EPICENTER: ISAIAH 25:7

EPICENTER I was at the Jewish Community Center here in Southwest Houston recently for a meeting of the HOA in our neighborhood. I felt just a bit awkward and shunned by others and wondered if it really was that way; and was because our house and property are not as tidy as they should be; or because my face is scarred (acne as well as a recent non identified rash on my face which has left new permanent or semi permanent scars); or was it because I wore- in this dedicated space for jewish people and by Jewish people, and in this group of neighbors, many of whom were jewish- a necklace with the Hebrew name for the One whom the jews are forbidden to embrace as their Messiah. ooo! that last phrase was loaded! Yes, I wore my "Yeshua" necklace that daughter had given me. And as the Lord worked it out, I wore it with a plain dark blue tee shirt and dark red jacket that allowed the name to be seen clearly for those that read Hebrew. yeay, God! anyway (and didn't feel bad about not too much interaction), that reminded me about a quest that I've been on for several years now. so i tell you now. ... continuing June 12, 2024 I was driving by the Houston/ meyerland jcc several years ago, which is on a verdant stretch of s. braeswood between chimney rock and Hillcroft with the vista of the open land and bayou to the north- beautiful spot; I thought of that verse, ISAIAH 25:7, and I pondered, and asked the Lord: How can it be that You can wipe away every tear and take away the disgrace of...? How can people forget all the pain that has been endured? would not that be the same as forgetting the people who endured the pain? and we don't want to forget those people, Lord. Isn't that so, Lord? Okay, people. Here goes: Somehow, i felt the Lord impress upon me that the answer to that seemingly impossible promise, ISAIAH 25:7, was something that hadn't been revealed before. Uh oh! A seed to the answer was planted many years earlier when my sister (Sarah) told me that she had started to regularly pray for people and their events that had happened in the past, not concerning herself with the fact that the events are past to us and supposedly the results are known and set because that time has, in fact, passed. Sally Sarah told me she was inspired to include such prayers in her reaching out to our God because of the teaching and beliefs expressed by Charles Williams, the British Christian author and friend of C. S. Lewis. (I later read a novel by Williams where a character does pray for someone in the past.) I went into "WHAT IF" mode. What if the Lord desires and has ordained that in order to bring about His Will and glorious kingdom in this Earth His followers have to unite in prayer and in faith for a person or persons in the past at a pivotal time in the History of Mankind (I was thinking of a time event after Christ's ascension and before now. I would also think that such a pivotal time would be before Christ's church started going off the rails; before that church became majority man; before church lost the hallmark of sacrificial love and strong obedience to God.) (to be continued)