Daily devotion

Where is My Heart Today?

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment 
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 
Matthew 6:21

Monday to Friday my boss always followed the same routine. He’d unlock the office, make a pot of coffee, and with his first cup in hand, he’d check the Wall Street Journal to see how his investments were doing. Of course, today you could just open an app on your cell phone, but the idea remains the same. We focus each day on what we have invested in.

Every morning God gives us a treasure of incalculable worth – 24 hours. As we open our eyes and take our first breath, we begin to invest the treasure of our time. Some good investments are simple, like praying, reading the Bible or kissing our children good-bye before they head off to school. But there have been some days when I faced complex responsibilities, frustrating conflicts, and unexpected difficulties, that things just began to spin out of my control.

Will I still spend time listening to my child talk about their day when I am tired and late for an appointment? Am I still ready to apologize for harsh words I said to my wife this morning? Did I congratulate the person who got the promotion I was hoping for? Each time we choose other people and God’s plan over ours, we are investing in things that have eternal value. Every visit to a hospital room, every need quietly met, every tear shed in prayer are investments in things we may never see or touch while here on earth. Every one of our hours, minutes and seconds that pass through our hands will be spent by the time the day is done. Jesus said that how we choose to invest them will determine where our hearts will be. As we drift off to sleep, maybe we should ask ourselves, “Where was my heart today?”

The Story of Two Parrots

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments 
Seek the Lord while he may be found;
 call upon him while he is near; Isaiah 55:6 ESV
If we have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then we are on the way to be with Him in Heaven. But how we will get there are what our journey will be like is in large part up to us. Today's verse calls us to seek the Lord while He may be found. Jesus also told us, that if we seek, then we would find. Are we seeking to walk closer with Him? This week as we sang the hymn, "When We All Get to Heaven", I shared a story of helping a friend of ours to move. This lady had lots of animals, including a dog, three cats, two tanks of fish and two large birds which were either parrots or macaws (Maybe my bird loving readers can explain the difference for me). We saved those birds for the last trip, but their cages were so big that there was only enough space for one of them to ride up front with me. The other, I wedged in between the boxes in the back of my pickup, and then covered him with a thick blanket. The good news was that everyone made it safely to our friend's new apartment. The bad news was that the parrot (or macaw) in the back was terrified when he got there! Susan told us it took him a week to get back to normal! The question I have for you today, is "How do you want to get to heaven?" If your salvation is assured because you have received Christ as your Savior and Lord, then I am delighted. But as you journey along through life, how close you walk with Jesus will determine the joy you will experience and be able to share with others along the way. So how would you like to arrive in heaven? Do you want to ride up front with Jesus or be wedged in between the boxes in the back with a blanket over your cage? Just a thought as you start this new week and I hope you will enjoy our hymn singing at Sunshine Christian Village from this past Saturday. If we seek the Lord while He may be found, He will give us a far more blessed journey along the way!

Revival Begins With God

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

I have often heard that revival must begin with me, and while that sounds good, it is not what the Bible teaches. Over and over the scriptures make it clear, that God’s true revival always begin with Him. When we think of revival, we often mean some scheduled series of meetings, “We are having revival meetings next week.” We tell people. Or, “Pastor Thompson preached at Last year’s revival.” But revival in the Bible is what happened when Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. Yes, Mary and Martha had begged Jesus to come, and we must also earnestly pray. But no one imagined much less scheduled the resurrection of Lazarus. In fact, Lazarus himself had nothing to do with it. He certainly wadn’t exercising faith or interceding. He was dead! Mary and Martha were weeping and their friends mostly just wondered what was going on. But God had something amazing on His schedule that day. Let’s also pray that He would remember us today. May God come and do what only He can do. Revive us again, show mercy and grace to His children and reveal Himself in love and power to those who have not yet met Him. 

O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember Habakkuk 3:2 NKJV