Encouragement

Facing Giants With Prayer

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He heard me and He delivered me from all my fears. Psalms 34:1-4

When anybody mentions King David, probably the first story that comes to their mind is when he fought and beat Goliath with a only sling. But the main reason behind David’s victory was not just his courage. There were many courageous soldiers in the army of Israel but they lacked something one thing that David had. What was his secret? David’s victory in battle was because, long before he knew how to fight, he had learned how to pray. He had the confidence to face Goliath, and later rule a kingdom and maybe most important of all; find forgiveness when he had sinned, because he had cried out to God in prayer God all his heart! Here are just a few of the treasured truths we have today, because David sought the Lord:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts Psalm 28:1

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51:1

Today’s video leads us through that attitude of surrender and praise that will help us face whatever giants that we are facing in our own lives. This session includes I Surrender All and My Jesus I Love Thee

Confessing Your Fears

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.  Psalm 34:4

A pastor of mine once had a job working on steel towers hundreds of feet tall. He talked with me one day about the process of training that men went through to be able to join the crew. One phrase that he often said was, “Any man who says he isn’t afraid is a liar!” I believe that King David would have agreed with my pastor. He didn’t try convincing God that he was courageous. David’s response to the fear that he felt was to cry out to the Lord. He knew that God already knew that he was terrified. He wasn’t trying to fool God or anyone else. David knew of only one place to go and that was to his knees! Like a child shouting for his father’s help David unhesitatingly cried to God. Just as you will never convince a child not to cry out when hurt, so we need to know that God is not putting us to the test to see how much pain we can withstand.

low angle view of electric post

Photo by icon0.com on Pexels.com

The entire mission of Jesus Christ while on earth was summed up in a single word, “Immanuel” He is God with us. He willing came to Bethlehem to be with us. He willingly was rejected by his own people, even at times by his own family so we would never have to be alone. Jesus knows the fact that we have lived all of our lives in fear of death. Jesus came to bring us life, not to tell us to keep a stiff upper lip. Admitting ours fears to God is nothing to be ashamed of; in fact it is our first step towards courage!

 

Finding Contentment

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

If there’s one thing I’m learning during this enforced time of semi- isolation it is just how simple our needs really are. During these six weeks we celebrated our 47th anniversary with takeout and flowers delivered to the house. Our children and friends called to congratulate us and 50 more sent love and greetings on Facebook while they chuckled at those old wedding pictures

We have haven’t been to church but we have had church online and learned the value of listening and worshipping at home. Our small group was cancelled but people are keeping in touch with messages and phone calls. Being unable to be physically present with others we are learning how important it is to pray for one another. And through it all life has inexorably become both quieter and more content.

Maybe we are becoming content because for the first time in a long while we are seeing how helpless we are and how strong the arms of God that draw us ever closer to Him!