Daily devotion

I’d Rather Have Jesus at Sunshine

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 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 NLT

Just as Paul had almost finished His race, many of my friends in memory care have almost finished theirs. This morning it was such an awesome time with our song session at Sunshine Home. There were a few more than our normal crowd and almost half of the sweet ladies were singing quite animatedly. It felt so much like church that as we closed in prayer and said amen, one of the nurses shouted, “Hallelujah!” Now I am pretty sure she was being lighthearted, but it did go to show that God showed up today and we could all feel His presence as we worshipped. I hope you will enjoy my own rendition of this song along with the West Wing Singers. Have a blessed week everybody!

I Hate to Edit!

/ pastorpete51 / 12 Comments 
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. Hebrews 12:6

I enjoy writing poetry, prose or even an occasional song because I love putting into words the emotions and ideas that come bubbling up in my heart. But just as much as I enjoy putting words together, I hate and despise having to edit them. While editing I feel as if the joy of writing gets lost in the weeds of parsing sentence structure, checking for misspelled words or switching adjectives. There are even days, when I just feel like deleting everything and starting over! But I have learned that unless I stick with the annoyances of editing. I will face the embarrassment of discovering my mistakes in print, after my article is published!

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A few verses before today’s passage, God is named as the author of our salvation, and here we are reminded that He is also the editor of our daily lives. I am so glad that God does not hate to edit. He doesn’t just wad us up and toss us in the waste basket when we sin, He lovingly edits and corrects all His children. Some days I feel as if everything needs to be deleted and my plans redrawn. But the Bible reminds me that changes and corrections are a normal part of the life of all God’s children. None of us gets to go to heaven unedited. The author of our salvation knows best how every line of our story should be written and He has an amazing ending in mind. So, let’s put our manuscript on our editor’s desk and ask Him to rewrite it His way, all the way to the end!

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Is God Really Listening?

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. Psalm 28:2 NKJV

Have you ever noticed that when our children are babies, they love to tug on our hair, grab on to our noses and play a game of peek-a-boo? Their persistence and tireless delight at this are a bit puzzling until we realize that what they really want is for us to see and hear them. That longing to be seen and heard is David’s prayer. He asks for help, hopes for God to bring a solution to his problems, but more than anything else, David wants to know that God is listening. The difference between, just wanting an answer and wanting for God to listen, is like the difference between ordering a new game for your kids to play and taking the time to sit down and play it with them. One will occupy them and keep them out of your hair, but the other will give you both time to get to know one another better. Sure, God can answer our prayers in an immediately, but what He also longs for us to get know Him better and realize that He is always listening. So, let’s be grateful, not only for the answers to our prayers, but just like King David, let’s be grateful that God hears our prayers and listens to our pleas for mercy!

Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. Psalm 28:6
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