faith

Invisible Footprints

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. Psalm 77:19 ESV

Once when I was a teenager, I was wondering what it must have been like for Peter to walk on the water, so I dangled my foot over the edge of a pool and put it lightly on the surface. Immediately I decided that his faith must have been a lot stronger than mine! When I read about God’s footprints, I am always reminded of that moment. Interestingly, the idea of going across water is repeated three times in the Bible. First, we see this when the Israelites were cornered with their back to the Red Sea and the Egyptian army in hot pursuit, God had Moses lift His staff over the waters and He sent a wind to blow till the sea parted till in the morning His people were able to cross on dry ground. With soldiers chasing them on chariots, this seemed an obvious choice! Then, forty years the children of Israel came to another water crossing. It was at the Jordan River, and this time they needed to cross if they were to enter the promised land. At the Red Sea, God parted the waters for them, but this time the priests had to walk down to the water’s edge and actually get their feet wet. Then, the water suddenly stopped flowing and everyone crossed. Though this challenged the faith of the priests, it was still a pretty easy choice for everyone else. But the third time we see God’s footprints is an entirely different affair. This time we find the disciples in a boat being tossed on rough seas on a dark night. Suddenly out on top of the dark waters they see someone walking across the waves coming towards them. These guys were all terrified. Then, Jesus called out, “Don’t be afraid, it is I” Sure we know that Peter made a stab at some water walking himself that night. What amazes me most is not Peter’s ability to defy gravity, but that he left an example for us to follow if we are to walk by faith with a God who leaves His invisible footprints in the sea!

A Picture Frame in Poetry

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
The picture frame that limits
Our quickly flying years
Marks a border to the canvas
On which our life appears

And day by day the choices
Of how we use our time
Are painting our life’s portrait
For those we leave behind

So why not give the artist’s brush
By faith To Jesus Christ?
Only He can paint the love of God
In our picture frame of life

 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, 
so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 
Ephesians 2:10 NLT

A Picture Frame of Life by Peter Caligiuri copyright 2022 all rights reserved
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Photographic Evidence

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve but believe.” John 20:27 ESV

According to the website L-Tron; photographic evidence that is admissible in court includes, “relevancy, accuracy, authenticity and originality. ” That means showing the time, date and location of the image. Some say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but my recent project has made me realize how temporary pictures are. Over the last month I have worked my way through thousands of family photographs in an effort to restore and preserve them in digital format before they are lost forever to darkening, fading and falling apart. I see the young faces of my parents and grandparents and snapshots of our children at play, and it reminds me of how quickly things change.

The Apostle Thomas had some doubts about the reliability of the eyewitness testimony of His friends. Thomas asked for something more reliable. He didn’t want just words. He demanded to be able to touch the Lord’s wounds for himself before he would believe. Maybe Thomas worried that his friends were just imagining things in their grief or that they had invented a story in order to offer false comfort. People over the ages call him “Doubting Thomas” as if he were different or that the others had never doubted. But the truth is that the only thing separating Thomas from the other guys on that room was experience. He had faithfully followed Jesus just as they had for three years. He had seen Jesus multiply bread, walk on water and wash their feet in the upper room. In fact, the only detail that separated Thomas from his friends was that he had missed being with them when Jesus first appeared.

Are you looking for something substantial to base your faith in this morning? Are you wondering like Thomas why others seem to have a vital link to the Savior, and you feel disconnected? You are in good company. Peter doubted, when he denied Jesus and again when he heard the women report they had seen the Lord. James and John doubted it was Jesus when they saw Him walking on the water and again at HIs first resurrection appearance until Jesus started eating some bread and fish! We all have our doubts, but the good news is that we have a Savior who knows our doubts, loves us anyway and comes to each of us in different ways. He may walk alongside of you while you are grieving or appear at dawn after a long sleepless night of fruitless fishing. He may look like the gardener or appear in a dream while you are in a storm. He knows that we need evidence even more reliable than even photographs. He loves us and comes to show us His wounds, when we need Him most. But Jesus also challenges us to choose to hold on to faith and to let go of doubts. We can’t hold onto both. Yes, Thomas doubted for a moment, but He spent the rest of His life believing and even dying for His Lord. Don’t give up if you find yourself struggling with your faith. Just remember that doubts are only temporary, but faith in Jesus is forever!