EVERYDAY MEDITATIONS

DATE: 03.26.25

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies..." - Psalm 23:5 ESV

For the longest time, when I read that verse I always assumed it meant He prepared me a table so I can focus on something else, something good, while I was in a bad situation or circumstance. Or maybe I thought it meant He prepares a table in front of my enemies so they could see how much favor and provision I had in my life...and maybe not attack, or something like that.

But lately, the Lord has had me diving into the original Hebrew of this verse.  And it is unlocking a measure of love I have yet to encounter until now.

The phrase, “in the presence” is the Hebrew word “Nagad” (Strongs H5048) and means more than just “in the vicinity”. Nagad means “to be conspicuous, to tell, announce, to report.” I had to look up the definition of “conspicuous”. It means, “standing out so as to be clearly visible to all.”

Wow!  
To announce this table has been made.  
To make it stand out that it is clearly visible to all.

Then, the word “my enemies” (Strongs H6887) here is the Hebrew word “ṣārar”, which is a verb that means “to bind, be narrow, be in distress.”  

The word is often used in a physical sense to describe narrow places, but figuratively it means “the strong emotional response that one experiences when pressed externally by enemies or internally by wrong decisions or passions.”

What if our so-called “enemies” are those bound by their own mindsets, traditions, and pre-conceived notions? Those narrow-minded?  Those in distress, and their cries for help are manifesting as anger and bitterness and resentment?  Those responding emotionally due to wrong decisions or passions?

Isn’t this who Jesus came to? Sat with? Dined at tables with?  Went to the cross for?

“And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” - Luke 15:2 ESV

The Message phrases it like this, 

“The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.”

You know how I know the table of the Lord is prepared for my enemies?  For the sinners? For the disqualified? For the distressed?

Because it was prepared for me.

I was an enemy of God in my mind (Colossians 1) until I heard the dinner bell. Until I pulled up a seat.  Until I dined with Him and Him with me (Rev. 3:20).

"Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ - Luke 14:12-17 NKJV

Paul writes in Romans 1:20 “If your enemy is hungry, buy him lunch! Win him over with kindness. For your surprising generosity will awaken his conscience, and God will reward you with favor.” (TPT)

Mark Twain once said, "The only safe and sure way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend."

That, my friends, is the gospel!

- Brad J.

DATE: 01.29.25

Law has God looking like a Lion.

Grace has God looking like a Lamb.

The lion sheds the blood of its enemies.

The lamb sheds blood for its enemies.

The Lord is, "Killing us with Kindness!"

"And: If your enemy is hungry, buy him lunch! Win him over with kindness. For your surprising generosity will awaken his conscience, and God will reward you with favor. Never let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good." - Romans 12:20-21 TPT

As I was writing this, the lyrics to "Killing me softly" (Roberta Flack/The Fugees) came flowing into my mind...

"I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style

And so I came to see him, and listen for a while

And there he was, this young boy, stranger to my eyes

Strumming my pain with his fingers (one time, one time)

Singing my life with his words (two times, two times)

Killing me softly with his song

Killing me softly with his song

Telling my whole life with his words

Killing me softly with his song

I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd

I felt he'd found my letters and read each one out loud

I prayed that he would finish, but he just kept right on

Strumming my pain with his fingers

Singing my life with his words

Killing me softly with his song

Killing me softly with his song

Telling my whole life with his words

Killing me softly with his song."

- Brad J.

DATE: 11.27.24

"No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." 

- John 1:18

The law could not reveal Him.

The prophets could not reveal Him.

Then after 400 plus years of silence, a young virgin by the name of Mary holds God in her hands for the first time.  

Does she say "Wow, if this is God, He sure looks just like me?"  or does she say, "Wow, if this is God, I sure look just like Him."

We are all created in the image and likeness of our Heavenly Father, displayed through the face of His son. (Gen. 1:27) This is why the word "inherit" is so much more than just a term to cash in on your parents life savings when they die, but to biologically be handed down traits that are consistent with them when you begin to live.

Maybe that is why John uses the very same language he did in John 1:18, when He wrote 1 John 4:12...

"No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us." 

- 1 John 4:12

So we see God when we love one another?

In fact, His love is perfected in us through this display?

Richard Rohr once wrote, "In fact, that is my only definition of a true Christian. A mature Christian sees Christ in everything and everyone else. That is a definition that will never fail you, always demand more of you, and give you no reasons to fight, exclude, or reject anyone."

When Jesus says in Matt. 25:40, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren..." we add to the text and imply he says 'it is "as if" you have done it for me'.  But that's not what it says!  It says, "...you did it to Me!"

The "body of Christ" is not just those who sit next to you in church.

They are those you sit with at the dinner table.

They are those you stand with at the water cooler.

They are those you walk by in the grocery store.

They are even those you despise and reject.

Christ says He is the light of men. (John 1:4)

He goes on to say that we are the light of the world. (Matt. 5:14) 

Not so people could see who we are.

But so people could see who they are!

IN CHRIST!!!

"But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them." - 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

- Brad J.

DATE: 11.22.24

"The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?" - John 4:11 ESV

(Insert Ed Bassmaster "PSSSSSH!")

Jesus said no-one can come to Him unless they are drawn. (John 6:44)

Jesus said whoever is drawn to Him will not be turned away. (John 6:37)

Jesus said if He would be lifted up from the earth (the Cross) He would draw all men to Himself. (John 12:32)

Paul sums it up best this way...

"For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised. From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. - 2 Corinthians 5:14-19 CSB

MAN, NO WONDER THEY CALL IT GOOD NEWS!

HANG ON...HE AIN'T DONE YET!  

SOME WELLS ARE JUST DEEPER THAN OTHERS.

- Brad J.

DATE: 10.8.24 

"And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!" - Genesis 28:12 ESV

Jacob is shown a ladder in which heaven and earth meet.

He calls this place "Bethel" meaning "house of God" or "the place where God dwells."

But then Jesus makes this statement in John 1:51...

"Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Christ is the true Bethel.  

The true resting place of God.

But now Christ lives in us.  Which means that we are the new meeting place of heaven and earth.  We were created by design to be able to carry His presence with us everywhere we go.

"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." - Revelation 21:3 KJV

WITH MEN! 

Not around men...but in men!

The word used throughout scripture for "tent" or "tabernacle" in the greek is the word "skene (pronounced skaynay). 

It is where we get our English word "skin!".

Oh! You are so much more than meets the eye.  Your very DNA resembles a ladder!!!

God asks Isaiah a question in Isaiah 66...

"Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?"

Peter reiterates this very same question (Acts 7:46-49) to the listeners as He pleads to them to receive Christ into their hearts...

"Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?"

Don't miss it today.  I pray for the steady stream of angelic traffic flowing through your day today.  Miracles passing by on the left and on the right.  You don't have to do a thing.  Go to work.  Love your family.  But be present. 

You are where God wants to dwell!

- Brad J.

DATE: 10.3.24 

 God didn't rest on the 7th day because He was tired.
He rested because the work was finished. 7 is the number of completion. (Gen. 2:1)

Jesus on the cross said "it is finished" (John 19:30) then sat down at the right hand of the Father. (Heb. 12:2) Also, not because he was tired...but because the work was finished.

Hebrews 4:9-10 says, "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his."

You can rest too!

You are a new creation in Christ. The old is gone and the new has come. (2 Cor. 5:17) And God has stepped back again, takes one look at the new you, and says "it is very good!" (Gen. 1:31)

Because in Adam, God placed 

the man in the garden.
But in Christ, God placed 

the garden in the man.

(royalties to Pastor Jamie Wright for that banger of a line!)

All the work is done. Now, just tend it, keep it...and enjoy it!

You know what they say...do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life. Living in the Paradise of God, everything works together for good.

Trials are considered joy. (James 1:2)
Seasons only go from glory to glory. 

(2 Cor. 3:18)
And His commandments aren't grievous anymore. (1 John 5:3)
All of creation is now at harmony again. (Col. 1:20)
Even the wolf lies with the lion. 

(Isaiah 11:6)

"Tend an orchard and you’ll have fruit to eat. Serve the Master’s interests and you’ll receive honor that’s sweet." - Proverbs 27:18 TPT

Question is...Where are you living? 

- Brad J.

 DATE: 9.27.24

I just learned that through the sequence called myocardial unfolding, the human heart is actually one single, longitudinal muscle.

In other words, the heart can unfold. Or unravel even.

Like a book, or better yet, like a scroll.

John writes,

"And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” - Revelation 5:2-5  ESV

But can the heart be a scroll?  

Can God actually write on our hearts?

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." 

- Jeremiah 31:33 NLT

And if our hearts are a scroll…then what are the seals?

According to Cleveland Clinic, the human heart has four valves that act as seals that direct the flow of blood into the proper places.  These same valves act like "doors" opening and closing.

Who can break the seals?  
Who can open the door?

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." 

- Revelation 3:20

Solomon, in his wisdom, wrote, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." 

- Ecclesiastes 3:11

The prophet Jeremiah writes, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”  (Jer. 17:9-10 ESV)

And John gets a glimpse into heaven and weeps at the very questions the prophets ask.

WHO CAN OPEN THE SCROLL?
WHO CAN BREAK THE SEALS?

What is He saying?!

WHO CAN KNOW THE HEART?

And then He saw the lamb.  The lamb who had been slain.
The lamb covered in blood.

And it is only blood that makes the human heart come alive.

John later writes in 1 John 3:19-21,

"By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God."

My prayer today is that you let Him in.
Let him unravel your heart.
Let Him open your scroll.
Let Him break those seals.
Let Him show you His heart as you show Him yours.

Grace & Peace.

- Brad J.