Arrival in Heaven

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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.                   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks put the circumstances of our lives, both good and bad into God’s hands and help us see them through His eyes. Last night our beloved daughter-in-law Melinda slipped from this world into the presence of Jesus. And while we are overwhelmed with grief and shock, these words are promises to which we cling. Melinda has finished her race. Her battle with cancer is finished. And while that pernicious disease claimed her physical life, it could not touch her soul. That remained fully and exclusively in the hands of Jesus with whom she now lives. Nancy and I didn’t know how to process the news that came in three words. “She is gone.” Yet as sadness rolls over my heart I sense the message echo back from Heaven, ” She has arrived!”

This is My Commandment That You Love One Another

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 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. .John 15:12 NKJV

Now, when Jesus told His disciples, “This is my commandment”, He certainly didn’t mean, that there were no other principles, commands or expectations within His teachings about the Kingdom of God. But what it does mean, is that if we aren’t loving one another, then none of the other stuff matters. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13, “Even if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” With a single sentence, Jesus levels the playing field among Christians. Rich or poor, male or female, young or old, brilliant or just folks with plain intelligence, we are all equally His children. Even if we are alone, we still are each given an opportunity to love someone today, if only through our prayers. Even though this chorus was not in their songbook, it so resonated with the residents at Life Care Center, that many were tapping their feet, singing along and smiling broadly. Are you struggling to love someone right now? Don’t worry. God isn’t expecting us to do all the heavy lifting. All He asks of us is to open our hearts and allow His love to pour through us to others. The world may never run out of people who are tough to love, but God will also never run out of love, because the Bible tells us, “God is love” (John 4:8).

Have a blessed weekend everyone, Happy Father's Day and remember that even the Beatles said, 
"We all need somebody to love!"

Jacob’s Journey Home

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Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” Genesis 31:3 ESV

After cheating his brother and deceiving his father, Jacob had run away and spent twenty years living in Padan-Aram. Then in today’s verse, God appears to Jacob in a dream and tells him that it is time to go home. On the way, Jacob wrestled with an angel, had his name changed, and then came face to face with the brother he had cheated. But Jacob was shocked to discover that instead of revenge, Esau was ready to be reconciled with him. But Jacob still didn’t know where he belonged. He settled down for a little while and even bought some land and built an altar just outside of Canaan, but God’s plan still seemed uncertain. Now, we may have never wrestled an angel or been through the same misadventures as Jacob, but we all have had our challenges, failures, and postponed dreams. Maybe, like Jacob, we have run from our problems, and God is still wrestling with us as He works to change our hearts. Though that that wrestling leaves most of us with a permanent limp, God also leaves us with a blessing. Are you a returned prodigal still unsure of where you belong? Don’t be discouraged, God isn’t done with you yet! A few chapters later, God appeared to Jacob a second time and gave him a specific destination: a place called Bethel, which translated means the house of God. Just as Jesus told us, He has gone to prepare a place for us in Heaven, God also has a place for us here on earth. He calls each of us to our Bethel, where we can worship and serve in peace, because our hearts have come home to Him!

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Memories and Stitches

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My memories feel like balls of yarn
Which from a basket spill
And then I watch my threads of life
Go tumbling down the hill!

So lately I have been wondering
How to catch those memories
And knit their jumbled tumbled mess
Into the things I please

But then my Lord reminds me
In whose hands my life is held
That through each tangled strand and stitch
He will His story tell

I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.
Psalm 139:14 NKJV


Memories and Stitches
by Peter Caligiuri
copyright © 2026
all rights reserved


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