Month: February 2018

Heaven’s Treasures

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

I dreamed I was at heaven’s door

I heard its hinges creak

Around its frame a light shone out

As it opened for the King

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“What have you brought?” He asked

“From your time on earth now through”

I didn’t know what I could say

I just had to tell the truth

 

So I talked about the mission’s trips

And how each day I prayed

And how I often read His word

And all the tithes I gave

When I stopped – he paused

And then He gently said

Those were not from your truest heart

But just rituals instead”

“But the forgiveness you gave your parents

When divorce left you alone

And love you shared with strangers

When you opened up your home

And sorrowful repentant tears

And confessions in the night

Those are the things I treasure here

And are precious in my sight!”

Worship and Praise

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I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. Psalms 138:2

Worship in it’s truest form happens in our secret place with God. Praise on the other hand begins bursts out into public with joyful shouts because it is impossible to keep to ourselves the wonderful loving kindness of God! Most our trouble in ministry is a result of leaving one of these undone.

The Greatest Hope

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A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34

Every day our news is filled with the latest revelation of some scandal and the almost inevitable end of the career of some famous person. When we are hurt by those we love or begin to think of our own failures we can easily lose all hope.

But think of the last supper when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet while they were arguing about who was the best, Peter was just hours away from publicly denying that he knew Jesus  and Judas was planning to betray Him. Somehow in the middle of that tangled mess, Jesus still looked at His disciples with hope. The hope that Jesus placed in them was not based on the circumstances or the purity of their hearts. His hope for them and for us is based entirely on His choice to love. His love holds the key to His hope. By His love and grace, no matter how low we have fallen, can still make us into the man or woman He created us to be.  God’s hope has less to do with information about our past then with His plans for our future!

In light of God’s hope for us how much hope should we have for the people around us? When we begin to love others as He commands we will suddenly discover, there is still a great hope that we can share with the world today!