Daily devotion

The Lord My Light

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 ESV

Did you ever stop to think of God’s light in our life at different times of the day? There is the light of dawn when He awakens us with excitement for the new day ahead. He shines brightly at noon so we can see every detail clearly of the work He has given us to do.

He shines softly revealing all the spectrum of His beautiful plan as our sun sets.

And yet there is even another light when darkness has fallen and that is the eternal and unchanging faithful light of the stars he has made. At all times and every season Jesus remains the light of our life and salvation!

Jesus Our Shepherd

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 ESV

We are nearing the six-month mark of a life that is completely different from anything we have known before. No plan, no relationship and no expectation has gone untouched. Churches have services online; large companies battle just to stay afloat, and the doors have been closed to family and visitors of long-term care facilities. But through everything you may have been through this year Jesus remains the Good Shepherd for anyone who comes to Him.

What exactly is a good shepherd? An ordinary shepherd is just the one who owns sheep, but a good shepherd is someone who cares about them. An ordinary shepherd drives his sheep where he wants them to go; but a good shepherd goes ahead of them to make sure the way is safe. Jesus told us that He is the good shepherd and that to make the way safe for us He gave His life. If we follow Him; He promises to walk ahead of us through everything that lies ahead. Why would we put our trust in anyone else? Only Jesus has given His life. Why not make Him our Good Shepherd today?

What Have I Surrendered?

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 ESV

It is important to be careful of what we sing in church because not only God is listening but also some of our friends! For example one day after singing “I Surrender All” for our little nursing home group I launched into a short devotional about surrendering to God. Just I was just beginning to warm up one elderly lady sweetly interrupted me and asked; “What have you surrendered?” For a moment I was speechless. I had no idea what to list as to any kind of real suffering I had been through. Her question got me thinking. Sure I had surrendered plenty for the sake of my family; but what had I ever given up because of my faith? Now after many years I confess that I still don’t have a perfect answer but it helps me to remember that even people like James, Stephen and Paul who were martyred also had jobs, family relationships to deal with and bills to pay. They died for their faith in Christ but they also lived a lifetime of surrendering in small details that no one saw but Jesus.

And though most of us may never have to choose to die at the hands of our persecutors we do have a daily choice to make. Will we choose to say every day, “I Surrender All” because no matter what Jesus has surrendered all for us!