Today you will be with me in Paradise

I was talking with Alberto in the jail today. He has been experiencing so much of God's presence lately. I didn't think our last conversation had gone anywhere when I talked about forgiving enemies, but he said he had made a list of all the people he needed to forgive and had spent a lot of time praying forgiveness toward them. When he was done he said it felt like a small thorn had been removed from his heart. He said he told his mom she should forgive some people and she laughed at him, but he insisted that God was bringing him freedom.

He said he'd had a couple dreams where he was speaking the scriptures to someone. The most recent one was with the thieves on the crosses next to Jesus. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

I asked him why he thought he'd dreamed that scripture. He wasn't sure. I suggested that Jesus was saying that being a criminal didn't separate him from Him and that even today he was with Jesus in His Kingdom.