Daily devotion

Stretch Those Wings!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

Isaiah 40:31 ...but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;  they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

Today on my morning walk, I found a perfect white Ibis feather lying on the ground and brought it home to show my grandson. Ibis always make me smile. They are funny looking birds when they are eating and often come into our front yard in groups of 3-5 to peck deep into the ground with their long bills. They look so much like the chickens back on our farm that I sometimes call them “Florida chickens”.

One of the delightfully strange thing about the Ibis however is that when they fly they transform themselves from a clumsy chicken like creature into a thing of beauty. They epitomize the concept of a leap of faith. They lift off the ground with a spring from their long slender legs and then spread their wings amazingly wide and then quietly and gracefully glide away.

Though I chuckle at their silly appearance I also see in my Florida Chickens a bit of myself. With this virus raging through our state and my own personal health issues I have often laid awake at night focusing on my struggles. I desperately peck deep into the soil below me searching for a way out. All the while God has been watching and wondering when I will remember that He created me to fly. He has been trying to remind me that instead of looking for just an earthly solution I need to look up to Him with faith. It is simply time to spread those wings and flying must begin with a leap into the air above. Today might be just the perfect time to stretch the wings God gave us. We might find out that we will not only look a lot better, but we also discover that right now only faith can carry us any farther on the journey that God has planned!

Blessed

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;  the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26 NIV

About a year and a half ago my wife and I retired and moved to Florida. Moving meant getting used to a new neighborhood, finding new doctors and most importantly of all finding a new place to call our church home. Moving from a small Brazilian church to an American mega-church was in many ways great. It was awesome praising God together with so many people and it is a joy witnessing new baptisms monthly. But the end of our Sunday services always felt like an important something was left out. This week I realized that what I was missing was the blessing from the book of Numbers that our pastor had always prayed. I was suddenly so sorry for just taking his blessing for granted. (I sent a message to him yesterday thanking him).

One of the really neat cultural things we learned from our Brazilian church was the concept of blessing. Not only in church was blessing a big deal, but even in the home. In the older generation after families got together for a visit (always with lots of food!) the children could not leave with asking the older relatives for bênçãos (blessings). “Bencoes tio (Uncle), Bencoes pa-pai(Daddy) or bencoes vo-vo (Grampa)” they would ask as they took the hands of the older relatives. Did you ever stop to realize how many of the blessings that God gives us that we take for granted? Maybe even just as importantly have we considered how important it is for us to use every opportunity that we have to bless others.

The blessing our pastor always prayed was the one that God commanded Aaron the High Priest to bless the people of Israel with. I’m not sure if this is an illustration of God’s grace or His sense of humor. After all God was asking the same man who had made the golden calf while Moses was up on the mountain to bless His people! So don’t think that because you have messed up with your family, friends or church that God cannot also entrust you with a blessing to give. One part of God’s healing process in our lives is to find ourselves at a place where we can impart blessings to others. So this coming Sunday when you leave church whether on-line or in person, don’t think lightly of the blessing given to you and remember to take advantage of the chance to bless others. Have a blessed week everyone!

What Am I Worth Today?

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:30-31 ESV

I remember the day when we brought our first child home. We just held him in our arms, amazed by everything about him. From his tiny toes to the softness of his skin every detail to us was beautiful. We were discovering the delight of experiencing that life is God’s first gift. It is not something to throw away, treat cheaply or forget. Even if no one else was impressed with our baby we were entirely convinced that he was a treasure.

So if we as imperfect parents loved our son so much, imagine how much God values every one of us. He isn’t impressed by how much money we have in the bank; our family’s status or the color of our skin. He isn’t worried if we are beautiful, smart or strong or even if we can do all sorts amazing things. In fact the good news is that no matter what anyone else in the universe thinks God values us because we are His creation. He has specially designed us and has chosen to give us life. He is busy counting even the hairs on our head because He loves us. He sent Jesus whose own hair was covered with a crown of thorns to show how much we are worth to Him. Remember the words of Jesus “Don’t be afraid. You are of far more value than you know.” Jesus valued us more than His own life so that we could trust Him with ours and be with Him forever!