Author: pastorpete51

Life From the Dead

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He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6 ESV

(I have probably posted this in the past, but since it is one of my favorite personal stories that link with Easter, I am republishing for some of you to reread and for my newer followers to discover for the first time. )

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As I was driving home from work one day, I saw a turtle crawling across the road. “What a great thing to show our boys!” I thought. So, I pulled over, scooped Him up and gently placed him on the passenger seat and drove home. As I walked in the door that afternoon, cradling the little turtle in my hands, our two young sons rushed over to see what I was holding. They were out of their minds with excitement as we made up a box for him, complete with water and grass. But our turtle wasn’t happy. He wouldn’t eat or drink anything and as the days passed we realized that Mr. Turtle needed to be set free. The next day we drove to the outskirts of town, where I had found him. I found a good spot and pulled over. Then I gently took the turtle out of his box and put him on the ground. At first he remained motionless, and I began to wonder if he had died. But as we walked away, he slowly eased one foot, out of his shell and then another. Then, he poked out his head, took one look back and raced away as fast as his stubby legs could carry him! Mr. Turtle’s surprising revival reminded me of Jesus. His friends wept and walked away without hope on Good Friday. But that was not the end of His story. Very early, on Easter Sunday morning, Jesus sat up, placed first one foot and then the other on the ground, and then walked out of that grave to give us life from the dead with Him!

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Praying for Our Children

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Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 
Psalm 90:16 ESV

When our children were young, we had big plans for their lives. We sacrificed, saved, and struggled so that they would have better opportunities than we had. But the day came with each of them, when they moved out on their own and began doing things on their own, sometimes in directions we had never thought of. Though it wasn’t easy, the reality was that we had to learn to let go of our control. We needed to trust that just as God had lovingly directed and corrected us over the years, that they would also have to fall down here and there in order to experience God’s power in helping them back up again. That is something of the situation in which Moses writes Psalm 90. The children of Israel were somewhere in the desert on their forty-year journey. They definitely had some huge missteps along the way. They grumbled, tried to elect a new leader to take them back to Egypt and even built a golden calf. Yet, after some grave consequences, along with Moses pleading for God’s mercy, they eventually made it. It amazes me that Moses didn’t plead for himself to be allowed to go into the promised land, instead, he prayed that God would show His power to the next generation. With all the focus that is put on discovering our gifts and fulfilling our purpose, sometimes we forget that God also has a purpose for the next generation. Sometimes the most important job we have is to pray for God to help our children experience His power for themselves. We may not have the opportunity to cross every river ourselves, but we can ask for God’s grace and power for those who will. God gives each of us a small but special part in His enormous plan. First we need to be faithful to do all the work that God has given us, and then we need to pray for the ones coming after us to discover His will for themselves. Our job is to pass along our faith, not our plans. In our case, though our kids haven’t done a lot of things we planned on, what God has given them to do is better than anything we ever imagined. If we will be willing to pray, for them to see God’s power for themselves, then one day, we will meet on the other side of the river and rejoice together because of both God’s amazing plan and HIs amazing grace

A Little Talk With Jesus

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Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
John 13:37-38 ESV

While the other gospels just tell us that Jesus went from the Last Supper table to the Garden of Gethsemane; John allows us to listen in to His conversation. Jesus had just finished telling the disciples that He was going to be betrayed and that He was leaving them, and they were shocked. Peter then volunteered to die before he would let that happen. But, instead of saying, “Wow that’s great. I know I can always count on you! Jesus turned and told Peter that he was about to deny even knowing him! Try to imagine Peter’s thoughts. “What could possibly happen to make me deny knowing Jesus? Where in the world is He going? Why is He telling us this?” Just as most of us would be pretty discouraged if our best friend told us this, the disciples were both astonished and dismayed to hear Jesus’ words. But Jesus wasn’t telling them this to discourage them. Instead, in order to tell them the wonderful news of God’s plans, Jesus needed to begin by showing them that nothing would depend on them. And just like with those disciples, God knows about our personal failures, lack of faith and sins, and yet, He still loves us. His plan is in no way dependent on our success, ability, or reputation. Jesus specializes in saving lost people, and even those who sometimes deny faith. He not only loves us, but He has come to give us strength, and forgiveness, so that we can be saved, and that God will get all the glory!