Month: April 2019

Heaven’s Treasure

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living    Psalms 27:13

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I dreamed I stood at heaven’s door

and heard its hinges creak

Around its frame a light shone out

As it opened for the King

“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 finally 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!”

 

God’s Open Door

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

 

1554975554024_image.jpgIn the ancient Macedonian city of Philippi, Paul and Silas found themselves at the epicenter of an earthquake that changed not only their own his lives; but the future of Christianity in the West. Previous to their travel there; Paul had a dream of a Macedonian man calling for help and so had obediently left a successful work  of planting churches throughout Asia minor, Cyprus and Syria. But not long after going to Macedonia, Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten and thrown into prison.

If you are anything like me, you might have started moaning or at best patiently enduring the pain and humiliation of that day. Should I have been in Paul’s place I could have complained saying; “God: You called me here and this is the thanks I get!” But no! …In fact Paul and Silas were singing hymns at midnight when suddenly an earthquake shook the prison so hard that the doors swung open and their chains fell to the ground. Often we pray for an open door and in my mind that is most definitely an open door!

If that had happened to me while chained in a dungeon I am pretty sure that I along with most of you would have been half-way home before slowing down long enough to catch our breath. But the funniest thing about that night is that the open door let the jailer in; not the prisoner out!

So no matter the problem or situation we find ourselves in today may this remind us that God’s doors are more about entrances than exits. God is working not so much to get us out of things as He is bringing others to us so that we can point them to Him and together go out through His open door!

Falling Asleep on Take-Off

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

I am not a big fan of flying though I have flown extensively. I like to joke that I can’t fall asleep even on long flights because the pilot may need my help. In fact travel of just about any kind tends to keep me on edge. I was so surprised when I accompanied my pastor Joliam Sampaio on an overseas mission’s trip to find out that he is so used to flying that sometimes he falls asleep before take-off!

In this passage he disciples were about to leave on a mission’s trip of their own. Their pastor; Jesus Christ decided that they needed to go across the sea of Galilee. Matthew’s gospel tells us that Jesus was the first into the boat and then worn out from a long day of ministering to the multitudes he fell asleep. While the boat they were traveling approached the halfway point of their journey a wild storm blew in. The waves sloshed over the sides and the wind tossed them around so violently that the experiences fishermen piloting the boat that night began to think they might be on their way to the bottom and yet Jesus slept on. I imagine the conversations among them went something like this;

“We need a miracle Peter and since you are the oldest; you wake Him up!” shouted Peter’s younger brother Andrew over the howling of the wind.

“No way Andy!” Peter replied. “Ask John. Jesus likes Him better.”

“Me!” John answered in surprise.. “Why do you always have me ask Him all the questions. It’s Phillip’s turn this time!”

Finally as terror set in with the worsening of the state of the ship they decided it to make it  joint effort, and the shouted in unison. “Master ! Wake up! Are you so sleepy that you aren’t even worried if we all die?!”

If this sounds anything like your situation today welcome to the club. Like me you may have the tendency to stay awake in case the pilot needs help. We may fret over details; so much that any holdup or unpleasant change in our plans makes us feel that everything if falling apart. Events that we were certain we were in charge of are suddenly spinning out of control and it seems like God is either unaware or unconcerned with our panic. But the good news is that we are still in the boat with Jesus. We have 24/7 access to Him and we don’t even need to wait for an emergency to ask for His help. He is simply waiting for us to call for His help. When the Lord is in our boat He guarantees us that we will get to the destination He has determined.  There is nothing that takes Him by surprise and no opposition that can prevent us from reaching the other shore.

 

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