A Clear Pathway

Acts 22:20

“And when the blood of your martyr, Stephen, was shed, I stood there guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.”

Father, you brought to my mind as I read this, about when Paul met Stephen in heaven.
I sensed them embracing each other with a deep love. Was there memory of Paul’s approval of Stephen’s death? Did Stephen remember Paul watching him being stoned and even guarding the clothes of those who killed him? You gave me a sense of the deep love they must have felt for one another…they were free from earthly bindings. If the memory of earthly things or experiences are recalled in heaven, it seems there is only love and joy regarding them because of now being able to see the whole picture. From the beginning of earthly time to the end of it.

So, Father, I was thinking about the words we say to others, the way we treat others, especially other believers. I know Your Spirit is willing to help us, enable us NOW to lay aside the earthly emotions and barriers that keep us from embracing one another, whether it is an inward barrier or an outward one. Whether we are self-conscious or focusing on someone else’s faults and sins.

As Paul and Stephen must have been when they met, immersed in Your Divine Love, so also are we today. Your Holy Spirit always produces love that covers all transgressions.

It is finished. Sin was totally paid for on that Cross. We have a clear pathway, Jesus, to be able to at any moment come to Your loving arms. You will embrace and love us with Your perfect love..the same love that all believers have as they reunite in heaven.

Enable my heart to make a clear pathway also; for my sisters and brothers in Christ and all others You send to me.