, which means bitter, instead of Naomi, meaning sweet. She said farewell to her daughters in law, Ruth and Orpah, assuming they would want to return to their home towns, to remarry and begin new lives.

Naomi prepared to relocate to Bethlehem, where she had relatives who would care for her, since that was the headquarters for her tribe of Judah. There were no government aid programs in ancient Israel to support aging widows who were without family, so the custom was for the nearest blood relative to take her in and care for her. 

As Naomi departed, Orpah kissed her goodbye and left, but Ruth just clung to her. Naomi tried to send her away, but Ruth was determined to stay with her, vowing to go wherever she goes. Sometimes in the most broken moments of life, God sends someone special to be at our side during our grief. It’s as if God is loving us through them, and to say that He is still with us. Ruth was that person for Naomi. 

Ruth stayed at Naomi’s side, all the way to Bethlehem, and she went to work in a large harvest field, along with other young women in the town. Ruth was a Moabite and an outsider among the Hebrew population, but she quickly won the respect of others, especially one of Naomi’s blood relatives, named Boaz. 

According to custom, a young widow was often matched with an available male relative, referred to as the “kinsman redeemer.” Boaz was  impressed with Ruth, because of her loyalty to Naomi, and if we let our imagination enhance the story, he probably fell in love with her. Ruth was surprised to learn that Boaz was not only a blood relative from Naomi’s tribe, but the owner of the large wheat field that she worked in. Boaz, the kinsman redeemer ended up marrying Ruth, which was like a shower of blessing and healing for both women.

Boaz and Ruth were married, becoming Naomi’s newest family. They had a baby boy named Obed, making Naomi a proud grandmother. Obed grew up and became the grandfather of King David, and was also part of the ancestry of Jesus. Naomi found a new era of sweetness through her new family life, with Ruth, Boaz and baby Obed. 

Sometimes the greatest lessons of hope come after the most tragic losses. The story of Naomi and Ruth is a story that many can relate to, in any type of loss. God teaches us that He is the only one who can restore our hope and joy, and turn the bitter into sweet.

Jesus is like our kinsman redeemer who owns the field we toil and live in every day of our lives. He clings to us and we cling to Him, as He stays with us through both the bitter and the sweet times. He wants to bring a new era into our lives, of blessing, security, love, family and church community. 

Lord, we pray that you will turn all  the bitter into sweet. By faith, we cling to you, as you lead us into a new era of many blessings. Amen

“When they heard the sound of the Lord God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

The Lord God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you?

He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.”

Genesis 3:8-10 (NAB)

When we go all the way back to Genesis, we learn that God was very  interactive and personal with Adam and Eve. He walked with them in the garden, and talked with them like a friend or a father. They were blessed to have the Lord of the universe so tangible and real in their daily lives. They heard God walking in the garden, on the day they ate the forbidden fruit, but their sense of shame made them run away and hide from Him. 

Since God is a Spirit, invisible to us, the person walking in the garden, is considered to be a Christophany, according to Christian scholars of the bible. This would mean it was a pre-incarnate visit by Jesus. There were a few other pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament. One was when He appeared to Joshua. Another was when a mysterious fourth man appeared in the fiery furnace, along with the three Hebrew boys. 

Though Adam and Eve were hiding in  shame, God still pursued them. He doesn’t wait for us to come out of hiding, but rather finds a way to go wherever we are hiding and call us back into relationship with Him. God knew exactly where they were, and yet He asked “Where are you?” 

I believe that God still asks that same question within every human soul today. Whatever our problems, pains, doubts or failures are, God is asking, “Where are you?” He calls us to return to Him when we are overwhelmed with depression, discouragement or the distractions of busy living, all of which can cause us to wander away from God. If we start to lose our direction or our hope, Jesus walks over to the place where we are, and invites us to cling to Him for renewed strength. 

After my late husband died, I was spiritually depleted during my year as a caregiver, leading up to his passing. I had not been to church for many months, and I was in a strange place spiritually, not quite sure who I was in God’s eyes. I recall feeling physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. 

One day, while listening to a CD of Christian music, I felt a nudging of the Holy Spirit, within me. It was as if a presence with a non-audible voice was calling me, with four simple words, “I want you back.” I knew it was Jesus, because He has a way of always calling us back to Him. He once said, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He sees when our weariness and burdens cause us to lose direction. 

Jesus is the person who called Adam and Eve in the garden, by asking “Where are you?  He is still calling all souls to come to Him instead of staying in a hiding place. God sent His son, not only to redeem and save the world, but to restore the intimacy in our relationship with Him. 

If I learned anything through those difficult months, it’s that God desires to establish the same intimacy He once had in the very beginning, in the garden.

Scripture refers to Jesus as the second Adam. The first Adam taught us to hide from God in fear or shame, but the second Adam, Jesus, draws us back to God, just as we are, and then transforms us into His sons and daughters by dwelling in us. 

Jesus called Himself the bread from heaven that gives life to the world. He said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35)

We are spiritually malnourished people until Jesus lives in us and we live in Him. His Spirit is still calling every soul on earth, asking the same question that began in Genesis, “Where are you? I want you back.”

Lord, we believe that you are calling us and we bring all our sorrows and disappointments to you, instead of hiding them. We ask you to heal and restore us, that we may continue in an intimate friendship with you. Amen

“If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:20 (ESV)

Music is a form of therapy for the soul, that extends beyond words,  inspiring a more cheerful and peaceful heart. It’s the oldest gift, since from ancient times, every culture on earth used music as a bridge of expression to unite heaven and earth. Scripture tells us that there is music in heaven, and God gave musical talent to people who have since blessed generations with their music. Here are some statements made by famous musicians, of what music meant to them:

Johann Sebastian Bach-“I play the notes as they are written but it is God who makes the music.”

Paul McCartney- “Music is the only common thread that has maintained its power throughout the ages.”

Bob Marley-“One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain.”

Bono-“Music can change the world because it can change people.”

Billy Joel-“I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity.”

All those quotes are true, regardless of what kind of music it is. I love all kinds of music. One day last week, I heard an old Irish hymn being sung by a choir on a Christian TV show. I’ve heard the song before but didn’t know the name of the hymn. While listening to it, I quickly placed my phone by the TV and asked Siri “What song is this?” Siri kept saying, “Hmm, I don’t recognize this song.” 

I got so frustrated that Siri’s search abilities are so limited in the genre of  Christian songs and hymns. I needed the title of that song in order to download it, so I prayed, “Holy Spirit and angels, you know the title of this song, so please help me find it.”

Then I searched on my phone for “Old Irish hymns.” A page popped up with the heading, “30 favorite Celtic hymns” all listed by title. I only knew the first line of the song, so I scrolled down the long list and the 13th song on the list, matched a line in the song. I clicked on it to listen and it was the exact song I was searching for. Thanks to the Holy Spirit and the musical expertise of angels, I found it, and then downloaded the song. 

I relaxed while listening to the song, whose title is “I heard the voice of Jesus say.”  As I read the history of the song, I was surprised to learn that it was not Irish, but was written by a Scottish pastor in 1846, whose name was Horatius Bonar. He wrote about 600 hymns in his lifetime. 

I also learned that “Celtic” is a title that applies to both Scottish and Irish. I’ve always found something very spiritual about Celtic music, with the unique sounds of their rare instruments, but more than anything, I love the lyrics in this particular song. 

All music has a therapeutic power of inner healing and deepening spiritual connections. Jesus told us if we hear His voice and open the door, He will come in and dine with us. When lyrics and melody come together like a marriage, something spiritual happens, and we can hear the voice of Jesus through any genre of music. It’s God’s oldest gift to mankind, and I thank Him for it. 

As we take time this week to find rest from a world of stress, we should remember we’ve been given the gift of music. Peace in the world begins with one individual heart at a time. The voice of Jesus, subtly heard in a melody or lyrics of a song, brings us His peace. He is politely knocking on the door of every human heart, waiting patiently for the door to open, and let Him in.

Lord, help us to embrace the gift of music, in hearing your voice that brings us rest and peace, and we pray for the conversion of all souls to hear what you say and open their doors to you. Amen

(The old Celtic hymn)

I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (Tune: Kingsfold – 3vv) [with lyrics for congregations] – YouTube