Peace Be With You. Jesus in the Upper Room

¹⁹ When it was evening on the first day of the week, Jesus' followers were together. The doors were locked, because they were afraid of the elders. Then Jesus came and stood right in the middle of them and said, "Peace be with you." ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. His followers were thrilled when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Then Jesus said again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, I now send you." ²² After he said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you don't forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:19-23, New Century Version)

Most of us knows what CPR is. It is a life saving technique whereby one person puts their mouth over an unconscious person forcing air into their lungs. The hope is that this along with chest compressions a person will be revived so that they will avoid death. In Greek, the work for breath and spirit are the same! Hence, Jesus is breathing on us and pouring into us his life giving spirit.

Here is a meditation based on the above Scripture. Sit with your eyes closed. Imagine Jesus before you. Inhale deeply. As you inhale, let Him speak these words to you. Peace be with you.

Now exhale. Let your stale self-made air escape. Inhale again hearing the words, Peace be with you. Repeat this for several minutes until you feel relaxed, at peace.

Jesus provides us with His peace, that passes all understanding. But we must let go of ourselves so that He may breath new life into us!

Can We Believe Anything We Want?

Can we believe anything we want? If we can, then we are the creator of our belief. If each one of us who is not perfect by any means created whatever belief we wanted in order to order our world, then we claim ourselves as the final authority. Let's look at this logically.

All humans have their own personal beliefs.
All Humans are not perfect nor eternal.
Thus, all human beliefs are not perfect nor eternal.

If we can believe anything we want, then why just limit our subjective beliefs to religion? Why not apply them to other disciplines like mathmatics. Perhaps I choose to believe that 2+2=16 rather than 4. What would happen to my checkbook if I maintained this belief? Religious beliefs are the same way. It does matter how we believe. And who, what and where is our authority in determining our right beliefs?

We, humans are not perfect nor did we make ourselves. Hence, we must seek the knowledge of the one true God as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ!

Good Friday, The Last Word "Father, I commend my Spirit"

Luke 23:46-49
And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!” And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Into you hands I commit my spirit. The last word, it’s now over. Jesus’ last word is the beginning of His Resurrection. After all, He has to die to rise to new life. It may be three days from now. But He is putting all of His trust into the hands of His Father. He has given up the ghost. All Jesus has is His Father’s mercy.

Into your hands I commit my spirit. Jesus last word. Should it not be our first word. How often do we trust in ourselves over and above trusting in our Father in Heaven. Should not this word, be our morning prayer. Having passed through the night in safety upon our arising out of bed, should we not acknowledge our life is not our own, and say to God, Father, into you hands I commit my spirit. After all, our spirit belongs to God. Our breath belongs to God. The air I breath belongs to God. Our life is God’s to begin with. So, should I not acknowledge it, and begin each waking day with, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit?

Bono, the lead singer of the rock band, U2 once said, “A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it... I have a family, please look after them... I have this crazy idea...And this wise man said: stop.He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.Get involved in what God is doing — because it's already blessed.”

Today as we leave this place hearing Jesus’ last words, Let us commit ourselves back to God. After all, God and His work are already blessed.