Category: Blog Article

He looks at me with beautiful eyes changing hues in any given light; I see the love of Jesus. I listen to his voice talking to me softly, gently, at times firm; I hear the love of Jesus.  His arms wrap around me when I am happy, when sad, when very tired; I touch the love of Jesus. The building of a fresh fire fills my nostrils, embers dwindling down, ashes seemingly cold; I smell the love of Jesus. Water rushes over me, I open my mouth, I drown in it again; I taste the love of Jesus.

In these ways I am using a sense common to us all…

I sat on the swing next to him, the cold biting my exposed face and fingers. Inwardly my heart burned with hope and hurt. I answered questions to the best of my ability sharing openly about the journey I was on. This young man had been hurt by my lack of faith when young; I didn’t want to hurt him now he was grown by anything called religion. His thoughts felt no less important than my own and I listened with intent. He had his own journey to walk and the only equipment I could offer were the tools of experience shared. Truth once spoken would do its own work. Any wrestling about it was not for me to interfere with. My only job was to love him without judgment. I set my face like flint to do just that.

When it was time to go I linked my arm with his, feeling him tower over me. Reaching out my hand, my grandson willingly grabbed it and I enjoyed the warmth. Walking together I felt my son’s heart; his too burned with hope and hurt to do the right thing by this little boy and by his family. I wanted to assure him mistakes would not come but I kept silent; lies were never helpful no matter how much we wanted them to become true. His son let go of my hand running forward to stomp on the edges of the puddles, making splashes.

Smiling, I enjoyed watching this energy at work. Someone who came before me once made splashes. Looking upward in hope, I asked these splashes would grow into the waves they are meant to be.

I saw darkness working to wrap its cloud around the beautiful ones. I could hear lies in its whispers, promising comfort and I hated its work. Looking upward I focused my eyes upon the light wanting to break through the clouds. Darkness stopped whispering and began yelling trying to intimidate me into silence. Hearing this noise I put my earbuds in to filter out the garbage of its language.

Jesus taught me ahead of time to recognize this darkness. How the lying tongue would come to try to kill, steal and destroy the beautiful ones. Someone once helped me become free of the darkness; now it was my turn to help. Laying my head upon the pillow I began to pray for the abundant life, this time for those I loved.

“Been a while since I’ve seen you?”

Buzz…”Hang on, let me see who this is?”

I sip on my water and wait.

“Sorry, a friend needed to know where we are meeting later. Yeah it’s great to see you, what are you up to? ” Buzz…”Just a sec, it’s my work, gotta take this call.”

I sip on my water and wait.

“Nothing that couldn’t wait but you know how it is with some people. It’s been a while since you and I have seen each other to really talk. Glad we finally got together, how have you been? Maybe we should order?” Buzz…

I sip on my water and wait.

”Wow, my team just won! How is that for timing? We should get together more often like this!”

“Like I said, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

Buzz…

I watch fingers move once more upon the touch screen. Finishing my water it’s time to leave, I’ll have to eat later.

Rev 3:20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

Lies speak, taking us into darkness

Truth shouts, offering light

Collision brings us into the gray

Logic or trust

James 1:17 Every very good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

He leaned back against the wall for a moment merely watching all the people moving or sitting around the room. Some had talked to him briefly and others he knew intimately from times before. There were many new faces as well. Many came wanting to be healed of something. He admired their recognition that there was a God of heaven who cared about people.

Looking around he took in the details of different forms of worship. They expressed their love in a myriad of ways.  Each person chose a praise form of their liking and he watched; dancers, singers, musicians, clappers, laughter, tears, prayers, writers, readers, flags, hugs, painters, drawers, and more. Even those with broken hearts were sitting still waiting for something, anything. Such as these made him smile because he knew they hadn’t given up on hope in tough times.

He looked to his right seeing his friend Ardent grinning at him. Laughing aloud Jesus nodded to his friend and spoke, “Go ahead Ardent, you and the other angels minister to their every need today! I want to introduce myself to the new ones who came and then I AM going to walk among them, be glad and sing to all.”

Zep 3:17 The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

*Ardent – definition means intensely devoted, eager, or enthusiastic, zealous, passionate, fervent

The hall was long, longer than any hall I could remember seeing before. As far as I could see there were doors on both sides of the halls. Some of the doors had numbers and others had titles. Where there were no doors, there were corridors leading to more hallways and doors. Sometimes there were pictures and plaques on the walls to acknowledge those who had established this building. It was a building for the sick and for the dying.

I walked beside my friend as we were on our way to visit someone who needed healing. Neither of us carried a degree in medicine nor wore any kind of uniform to distinguish ourselves as having been trained in any kind of university upon the earth. We simply brought with us the tools of faith, hope and love along with the power of the Holy Spirit.

This night we only prayed with the one directly. As we walked out I knew in my heart that soon others would come with us and we would pray for all. I knew by the Spirit, this building was meant to be emptied of all the sick and dying. It would not be the medicine of man that would do this, it would be the great physician, Jesus Christ.

The kitten had gotten separated from its mother a few days earlier. Alone and fearful, wanting to protect itself from the elements, the kitten found a hiding place under the planks of a porch. In the dark the kitten shivered from the cold and began to hurt for lack of food or water. The only thought the kitten had was to cry out and hope its mother would hear and come to comfort. Mewing as loudly as it could for hours on end it would eventually tire and sleep from exhaustion. Upon waking the kitten began again to mew but grew weaker.

Looking out at the lighted area the kitten saw a small bowl and even smelled food and water. Remembering what its mother had taught, the kitten refused to leave the hiding place for fear of being hurt. A face appeared in the lighted area and made sounds that echoed like its mother but the kitten knew it wasn’t her. Soon a hand was extended and the kitten became terrified, lashing back at the hand with its tiny claws and hissing emphatically. After drawing blood from the hand, it withdrew, and the kitten felt safe momentarily but even closer to collapsing from hunger and thirst.

With no more energy to call for its mother the kitten lay still. The hand returned, but this time seemed to be covered somehow. Weak as the kitten was, it fought off the hand until its muscles could no longer move. Feeling the hand wrap around its tiny body the kitten knew it was finished for this life, its mother had said so.

Years later, lying in the sun on top of the porch, the cat yawned and cleaned itself. Now and again it would think back to the time it hid under the porch in darkness, frightened and starving. That life was definitely finished. The cat loved when the hand would come to pet its fur. Getting up the cat lapped fresh water and ate a bountiful feast.

Psalm 18:35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great

The woman got up early to make coffee and read. As she sat at her kitchen table she saw her bible still sitting where she’d laid it down the week before. Momentarily she thought about trying to read it but with coffee in hand she went to the front door to gather the newspaper from the porch. An hour later after reading all the print she wanted, she began to ready herself for church.

Dressing in her best suit she decided to add a small flower to her lapel. Inwardly she felt lonely and hoped the added touch would draw enough attention that maybe she could make a new friend. Picking up her purse she made sure to pick up the bible before walking out the door.

Coming home later she put her bible back on the table and went to change her clothes. Afterwards she picked up the flower and looked at it closely. It was so pretty but no one seemed to notice and her heart ached with loneliness. Why wouldn’t anyone really talk to her beyond just pleasantries? She had gone to church to make friends.

Taking her flower into the kitchen she put it in a small vase sitting on her kitchen table. Seeing her bible next to it she wondered about something she’d heard in the hymn from that morning. It spoke of having a friend in Jesus and taking it to the Lord in prayer. Sitting down at the table she closed her eyes and spoke a simple sentence, “Jesus, I am lonely and I want friends.” In the quiet she knew she heard a whispered answer. “I AM here, spend time with Me.”

Opening her eyes the first thing she saw was her bible. Reaching for it she let her tears drop onto its cover and opening the pages she began to read.

Hypocrisy in meaning is a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles. It also means a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude. Pretense is simply feigning, make-believe, pretend or a false show of something.

I cannot live a life of hypocrisy nor can I pretend to be something I am not. I am one of the most flawed people upon the planet. My virtuous character is best described in that I don’t try to eat grapes in the store when I haven’t paid for them yet. My moral, beliefs and principles I keep learning from the bible I read. The more I look at people around me, the more I realize how open I need to be. I don’t want anyone looking at me for their barometer. I am not Paul of the epistles. I am Debra the flawed.

Only Jesus can be our measure of character. He alone knew we couldn’t bear up under the burden to be perfect. He gave us His life so we wouldn’t have to be hypocrites. The rest is simple. In our flawed state we give grace to others, remembering how much we too need this precious gift.

Col 3:13 Make allowances for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others

 Rom 15:1 We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.

Eph 4:2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love