Daily Verse

Growing By the Stream

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree
planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 
Psalm 1:2-3 ESV

Having spent most of my career working on trees, I learned that the American Sycamore is the largest deciduous tree in North America. Though its wood is not very good for furniture or firewood, its multi-colored peeling bark and beautiful open branches make it a tree that people love. One of the other amazing things about the sycamore is its choice of habitat. In regions that are heavily forested, you may travel for miles without spotting a single one. But when you come to the riverbank, you will find hundreds. That is because God has built into its DNA the desire to send its roots out along the edge of the rushing waters and deep into the soil around that stream.

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In today’s verse, David paints us a picture of a person, who by meditating on God’s word can be like just that Sycamore. He chooses to live, not just in the same general area as the stream, but right on the edge. This is not just a, “I’ll stop by on Sunday for a sip or two.” lifestyle. This is a, “When I wake in the morning, the first thing I need is to hear is God’s voice.” relationship. The sycamore grows to be the largest by its daily dependence on the river. Secondly, the sycamore grows in such a way that it never withers. Even when the surrounding countryside is decimated by drought it just keeps growing and, “Its leaf also does not wither.” We need this kind of fellowship with Jesus when we are going through tough times. Without being daily immersed in God’s promises, we may hold on to being a Christian, but lose the fruitfulness and the joy. We need the kind of fruitfulness that doesn’t stop even during times of war, earthquakes or political upheaval. It doesn’t stop, because its source flows from the throne of God in Heaven! Last of all, God promises that anyone who remains rooted and meditating on His word, will prosper. This doesn’t mean money in the bank, safety in disasters or acclaim by others. This prosperity is the ability to do everything that God calls us to do today. Has God asked you to bake a cake for your neighbor, fix your grandmother’s car or visit a friend in the jail? He will help the cake to rise, give the ability to change the brakes and at the check in window at the prison, give favor with the guards. God does this, without any special performance on our part, because His blessing comes by grace that flows from Calvary. He asks us to be like that tree by fully trusting in Jesus Christ, not just for salvation but for everything in life. Then we can grow by the banks of the river of His word and remain delightedly rooted forever in Him!

Listening at the Nursing Home

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
James 1:19 NLT

When my wife and I were learning Portuguese, from our friends at the Brazilian church where we served on staff, we found that listening was key. We had to be quiet and pay close attention as people were speaking. Another fun way was to join in as we saw the words for the worship songs, heard others singing around us and finally a tiny bit at a time ventured to join them with our own voices. Then, little by little, as we increased our vocabulary and improved our dreadful accents, we were able to enter into conversations with our friends.

The same kind of listening is important when serving in a long-term care facility. It does little good and sometimes much harm, to simply come in with all of our own ideas of what we think the people need. Life in long-term care, whether it is assisted living, memory care or a traditional skilled nursing facility is an entirely different world from living in our neighborhood. Just as when we were learning Portuguese, it is hard for most of us to be quiet long enough to hear what the people, who God has sent us to serve, are saying. In spite of the fact that we have two ears and one mouth, I find that talking is far easier than taking time to listen. But only listening long enough to know the hearts of our dear friends will teach us how to share the message of the love of Jesus Christ in a language that they can understand! So, lets close our mouths more and open our ears wider and ask God to help us to listen. Only then will we be able to know what to say, when God calls us to share with others the message of the hope of Jesus Christ.

What is the Name of Your Storm?

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 
Mark 4:37-38 ESV

It is interesting that in generations past no one thought much about what to call a particular storm.  But in 1953, the National Hurricane Center figured out that naming a storm got people’s attention. Since the point of their forecasting was to help folks prepare, they decided that naming was a pretty important thing! The same is true for our spiritual storms. One thing I have learned as I have gotten older is that we rarely face the same storm twice. Circumstances I faced as a twenty-five-year-old with toddlers running around our apartment were certainly different from waiting up late nights waiting for them to come home when they were teenagers. Today our children have children of their own who are teenagers and we lay awake some nights praying for them. Someone once said, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” But the real truth of the matter is that our storms really do change both in kind as well as ferocity and the only thing that remains the same is Jesus. Even though it may seem that He is asleep while we are going through life threatening circumstances, the truth is that He knows what we are going through and He is ready to come and help when we cry out to Him. No matter what our storm is named today, we are never forgotten, or abandoned. Jesus gave His life on the cross as the sky darkened and the earth shook beneath His feet. But as the blood flowed down the timbers, from the nails that pierced His hands and feet, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” The cross has finished everything we need to deliver us from our storm, to still our seas and to calm the trouble around us. No matter what our storm’s name we can know that He loves us, He cares about our problems He is showing us new ways to trust Him, no matter what name of the hurricane that lies ahead!

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