Author: pastorpete51

Don’t Stop Praying!

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 
Luke 18:1 NIV

God knows that some days we feel like giving up on prayer. Maybe we think that there are bigger problems in the world or that God isn’t interested. Yet, instead of just lecturing us, Jesus tells us a story about a widow and a judge. This widow wasn’t politically connected, or rich and she had an someone harassing her. We aren’t told exactly the issue: only that the one person she could turn to for help was a corrupt judge. Yet she didn’t give up, run away, or complain to her neighbors. Instead, every morning she walked down to the judge’s house. I can just picture him looking out his window, as he heard her knock, muttering, “Oh no! Not her again!”

Maybe she was driving him crazy, but all she really wanted was for him to do his job. Finally, the judge threw up his hands, and said something like, “All right! I’ll do it! Just please leave me alone!” Then, Jesus reminds us that God is not even a little bit like that judge. God wants to hear our prayers. God loves us, wants the best for us, and since He is so good, we should never give up. God is listening, and if we keep on praying and believing, we can trust that one day He is sure to answer!

“I have abandoned all particular forms of devotion, all prayer techniques. My only prayer practice is attention. I carry on a habitual, silent, and secret conversation with God that fills me with overwhelming joy.” 
Brother Lawrence

Abiding After the Storm

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
When the rain was raging
And the storm knocked at my door
Abiding meant still resting
In God’s Word and nothing more

After hours of cleanup
In the sunset’s fading light
Abiding was still walking
On with Christ throughout the night

In the middle of destruction
With debris now piled deep
Abiding is still trusting
God our hearts will daily keep!

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, 
neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 
John 15:4 NKJV

Abiding After the Storm
by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2024
All rights reserved

Author's note: Though we personally were spared during this storm, many of our friends were caught in the worst of it. What little ways we are able to help, barely make a dent in the work that lies ahead, but as God's family we are trusting Him to get us through this together.

The Aftermath of Helene

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The stories are all different but the results are equally life changing here for so many of our friends. But one dear sister in our small group shared this verse from Habakkuk that encouraged her this morning.

Though the fig tree should not blossom nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18 Esv

Habakkuk sees trouble everywhere he looks, and since he is surrounded by problems he looks up and sees the Lord. We are so blessed to be on the edge of the devastation untouched, but our hearts go out to so many who are struggling today. We do not know the answers or have the solutions, but we can have hope and even joy because our Lord remains the God of our salvation, our helper and friend in time of trouble!