Abba Father!

January 8, 2025 / pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father. Romans 8:15 NLT

Call me old fashioned, but nothing irks me more than to hear people call their parents by their first names. According to recent estimates, there are eight billion folks on earth who can call them “Bob,” or “Barbara,” but only their children can call out “Mom!” or “Dad!” Today’s verse reminds us that as God’s adopted children, we receive the privilege to call Him “Abba, Father.” God has many names in the Bible like “Mighty God” “Prince of Peace” and Wonderful Counselor,” and these all tell us what He does. But we who have been adopted into His family, can call Him “Abba.” Because of who He is to us.

Fifty years ago, I walked into a hospital room and saw my wife holding our newborn son. As I looked in amazement at his tiny, wrinkled face, God gave me much more than a new job: He gave me a new name: “Dad” When we put our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are adopted into God’s family and can begin to call Him: “Abba Father.” But in that very same instant, as God looks down at our faces, He also gives us new names and calls out “Welcome home son.” and “Welcome Home daughter!”

Have you been adopted into God’s family? You can be today! The Bible says, "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12 NLT
Believe in Him and accept Him as Lord and you too can call Him "ABBA!"

See You Later Banjo

January 7, 2025January 7, 2025 / pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:1-2 KJV

Last Sunday was a sad day here, when the Vet told us that our little friend Banjo had to be put down. Though Banjo had only been with us for the last three and a half months, he had become a part of my daily routine. God gave a calling to each of us and Banjo’s was to teach people (especially me!) to slow down, cuddle up with friends and trust. Almost every morning since he arrived after his home was flooded in the hurricane, Banjo and I had gone for a walk. Now, I have always been an avid walker, but my walks were much changed since my little buddy came along. With Banjo’s pace somewhere between a meander and a browse, I didn’t get much of a cardio workout anymore, but I met more of our neighbors, and on our nighttime walks I began to pause long enough to notice the stars and feel the bite of the breeze.

I was also reminded to be thankful for both the people and the puppy dogs around me, because we never know how long they will be with us, and we rarely understand how precious they are until they are gone. It is often said that Jesus never hurried. He took time to consider sparrows and slowed his pace for a blind man begging by the roadside. He marveled at wildflowers, and He sat by a well waiting for a woman who no one else would speak with. Today, Jesus is in Heaven ruling the universe by His Father’s side. His suffering is over, and He is in a place of perfect peace and unspeakable joy. Yet, He still takes time for sinners like you and me. His calls us to follow Him at a pace slow enough to learn to love our neighbors and notice the glory of God in the world that He has made. But Jesus also tells us to pack our bags, because this world is not our home. He has prepared a place for us in our Father’s house, and I can’t but believe that Banjo is outside mine romping through the front yard there and waiting for me to go with Him on some amazing walks around the block!

Before We Had Faces

January 4, 2025January 14, 2025 / pastorpete51 / 12 Comments

Before we had faces
And we had no voice at all
Then no one else could see us
 When we were small – small – small

God took the plans He’d made
And put them out to see
To show to all the pattern
He would use for you and me

Then stamped His image on our hearts
And signed the bottom line
So we would be delivered
Just exactly in His time!

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13 NIV

Before We Had Faces
By Peter Caligiuri
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