175. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. For him, the Lord our God dwells among us.

6 July 2021

So that I might dwell among them.

Exodus 29

44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 

45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 

46 They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”

The Sign of Immanuel

Isaiah 7

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Matthew 1

23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

The Word Became Flesh

John 1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

2 He was with God in the beginning.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

John 20

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 

31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The Lord Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Messiah. He is Immanuel, God with us.

He did dwell among the apostles.

What I consider the display of the Lord Jesus' majesty is the transfiguration.

The Transfiguration

Matthew 17

1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 

2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 

3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

Then the Risen Lord spoke about the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 14

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

It is the Holy Spirit in the New Testament as it is the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament.

Genesis 22

11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

In the words of Apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, in each one of us.

1 Corinthians 6

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 

20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 3

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

The Holy Spirit is also referred to as the Comforter, and we invoke this in prayer for comfort and strength in times of grief and mourning.

In the preceding blog, I recounted my unexpected encounter with a young doctor at the hospital during my confinement.

I have to admit that, besides comfort from the enlightenment this young doctor gave me, he was a messenger of subtle rebuke.

The Lord Jesus rebuked Peter.

John 21

20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 

21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

The first time this young doctor came to my room, I was showing him the door, that was rude of me. There was confusion about the colonoscopy and I was already tired and not inclined to engage in further conversation. Yet, he stayed around me, then he came back telling me all he was trying to do was to convince me not to delay my colonoscopy for my own sake.

I was rebuked because of his patience, after all he can just oblige to my cue of having no further discussion, and there he was with all the concern for my well-being. If I remember it right, it was at that point that he said he was seeing in me his very own Dad. I was disarmed of my impatience. I was humbled that I told him I will apologize to the gastro doctor on duty the following day and will beg that I be endorsed for preparation for colonoscopy by the subsequent gastro doctor to go on duty.

What followed, I had another 2 bags of blood, my hemoglobin went up to 98 and I was administered cleansing fluid in preparation for colonoscopy which then proceeded accordingly.

I do not know how things would have been if this young doctor did not take the risk at me given the rude behavior I had earlier towards him. The rebuke was subtle, I was humbled. I would say he was prodded by the Holy Spirit not to give up on me.

This doctor is a stranger. Yet at times, strangers are heaven-sent.

Hebrews 13

2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

It was good I made a turnaround and entertained the persistence of this young doctor.

The dwelling of God among us, the Holy Spirit in this young doctor made him intentionally reach out to me. He was a complete stranger and an angel at that. I was convicted by the Holy Spirit, I was humbled by his patience going the extra mile to give me enlightenment.

As I said in the preceding blog, my stay at the hospital was in fact a spiritual retreat.

""One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:4, 5, 8, 14, 13). Lord God, I praise You, in Jesus' name. Amen.

4 January 2018"

One day, my children's children will say, wala ka sa Lolo ko; for him, the Lord our God dwells among us.

It's all God's grace. Yes, God is gracious. He is faithful. He is amazing. His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Amen.

May you be blessed with God's Word.

Maraming salamat.