He speaks into our hearts

For those who know Jesus, the Bible is often His way of speaking directly to our situation. The Greek term for this is “rhema” (word) rather than “logos” (also word). This is subjective but a very real communication. What God says to us might be out of context from the Scripture passage, yet never outside the character of God.

Nearly twenty years ago, God blessed me with a “rhema” that He reminds me of today. Back then, on this day, my father died. He’d been ill for a couple weeks and the family took turns sitting with him. I was in a nearby hotel for the night and my younger brother was with dad. It was 5:45 in the morning when the call came.

As I drove the short distance to the hospital, I chuckled. Dad had a habit of phoning the rest of the family as soon as he got up. He was a farmer who often rose before the sun. I said, “Dad, you did it again.”

After spending time at the hospital, I drove back to the hotel. My habit for years had been early morning devotions. I was thinking, “It is Christmas Eve. The devotion will be about Christmas. How can God speak to my need this morning?” I was a bit uncertain about my dad’s salvation. When I opened my devotional book, this was a portion of the passage it featured:

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation . . . .’” (Luke 2:25–30)

This morning I joyfully sob again at the grace of God. Dad had made a profession of faith in his old age. This biggest change I’d seen in him was the disappearance of his habit of nervously grinding his teeth. I was not certain, even though he told me he prayed, and even though he spoke well of God and did not blaspheme His name. However, Jesus knew that I needed to have my hope for dad affirmed, so He affirmed it — from the Christmas story.

Since then, we have often experienced Christmas without grief or a sense of an empty chair. Dad is with Jesus, and he would not want us to cry and weep, but be joyful at this time of the year. Jesus didn’t want that either.

^^^^^^^^

Oh, my Lord God, You are a marvel. You can speak right inside my head and my heart, knowing exactly what I need to hear each day, sometimes each hour. I know that what I hear from You must correspond with Your Word and Your character. Otherwise I would be imagining things. Yet You make yourself known in ways that always surprise me, ways that I would not imagine. Today, I anticipated “rhema” again and You speak. What a joy to celebrate Your arrival on earth — coming to seek and save the lost, and living forever to intercede for Your children, speaking also to our need and giving joy to our hearts.