It's not for nothing He's called 'The Comforter'

While brewing my morning coffee and making some toast the word came very clearly to the forefront of my mind … 'Comfort' … and then 'Comforter'. How appropriately Jesus called His Spirit, His indwelling presence that was yet to come to His beloved followers as He consoled them by telling them that though your hearts have been filled with sorrow, it is to your advantage that I go away because if I don't The Comforter can not come to you.

And He did go away. And what a heart piecing pain it must have been to witness. I can't help but think of Mary, his own mother, with John the beloved, watching Him hang on that cross, excruciating pain on both sides. Jesus told her that her heart would be pieced, and that it was.

But then … 'The Comforter' . Oh how we need The Comforter to heal the pain, the brokenness, the heartaches that probably every soul on earth experiences at some point in their lives. Oh how wonderful that the God of all creation should come to us as a Comforter. Some things sooth the pain … music, pleasure, pain killers of various sorts and how desperately the word searches for relief … but 'The Comforter' is The Healer, The Helper, The Encourager and indeed The Lover of Our Souls.

Then He says : "Your grief will be turned into joy" and "no one will take your joy away from you." (John 16: 20 & 22).

He also said a little earlier in John 15: 11 "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full"

So abide in Him, strengthen yourself in Him and be thankful that we do have a real Comforter that comes alongside us to help us, uphold us, to carry us when we're too weak and to give us a true and deep well of joy that is not dependent on our circumstances and it never runs dry, but we must remember to draw from it daily. 'The joy of the Lord is your strength.'

I often see this picture in my mind of a network loads of little hearts connected by red lines like a mesh net encircling the globe, a bit like a flight destination map linking all the destinations with red lines and dots.

I see these hearts as souls, brothers and sisters joined from heart to heart to heart by the bloodline of Jesus that supernaturally connects us together. His amazing and transforming love flows and pulsates throughout this network of hearts that covers the whole earth. (The Glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea).

I believe this to be a picture of the true Church, the Bride of Christ . One Church, One body with One Head. Although if we look around, it looks like unity is an impossibility, in reality we are ONE. We will be united with Him in perfect union as the marriage of Christ Jesus and His Bride is fully consummated. His Church cannot be contained or divided by any church walls or any denominational barriers.

We are a network of hearts, a living organism, a Temple, a holy habitat, a royal Kingdom filled and flowing with His love. To me, this is reality and I love it.

More love Lord, more of You, more hearts, more souls, more glory, more life.

Rev 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”

There’s something about the crushing of our hearts that somehow draws us closer to the heart of Jesus. I can’t help think of the crushing of an olive that results in the blessing of olive oil flowing.

Well sometimes in the midst of heartache and pain, we experience the sweetness of the compassion of Jesus. Brennan Manning, one of my favourite authors made a statement that is etched in my heart, “You are never more like Jesus than when you are choked with compassion for the brokenness of others”.

There’s something about the choking of compassion that makes me feel vulnerable, humbled and acquainted with the suffering of others, like I feel their pain and compassion flows. It is bitter and it’s sweet, painful and glorious ... reminds me of the words of Jesus “those who share in My sufferings shall also share in My glory”.

I saw a picture zoomed in on the cupped open hands of Jesus very gently and tenderly holding broken hearts. Then I noticed in the background there were piles of broken hearts scattered everywhere, almost like a rubbish dump full of broken hearts. In an instant I realised that the world is full of broken hearts, longing to be healed. As I meditated on this I envisioned a warm glow of light, energy, power, fusing the cracks in the broken hearts as a large tear dropped from the eyes of Jesus and washed over them.

He is Compassion. He is Love. He knows our pain and has come to bind up the brokenhearted.

Go and do likewise.

You can't put God in a box

Here in Malta at the end of summer we often get blessed with some beautiful skies filled with glorious clouds that I absolutely love to gaze at, absorbing their awesome beauty in my soul. The other day, while doing exactly that, watching one of these clouds journey across the sky this thought popped into my head:

I can see the wind blowing that cloud. If I try to put that wind in a matchbox and trap it, it is no longer wind. It cannot be contained. The only way to enjoy that wind is in the 'right now', to ride with it, experience it and live out that moment.

It just struck me how futile it is to try and put God in a box (usually a religious little box). His glory fills the skies, covers the earth, is so mind-blowingly vast and yet we try to restrict Him to the little walls of our doctrinal box. The most amazing thing to me is that the fullness of God that is all poured into Jesus wants to dwell in us, yes us, these little fragile vessels, created for His glory and blessed with this thing called Life, the breath of God, the wind of God.

My closing thought: 'As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons and daughters of God' Romans 8:14