Daily devotion

Looking Ahead – Following Behind

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Mark 10:9

For those of you following my 12 gifts of Christmas series you might be wondering; “Aren’t we getting our 12th gift today?” Sorry! You cannot open your 12th gift until Christmas Eve! It is scheduled for noon tomorrow so have some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and be patient. I confess with my wife away caring for her sister I am sometime having an extra cookie right after breakfast! But enough family talk – let’s take a closer look at today’s verse.

Most of us connect Jesus’ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey to Palm Sunday and the Easter season But it is also a key here for every day; whether it is Christmas, Easter or the 4th of July. Remember Jesus teaches us to pray by starting with “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done.” And how else does His kingdom come but humbly riding in on a donkey every morning of our lives?

So as you begin your busy day, so close to Christmas, remember that This is still the – Day that the LORD HAS MADE. We can rejoice like those people did who went ahead of Jesus as He came riding into the city that morning 2,000 years ago. Just like them, we don’t know yet what Jesus might be doing today; but we can give him praise because we believe it will be great!

Then, tonight as we lay our heads on our pillows we can be like those other folks who followed behind Jesus and we can look back and say; “Hosanna! What a blessed day Jesus has given!” We will probably never understand all the details of His plan even for a single day. What we can do is to give Him praise as our day begins and ends. Have a blessed day! What you can give God praise for today?

12 Gifts of Christmas / Day 3- Prayer

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32 ESV

Can you remember a single time in the life of Jesus when he said, “I’ll be praying for you!”? He prayed when He was woken from sleep in a storm and He prayed in the desert for forty days. He prayed when people were hungry to multiply bread and He prayed for God to forgive His enemies from the cross. Everywhere and always Jesus prayed because He knew that His Father was listening. We probably already knew about those prayers of Jesus but did you ever stop to think that Christmas is in fact, the ultimate answer to every person’s prayer. God heard and He sent us His Son.

Prayer is also the greatest gift we can give to anyone this Christmas, every needs Jesus and anything is possible when we pray. Those who feel alone can experience His presence; He came as Immanuel – God with us. For friends who have lost their way, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem answers their prayers for forgiveness because He came as God’s sacrifice for sin. For the friends or family who feel life is very dark with this pandemic, He is the light of the world.

For those feel week, He came as to be our strength. For those of us who know we have done things wrong and hurt others, Jesus shows Himself as the friend of sinners. no matter our need, Jesus is the answer to our prayers . What greater gift we could give to someone else is there than to be able to honestly say “but I have prayed for you”

Gift of Kindness 12 Gifts – Day 2

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.  A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”…The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) John 4:6-7; 9 ESV

When we think of kindness we often think of giving, but kindness is really about sharing and sometimes sharing begins when we ask for help. Asking for help tells someone else that they have importance and value. Notice in the story today, just how amazed the Samaritan woman was, when Jesus asked her for a drink. “After all,” she reasoned, “I am just a woman, and a Samaritan one at that.! Because in her experience not only were women treated with badly, but Samaritans, in particular, were the object of racial discrimination by the Jews.

But then Jesus began speaking to her and offering a living water that He had for her to drink. Now, both a little startled and confused, she began asking some questions of her own. To her surprise, she found that, unlike other men she had known, He was patient and willing to listen.  At that moment, it was not His mighty works or miracles that unlocked her heart, but His kindness.  What greater gift we could give another than the kindness of Jesus, that says to them, “I have time for you, and you matter to me!” So on this second day of 12 gifts, why not ask, “To who can I give a gift of kindness today?” We won’t need to go searching high and low. Just leave the searching to God. He has a funny way of bringing us just the right someone if we’ll just sit down by a well and rest!