Daily devotion

From the Rising of the Sun

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment 
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. Psalm 113:3

Years ago, we had a chorus that used this Psalm. I never stopped to think much about what this meant when we sang the words. I had always just thought that we simply needed to praise God all day long, every day. Then the Holy Spirit began to show me a picture of my life. God has given each of us an amazing chance in life, no matter how long or how short it is to be. From our earliest days when we just begin to speak, we can begin to praise the name of the Lord. He can be precious to us, or we can choose to neglect him. Jesus continues calling us, as our sun rises and strengthens to noonday and even to the evening shadows. Some of us come in the morning; some come in the early afternoon and some not until our sun is starting to set. God is always looking for the opportunity to enter into our life. He wants to come and give us life for however many moments we have.His name is still to be praised wherever we are. God is delighted with early morning praise formed on the lips of children. God is honored by praise that rises from excited young people and God is lovingly receives quieter praise from the hearts of runners with tired legs, who are nearing the end of the race. God’s name is always to be praised. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the Name of the Lord is to be praised!

Stopping in our Tracks

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments 
 And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.  Luke 17:16 ESV

On our recent trip, one morning, I noticed that, instead of being thankful, I was doing a lot of complaining. My bed was too hard, (but it was clean): the air conditioner was too loud (But it worked well), the breakfast served at the hotel was skimpy, (But someone had come in at 5 AM to prepare it for me). I asked God to forgive my ungrateful attitude and began recalling the many times when Jesus gave thanks. He thanked God, for the five loaves and two fish, before they were multiplied. He thanked God for always hearing His prayers before Lazarus was raised from the dead. Even on, “The night when He was betrayed,” Jesus took bread and gave thanks. So ashamed of my own petty griping, I wondered how I could become grateful like Him. But as asked for forgiveness, God began to show me that “Giving thanks” was not something He was asking me to feel, rather it was an action that He expected me to do.

God wants us to have the thankfulness of the man in today’s verse. This guy was nobody special. He was simply just one of ten lepers, who came to Jesus for healing. All ten of them looked to God for help. All of them, prayed, asking for mercy, all of them obeyed what Jesus told them to do, and all of them were joyful when they saw that they had been healed. But the Samaritan was unique because he stopped in his tracks and returned to give thanks. If we are to learn gratitude, we need to do the same. Instead of trying hard to work up a grateful feeling, we need to just stop in the tracks of our fussing and moaning, come back to Jesus, and simply give Him thanks!

Good-bye Melinda

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 KJV

Melinda loved puppies and horses, goats and bunnies. Her favorite trips were to the Amish farm in Strassburg where she could hold, feed and pet them all, and how we treasured our family visits with her there. How fragile all of our lives are will be told to us again today at her memorial service. Yet, while we are weeping and wondering all the why’s of her suffering and why she left so soon, I know she is now rejoicing in the presence of Jesus. For those of us who know Christ, the treasure we carry inside will never be lost, grow old or be destroyed. In the shortness of her time here, Melinda left her smile and special joy in seeing a reflexion of God in even His tiniest creatures. And we who are left behind for just a few more years must remember that our weeping today will only last for a short night, but real joy will come in God’s eternal morning. Good-bye sweet Melinda. See you again in God’s own time.