Make Room for Jesus

“You should have known that I would be in My Father’s house.” Luke 2:49

Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem every year on the Feast of the Passover. When Jesus was 12 years old, they all joined the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast. Passover is a major Jewish holiday, celebrated up to the present to commemorate the Exodus. This was the time God liberated the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt 3,300 years ago. With signs and wonders, God led the Jews from Egypt, through the parting of the Red Sea, the wilderness of Mount Sinai, and gave Moses the Ten Commandments. 

After the week long festivities, Joseph and Mary started walking towards Nazareth. After one day of travel, they looked for Jesus, thinking he was in the caravan of family and friends journeying homeward. When they could not find him, they walked back and searched for Him. They found him three days after the Feast was over. 

Where did they find Jesus? In the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding  and intelligence. Of course His parents had been worried! “Son, why have You treated us this way? We were so distressed to find You were not with us,” His mother lamented. 

“Didn’t you know I would be in My Father’s house?” Jesus replies. Where will we find Jesus today? He wishes to live in the temple of our hearts. Can He find a home in our hearts? During Passover in the Holy Land, one of the activities is cleaning their houses, from top to bottom, vacuuming especially for any minuscule chametz(“leaven”). We too should spend time searching our hearts for “leaven”, ways we disobey God and His laws. Let us make room for Jesus this Lenten season, do some ‘spring cleaning’ to be ready for His joyous Easter resurrection! 

Treasure Hunt

“Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

How many times do we make assumptions based on appearances? In our business, we always tell our staff to treat everyone well. Even if someone is in slippers, torn shorts, or a house dress, our staff are supposed to greet them and take care of them. One time a scruffy man in shorts and slippers came into our store, and he was looking at magnets. One of our staff approached and started talking to him, and she found out that he collected magnets, and was able to sell him, not only several magnets, but a magnet board. 

During our busy day, do we dismiss the janitor in our office as not worth our time and effort to get to know? I know a busy CEO who when he goes to conferences, always takes the time to get to know the names of the food servers and people behind the scenes. He always finds it interesting to talk to them. 

When we try to see people through God’s eyes, the world will be a more beautiful place. We may find that the man who is rough and grumpy actually has a kind heart for animals. There is always treasure we can find in each person, and that is what God sees in us. 

Humble Pie

“…for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:14

The great statesman, Winston Churchill, once said, “In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.” Not many people appreciate the diet of humble pie, and we often learn humility with the greatest difficulty. 

Something was very wrong in the Vienna General Hospital between 1840 and 1846. It was one of the largest teaching hospitals in the world but in the maternity wing, the mortality rate was staggeringly high. The mothers would get raging puerperal fever, painful abscesses in the uterus and birth canal and die within three days of giving birth. After studying the problem, two doctors, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, proposed that the doctors who did autopsies should wash their hands before going to the maternity ward to deliver babies. The doctors scoffed in disbelief! Some even erroneously maintained that the dirtier the doctor, the better, because then they were very well trained as they regularly performed autopsies!

Dana Tulodziecki, a philosophy professor, wrote that the “doctors weren’t pleased that  Dr. Semmelweis, essentially implied that they were responsible for killing all those women.” That was probably the reason why it took a surprisingly long time before doctors realized how very important hand washing and sterilizing their instruments were. 

Yes, it is most humiliating when we realize the problem is us. When will we be sensible enough to know that humility is the root of all virtues and the surest sign of strength and wisdom? Let us allow God during this season of “spring cleaning” to show us how when we put ourselves in the center of everything, we interfere in His perfect plan for us. 

“Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.”

Wash Us Clean

“Take with you words, and return to the Lord.” Hosea 14:2

The prophet Hosea was a pitiful man. His wife had left him for a life of prostitution which mirrored what Israel was doing at that time to the God who loved them. Fickle Israel left God to go after false gods. And just as Hosea continued to love his wife, going after her and finally buying her back for fifteen pieces of silver, five bushels of barley and a measure of wine, so did God not give up on Israel. 

“There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land,” the Lord accused Israel, “You curse and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere, with one murder after another. That is why your land is not producing...Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! Look, you priests, my complaint is with you! ...My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me.” Hosea 4:1-6 

These charges can be made against our nation. Like Israel, God loves us very much. But we have turned away from Him, choosing leaders who blatantly defy Him and His ways. We do not take care of those whom God loves most, the poor, the sick and those who are falsely accused. All is not lost. Just as God continually called Israel back to Him, He still loves us and wants to help get us back on track. 

“Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord.” In Hebrew, ‘words’ means things, realities, and the connotation is we need to repent sincerely. Rabbi Len Ben Sisi wrote that the power of repentance was so great it soars all the way up to the throne of glory. 

Yes, Lord, forgive us for abandoning You. Show us the way back to You! Father, we want to be pleasing in Your sight. Wash us clean of our iniquities, and heal our land! 

Harden Not Your Hearts

“If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Psalm 95:8

It would be so easy if we heard God’s voice every morning and just had to follow what He said. We would be successful, have the perfect family, security for the future and know with absolute certainty we were going to heaven. Life would be simple, and we wouldn’t be confused about our priorities and busy ourselves about things that had no value. True? Maybe not. There is nothing easy about obedience. 

God wants to speak to us, and if we read His Word every morning, and keep quiet enough to hear Him, we may get His heart for those He loves. If we want this enough, usually God will oblige. 

One day in 2007, when Christine Caine, an evangelist and speaker, was in the Thessaloniki airport in Greece, she saw many handmade posters of missing girls. She found out that these young girls were trafficked and some sold on an auction block like slaves. She heard God tell her to help. “But God,” she argued, “I just gave birth! But I’m a woman! But I’m an Australian who lives so far from here...” Her buts were a mile long. God knew all those buts. He also knew that in 2008, Christine with all her buts would obey and start the A21 Campaign with her husband Nick, and would be instrumental in rescuing babies from pedophile rings, and young girls and women from sexual trafficking. Their crucial work continues and over the years, thousands of female survivors have been assisted to safety and have found restoration through their Aftercare programs worldwide.

Christine studies the Word, listens to God, and obeys. First it was the little things. How about us, do we listen and obey the little things God instructs us? Let us not harden our hearts so God can put His dreams into our hearts.

God’s Friend

“Teach them to your children and your children’s children.” Deuteronomy 4:9

There are things I remind my son Josh about, and because I've said them again and again, his response is a plaintive, "Mom! I've heard that before!" 

“Pray everyday and read the Bible.” I drummed this into his brain since he was young. "Don't date until you're ready to get married!" I've taught my son what I believe is best for him. Would God our Father do any less? 

In the 4th chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses tells his people to listen and observe the statutes and decrees God gave them, His chosen people. It is for their own good, just as it is for ours. His law is easily summarized into the Ten Commandments and the Shema, the Jews' daily declaration of faith to one God. Just as we want to teach our children what is good for them, so God wants to teach us how to live in good order, wisely and faithfully. 

There is a story of an old miner who lived like a hermit in the Colorado Mountains. When he died, his relatives came and took his meager belongings, an old cooking pot, and some rusty mining equipment. Before they left, his old friend came walking up and asked if he could have what was left. They answered, "Sure! We got everything we want." The friend then went in, moved the table, and lifted one of the floorboards. There was his friend's hoard of gold worth millions. Only a true friend would know your worth! We need to be God's friend to know how valuable His Word is! 

Lord, thank You for the gift of Your Word. I know Your Word, Your promises, are worth more than gold or silver, or property on Manhattan or all the wealth this world has! 

Seventy times Seven

“Should you not have mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" 

Matthew 18:33

Seventy times seven times. That's what Jesus answered to the question, "How often must I forgive?" We get hurt all the time. A careless word. A stupid joke. A boss who takes credit for your idea. A teacher who shows favoritism. We can practice being forgiving and merciful every single day. It's a decision, but it's also a miracle of grace. 

The story of Matt Swatzell and Erik Fitzgerald is an amazing story of superhuman forgiveness. Matt was driving home after a 24 hour shift as a firefighter. He was very tired, and very sleepy. He woke up to a crash that changed his life. The crash killed June Fitzgerald who had been driving the car Matt hit, and her unborn child. 

June's husband, Erik, was a full time Pastor. “You forgive as you’ve been forgiven,” said Pastor Erik in his grief and pain. “It wasn’t an option. If you’ve been forgiven, then you need to extend that forgiveness.” Because of that openness, Erik and Matt forged a friendship that has lasted, and Matt has been able to build a good life instead of one disturbed by demons of guilt and regret. 

“This has been just as healing for me too,” said Pastor Erik of his relationship with Matt. “I’ve taught on forgiveness and I know that forgiveness is not so much for the other person but for yourself.” 

Lord, is there someone I need to forgive? Pour down upon me Your abundant, overflowing, healing grace that I may be worthy to be called Your child. May I forgive just as You have generously forgiven me. 

Be a Messenger of Hope and Healing

“Wash and be cleansed’!” 2 Kings 5:13

Naaman was a highly regarded, valiant, army commander of the King of Aram, but he was a leper! A little slave girl, captured in a raid of Israel, told the wife of Naaman that the master would be healed if he presented himself to the prophet in Samaria.

So Naaman with a full retinue and presents for the King of Israel went to Elisha. But Elisha did not even meet with him! Elisha just sent a messenger to instruct him that he should wash 7 times in the Jordan. “And your flesh will heal,and you will be clean,” Elisha's messenger told him.

Naaman went off angrily! He had a lot of expectations about what the man of God should do! “I thought he would surely come out and invoke the Lord His God..." It was a good thing that his servants reasoned with him, “If the prophet would have told you to do something extraordinary, wouldn't you have done it?" So Naaman swallowed his pride and did as the prophet told him. And he was healed!!!

Lesson number 1: Even if we are a lowly slave girl, we can be a messenger of hope and healing. Perhaps we are too afraid of our boss to speak to him or her about  something he or she needs to hear? Perhaps we prefer to just be silent even if we know something that would greatly ease another's burden? Let us always speak out words of life and truth with courage. This world filled with despair and darkness needs to hear it. 

Lesson number 2: Obedience may bring us to a closer encounter with God. What is it that God is asking of us? Sometimes when God does not fit into the box we made for Him, like Naaman, we can be so adamant, proud and unwilling to see things from God's point of view!!!  Let us not allow our expectations of how God should act or who God will use to speak to us be a hindrance to what God wants to do for us, and through us!

Right Beside Us

 "Sir, give me this water..." the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well, asked in John 4:5-42

"Our Father uses every part of our ordinary, everyday lives to teach us about the  extraordinary, heavenly life that he is offering us,” I read in the ‘The Word Among Us’.

Jesus would strike up conversations with people and tell stories to teach them about heavenly realities. Today God does the same- He uses the events, and people of our everyday life, to teach us. We just have to be more observant, to listen, and to be willing to cast away our expectations of how God is supposed to move or speak or act.

So today, let us be more present, more mindful, of whatever ways God will choose to show up. He will! He is right beside us all the time! 

Focus on the Father

‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns…you slaughter the fattened calf.’ His father said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ Luke 15:29-32

I don’t know about you but I can relate more to the son who did not leave home, who was obedient, and did his chores and did not squander half of the father’s wealth. Like that son, I most probably would have felt very bad about the big welcome given to the son who left home. I have to confess that I sometimes wonder if I will see the big sinners in heaven. After they have stolen millions from our country’s coffers, after they have deprived a majority of our people of a good education, basic medical needs, quality transportation, will they receive forgiveness from the “ocean of mercy that opened up for the whole world” when Jesus died on the cross? My mind says an adamant NO! But my heart says YES! If they come humbly before the Father, of course He will welcome them with open arms! 

I realize I am self-righteous much like the older son, “caught up in the narrow confines of the ego”. If we are in the right relationship with the Father, we will just be focused on  Him. We will be using all our strength, our passion, our gifts, on being one with Him in His purposes and goals for me and for others. We will desire that all, absolutely all, may receive of the Father’s bountiful mercy and grace. 

Rejected and Scorned

“The stone that the builders rejected ​has become the cornerstone…” Matthew 21:42

Just as Jesus was rejected and scorned, many missionaries through the ages have been tortured, mistreated and even murdered. There is John and Betty Stam who passed out tracts and held meetings in the small city of Tsingteh, China. Although they were assured that there was no threat of Communist activity in the area, soldiers invaded the area and took John, Betty and their baby Helen Priscilla hostage. The husband and wife were paraded through the village and killed. Their baby was saved.

Many Catholics had been arrested, tortured, and made to step on crucifixes or images of Mary and Jesus when Christianity was suppressed and Catholicism driven underground. On February 5, 1597 26 missionary and convert martyrs were marched across villages in Japan, then impaled by spears and hung on a cross just like Jesus. In 1862, they were canonized by Pope Pius IX. 

In 2018, the news was filled with the story of an American missionary, John Allen Chau, who was killed by the Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe in North Sentinel Island, India, whom he was trying to convert. Last year, the Vatican reported that 18 Catholic missionaries were killed for their faith. 

In spite of the danger, men and women still go out of their comfort zones to evangelize. Usually, they feel God calling them to preach the good news, they are impelled by an urge bigger than themselves, stronger than their fear. How about us? We are also instructed by Jesus to “go out into the world and preach the good news” (Mark 16:15). We need not fear being tortured or mutilated or boiled in oil. But are we able to obey Jesus even if we will be rejected or ridiculed? 

More Tortuous

"More tortuous than all else is the human heart...who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9

In other versions of the Bible, the heart is described as deceitful, sick, corrupt, incurable, weak, perverse, and desperately wicked! I would like to vehemently disagree, but sadly, there are so many horrible and inexplicable things that have happened and continue to happen in the world! 

In this same chapter of Jeremiah, we read that only God can understand our hearts and minds. He can probe it like a surgeon can use his tools to examine and explore our bodies. If only God can do this, perhaps we can only fathom the tortuous heart of man through the lens of compassion, which is how God sees us. I try to remember the adage, "There, but for the grace of God, go I", before judging others. I am not always successful. Hopefully I shall get better at it! 

 

This was allegedly stated by John Bradford when he saw a group of prisoners being led to their execution. Indeed, if I was not born to parents who had the fear of God and taught my brother and sisters right from wrong, where would I be now? What kind of a person would I be? 

Lord, My heart might rebel against You, but You have ransomed me and taken me for Your own! Help me to choose You always! May I obey You so You can tame my tortuous heart! 

Make Me Feel Important

“Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” Matthew 20:26

Does this make any sense?

How can anybody who wants to be great apply to be a servant? Quite absurd in the world’s way of thinking! But no one can doubt that Jesus was great except perhaps some perverse people. And Jesus had the heart of a servant. A servant is not a slave by any means because a slave has to serve his master involuntarily most of the time. But a person with a servant heart has a purpose and a gift. And as St. Peter said in 1 Peter 4:10, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” 

In 1985, Mary Kay Ash was named one of “America’s 25 Most Influential Women” and in 1999, the “Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century". In 1996, her business, Mary Kay Cosmetics, was highlighted in the Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Times. 

Mary Kay was an outspoken, God-fearing, hard working, Christian woman who did not plan to be the greatest, but what she wanted was to help women like herself succeed in business. She did everything she could to mentor women to get ahead. Her mother used to tell her, “You can do it, Mary Kay!”, and she imparted that same encouragement and confidence with millions of women. She built her company guided by the Golden Rule, and remained faithful to the right values. She often told others, “Never, absolutely never, compromise your principles.” 

One of the things she taught her saleswomen was, “Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.’ Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.” 

How many times have I concentrated on myself and what I think I am entitled to,  rather than making others feel important and needed? If I value Jesus as my treasure, my heart will be in the right place of serving the people He loves. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Lord, forgive me. Teach me to be a servant like you. 

To Whom Much is Given

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12

There are many misconceptions about humility. One might say that it is thinking oneself more inferior than others. But I think humility is knowing the truth about oneself, knowing one's place in the world. Seeing ourselves through the eyes of God, our Creator. Knowing that we need Him. C. S. Lewis in his remarkable book, "Mere Christianity", wrote, "True humility is not thinking less of yourself: it is thinking of yourself less."

If we are talented, beautiful, intelligent, creative, we should know it and be grateful. We should be confident in our abilities, knowing that God in His goodness has given us our talents for a purpose- to bless us and more so, to bless others!

BUT we should always always know that we are NOT better or superior to others.

Rabbi Israel Salanter said, “I know that I have the mental capacity of a thousand men, but because of that, my obligation is also that of a thousand men.”

This is a perfect example of Luke 12:48- “To whom much is given, much is required."

One day in 1993, a young girl named Darlene faced a problem that made her heart heavy and discouraged. She sat in her home in front of a piano her parents had given her when she was five years old. There, she opened her Bible and started reading Psalm 96. As Darlene meditated on, “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day,” she played with the keys of the piano. Suddenly music began to flow and after twenty minutes she had a song! 

Although she was quite reluctant and embarrassed, she asked her music pastor Geoff Bullock to listen to it. “Please  don’t look at me but face the wall,” she asked. After she played haltingly, he assured her that her song, “Shout to the Lord” was wonderful and they sang it at the offering at church. Her Pastor was Brian Houston of Hillsong. As he predicted then, Darlene Zschech’s song would be sung all around the world. Since then, she has written too many praise and worship songs to count. “Shout to the Lord” has been performed for the Pope at the Vatican, and for the President of the United States. 

God can use even our heartbreak to bring something new and wonderful in our life. We just need to recognize our gifts and offer it to Him in humility. 

How much has been given to us? Do we use it to enrich ourself or to bless and help others?

Give Until It Hurts

“Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” Luke 6:38

“Give, God tells us. Give till it hurts. It’s been hurting for a while now. But we’ve never been happier.” These words were uttered by Jason Brown, the former NFL center who was paid $37.5 million when he was signed by the St. Louis Rams. He left all that behind and bought a 1,000 acre farm in North Carolina and has been farming full time since 2013. The amazing thing is he gives everything he grows, except what his family eats, to the poor. Jason’s First Fruits Farm provides the fruit and vegetables that go to food banks and soup kitchens. 

“We’ve donated more than a million pounds of food since we started.” Jason said. “My father sometimes tells me that if we keep giving like this, pretty soon we will be the ones needing help. He’s got a point. But I also recognize that I’m attached to a kingdom with unlimited resources—that I’m loved by a generous God. And so we keep giving. We keep working. We keep doing what God called us to do. I’m working harder now than I ever did playing football. I’m sacrificing more now than I ever did playing football.” 

When asked why he does it, why he left such a lucrative career to work hard in a farm with little financial return, he answers: 

“Here’s the difference between my life then and my life now: When I go to bed, I have a sense of peace and satisfaction. The stress that I felt playing football is gone. And, although it’s been replaced by different stresses, I know that all my problems come with a purpose. A mission. I know that what I’m doing now isn’t just for me. It isn’t even just about all the thousands of people who might otherwise go hungry. It’s for God. I’m doing what God has truly called me to do.”

“For all the work I do, for all the weariness that sinks and settles deep into my bones, I wake up every morning, look out the window, and feel . . . amazed. And I feel God beside me. Above me. Everywhere. Because I am right where He has called me to be.”

Indeed when we give to God’s work, we will receive much more than we have given. 

Listen!

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” Matthew 17:5

Today we read the story of the Transfiguration, what happened in the high mountain when Jesus was revealed to be the Son of God. His clothes became dazzlingly white, and Elijah and Moses appeared. I have to imagine myself with Peter and James and John before I realize how amazing and awesome this was. We would all have been terrified, maybe we would be frozen in place, or clinging to each other. Nothing would have prepared us for what would happen next. A cloud cast a shadow over us, and a voice came straight from heaven: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.” 

Many years later, in 66 A.D., before he died, Peter wrote about his experience. “We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain. Because of that, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. Pay close attention to what they wrote...” 

We see that Peter followed Christ valiantly until he himself was crucified upside down in Rome under Emperor Nero Augustus Caesar. With the testimony of Peter and other saints, we have no other recourse but to believe that the Creator of the universe sent His beloved Son, Jesus, to give us a message and that we should pay attention to that message. “LISTEN TO HIM!” 

Beloved

“You are to be a people peculiarly His own, as He promised you.” Deuteronomy 26:18

How does it feel to be special, to be beloved, cherished, the apple of our Father’s eye? If we know this deep in our heart, if it becomes our fundamental identity as a precious child of the living God, we will be empowered to manifest His love to others. Just as it is true that hurting people hurt others, people who are sure they are loved are unafraid to love and be generous to others. 

In “The Anawim Way”, I read that “Lent is a perfect time to take up the challenge of love- the most worthwhile challenge of all. In this time of holy solitude, we ask God to bring to our minds the people whom we do not yet love, those who have offended or hurt us, our enemies.” 

Each of these people, even our enemies, is God’s special treasure, beloved by Him. Let us try to see them through the eyes of our Father. 

I remember this story of Brendan who was an up and coming DJ in New York. When he would go home to his apartment in Brooklyn, a homeless woman would ask him for money. Each time, he said he didn’t have any. She complained, “You always say no.” Brendan promised, “I am on my way to a job interview. If I get the job, I will take you out for Chinese food.” He kept his promise and surprisingly after that, they supported each other through the hard times. When Brendan lost his job, Jackie would buy groceries with what little money she had. Their lives eventually improved. Jackie was able to move out from living in the streets to a halfway house, the YMCA, and eventually to an apartment of her own. Brendan wanted to help and brought her to Target to pick out stuff she needed. Then he started a campaign online to raise $500. Their story went viral and they’ve raised more than $6000. They’ve decided to use the extra funds to help other women in need. 

Brendan was able to to see Jackie as someone worth his time, and he gained a friendship that made him a better man. Can we take a risk this Lent and see those who are different from us as God’s treasures? 

Root it Out!

“Whoever is angry with someone will be liable to judgment." Matthew 5:21

We should not wait to root out irritation. A small, absurd thing can build up and even provoke murder. 

On May 29, 2007, a 29 year old young man was shot dead by a security guard while singing "My Way" off-key with the karaoke machine. There have been at least 6 killings and many more fierce fights fueled by the singing of that song in the Philippines. In Thailand, a man killed 8 of his neighbors because they repeatedly sang, "Take Me Home Country Roads"!!! 

And how about road rage? This can lead not only to verbal assault, altercations, damage to property, and collisions but in serious physical injuries or even death. One time, on our way home at night from a beach trip, I felt the urge to pray. We were in heavy traffic, Luigi was driving and most of the family was asleep in the van. Suddenly a loud thud hit the van. Afterwards, Luigi told me he had overtaken someone, and when the traffic stopped, that man was angry enough to get out of his car and walk towards us, hitting our van in his rage. Luigi saw in his side mirror, the man had a gun, but before he reached us, he slipped and his gun fell off the road. He started scrambling in the dark to look for it. The light changed, and we went forward leaving the man behind us. Thank God! 

We should always be aware of little irritants in order to root it out. We should not allow it to fester until it becomes a big wound that needs a doctor's intervention. Yes, little irritants can grow into a dangerous thing. That's why Jesus said, "You shall not kill...but I say to you, whoever is angry with your brother will be liable to judgment...be reconciled with your brother."

Is there any irritation in our heart that needs uprooting? Let us not allow it grow into a tree!

Period

“Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion and turn his heart..." Esther C:24

There are additions in the Book of Esther that are found in my Catholic Bible that I could not find in other versions. The verse I found interesting today is found in Esther C:12-25 (inserted Chapter 4). ‘Queen Esther, seized in mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord. She lay prostrate upon the ground together with her handmaids, from morning till evening..."Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion," she prayed.’

Esther was a Jewish orphan, raised by Mordecai, and because of her beauty, was chosen by King Ahasuerus to replace his recalcitrant Queen. When the Jews were going to be annihilated by order of Haman, the contemptible, proud, right hand man of the King, Mordecai advised Esther to plead on their behalf. Before doing so, Esther together with her handmaids, interceded the whole day and night. She asked God to save them and teach her what to say. Her prayer lasts from verses 14 to 30, and concludes with, "From the day I was brought here till now, your handmaid has had no joy except in You, O Lord God of Abraham...Deliver me from my fear."

Queen Esther was rightly afraid of going before the King. She tells Mordecai that anyone who goes before the King without being summoned suffers the automatic penalty of death. (Esther 4:11). We all have to confront fears in our life. Fear of a loved one dying, fear of cancer, fear of the future, of loneliness, of losing our job, incompetence, helplessness...The list is long, but faith is the step we need to take against fear. Faith says that what I cannot do, what I cannot control, what I cannot foresee, is all in God's hands. He knows me, He knows the future. AND what's more, He loves me!

There is nothing, NOTHING that happens to me, that is NOT under His jurisdiction and control. I will trust in Him no matter what. I will trust in Him even when circumstances appear dire and spinning out of control. I. will. trust. in. Him. Period.

God 2.0?

The Word of the Lord came to Jonah saying, “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will give you.” Jonah 3:1

Many people see the God of the Old Testament as a God of judgment and not a God of love. It is as if God decided He needed a makeover, and that’s why Jesus came. Jesus is the meek and mild version, the loving, forgiving God. God 2.0! 

The Book of Jonah is one of the oldest books of the Bible, written in the 8th C AD. The problem of Jonah was that God wanted him to warn the Ninevites, who were fierce enemies of the Israelites, that He was going to judge them. 

The Ninevites were a violent, cruel people, known to torture their enemies. Their King would bring home the severed head of the king of a conquered city and display it on a pole on the gate of Nineveh to commemorate his victory. There it would stay until it rotted. Sometimes generals of the opposing army would be flayed alive and bled like a lamb. These and many more atrocities made Jonah balk at obeying God. Instead he wanted God to exact revenge upon these wicked people. 

But God insisted that Jonah announce to the Ninevites His message of judgment. When Jonah finally obeyed, the King, that same horrible King and his people, repented and put on sackcloth and sat on ashes. God relented and Jonah complained bitterly. 

“I knew You were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding with steadfast love. I knew how easily You could cancel Your plans for destroying these people!” (Jonah 4:2) 

Is this the Old Testament God? Yes! The Father calls ALL people to Him, ESPECIALLY the wicked and the seemingly hopeless cases. Sounds exactly like Jesus. After all, they are one and the same God. Full of love and mercy. 

This Lent, let us draw close to Him who forgives any sin, and calls us back to Himself.