The Inner Room- Emotions in the Bible

May we be like Nathaniel, friends of Jesus, people who know our identity in God, his children RV 21:9B-14 The angel spoke to me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious st...

Stay present to God’s presence. God cares about the small servant in Isaiah in today’s story and Jesus about what His Apostles think in the Gospel. They care about our thoughts and actions. IS 22:19-23 Thus says the LORD to Shebna, master of the palace: “I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clot...

Mary is all in. How close do we allow God to be? How wonderful that Mary held Jesus within her! And that she cooked for him, sat with him, put him to sleep. EZ 43:1-7AB The angel led me to the gate which faces the east, and there I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. I heard a sound like the roaring of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. The vision was like that w...

Reading 1 EZ 37:1-14 The hand of the LORD came upon me, and led me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the center of the plain, which was now filled with bones. He made me walk among the bones in every direction so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain. How dry they were! He asked me: Son of man, can these bones come to life? I answered, “Lord GOD, you alone know that.”...

We are chosen by God and sent. He fills us with His spirit for the journey. He cleanses us. EZ 36:23-28 Thus says the LORD: I will prove the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations, in whose midst you have profaned it. Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when in their sight I prove my holiness through you. For I will take you away from among the nations...

God wants to shepherd us in the midst of all our difficulties. EZ 34:1-11 The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep? You have fed off their milk, worn their wool, and sla...

Reading 1 EZ 28:1-10 The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are haughty of heart, you say, “A god am I! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!”— And yet you are a man, and not a god, however you may think yourself like a god. Oh yes, you are wiser than Daniel, there is no secret that is beyond you. By your wisdom and yo...

If our life is so full that we cannot receive, we will miss out on the gifts that are coming our way from God.  EZ 24:15-23 The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, by a sudden blow I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes, but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears. Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead, bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet, do not cover y...

The Canaanite woman is an outsider. jesus grants her wish because of her faith and persistence  IS 56:1, 6-7 Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants— all who keep the sabbath free fro...

Mary fulfills the will of the Father, is the spouse of the Holy Spirit and the Mother of Jesus. The Trinity dwells in her. She stand a the foot of the Cross when all others abandon Jesus or cannot see beyond the torture. She holds the Church together for those hours at the Cross. RV 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. A...

God does not forget His promises even when we do.  EZ 16:1-15, 60, 63 The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations. Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: By origin and birth you are of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your birth, the day you were born your navel cord was not cut; you were neither washed wi...

Jesus’ parables give us images to help us get to the bottom of our hearts desires as we learn to forgive, something very, very hard to do.  EZ 12:1-12 The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house. Now, son of man, during the day while they are lo...

We all feel lonely at times. Heavenly help is available. Are you asking for it?  EZ 9:1-7; 10:18-22 The LORD cried loud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city! With that I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a writer’s case at his waist. They entered an...

Eating God’s word is to be fed in it for our journey. Jesus instructs us to be like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. EZ 2:8—3:4 The Lord GOD said to me: As for you, son of man, obey me when I speak to you: be not rebellious like this house of rebellion, but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you. It was then I saw a hand stretched out to me, in which was a written scroll which he unr...

Expressing generosity with a big heart is such a gift. My greatgrandma Esperanza did this constantly and selflessly with the poor. 2 COR 9:6-10 Brothers and sisters: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make...

Let's ponder today about the ghosts of fear and shame that can visit us and tear our interior peace out. Elijah takes shelter in a cave and hides his face before God ashamed of having killed many and finds solace in God’s whispers. Paul attacked and persecuted by his own people, the Israelites, is in a Roman prison finding solace in the joining of his conscience with the Holy Spirit. And we encoun...

Overwhelm can be a gift. It can help us reach the place where we ask God to take over. Reading 1 HAB 1:12—2:4 Are you not from eternity, O LORD, my holy God, immortal? O LORD, you have marked him for judgment, O Rock, you have readied him punishment! Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil, and the sight of misery you cannot endure. Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence while the wic...

There are only 2 ways, death and life. We choose those both inside of our hearts and out in the world. Jesus invites us to take up our cross, to choose the way of the Holy Spirit and deny our ego. NA 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 See, upon the mountains there advances the bearer of good news, announcing peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, fulfill your vows! For nevermore shall you be invaded by the scound...

We become what we behold. Jesus invites us to a personal transfiguration, that is to a complete change in form and appearance into a beautiful spiritual state. He displays the majesty of His divinity as an invitation to live with no fear. DN 7:9-10, 13-14 As I watched: Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as woo...

God wants to be the God of all people. Jesus extends his generosity to the Canaanite woman. JER 31:1-7 At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the LORD: The people that escaped the sword have found favor in the desert. As Israel comes forward to be given his rest, the LORD appears to him from afar: With age-old love I have...

The role of priests in the history of salvation is to connect people to God, to bring God’s messages to people, to aid in the worship of God. Some do it with sincerity of heart, others thwart their way JER 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22 The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD: For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write all the words I have spoken to you in a book. For thus says the LORD:...

JER 28:1-17 ... the prophet Hananiah, son of Azzur, from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will restore to this place all the vessels of the temple of the LORD which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took away from this place...

We can find a prayer to God even in a secular song

God lavishes us w abundant giving, with waters of everlasting life, with superabundant bread to feed our soul. IS 55:1-3 Thus says the LORD: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shal...

Jeremiah and John the Baptist are sought to be put to death for speaking truth. God is with us at the hour of our death. JER 26:11-16, 24 The priests and prophets said to the princes and to all the people, “This man deserves death; he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.” Jeremiah gave this answer to the princes and all the people: “It was the LORD who sent me to...