God’s Faithfulness

But This I call to Mind

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 
Lamentation 3:21-23 ESV

When we look around at our society, there are some days when we wonder how things could possibly get any worse. But more than 2,500 years ago as Jeremiah wrote today’s passage, things were worse: far worse. His home city lay in ruins; many people had either been killed by the Babylonians, or simply died of starvation during the siege of Jerusalem. Afterwards Jeremiah reacted much as you or I would have done – he wept uncontrollably. Though his own life had been spared, everything around him had been burned, torn down or stolen. But instead of giving up, he tells us that he called to mind God’s promises.

First, he called to mind, that God’s steadfast love had not changed. It was not altered by their failure or success, or even their sins. His care was not based on His people’s performance, but on the unchanging nature of His heart. And today, God still so loves the world so much that He still sends His only Son into the world by the good news of the Gospel. It is still true that anyone who believes Him will NOT perish but begin to experience eternal life. Now that kind of love gives me hope, and yet God is not done!

Then Jeremiah tells us that God’s mercies never come to an end. Yes, His nation was defeated, and their enemies were busy plundering and burning the temple, yet God wasn’t finished with His people. The people of Jeremiah’s day discovered, there are times when God allows His children to reap what they have been sowing and stands back to let us experience the results of our selfish choices. But God isn’t through with us! He hasn’t now, nor will He ever, stop being merciful to His children. Our very real hope is that even when we reach the bottom of the barrel of our sin, God is still willing to reach down and pull us out, when we cry to Him for mercy and put our hope in Him alone!

Last of all Jeremiah remembered that God’s faithfulness is not dependent on ours. God stands by His promises and faithfully keeps covenant with His people. At the Last Supper, while Jesus was blessing the bread and passing the cup, one disciple was running off to betray Him, another would soon deny knowing Him and all the rest were arguing about which one of them was the most important. Why would Jesus choose to lay down His life for them? Because Jesus was not giving a new philosophy to be understood, a new club to join or a cause to defend. Jesus was offering His own body and blood for a New Covenant for them to receive. So, the next time you take the bread and drink from the cup as you receive communion, remember. Remember His loving sacrifice, receive the mercy that has never come to an end and call to mind once again the unchanging faithfulness of God in Jesus Christ at Calvary!

My Life is Just a Seed

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
My life is just a seed that He planted in my heart
By Lord Jesus who my every thought has known
And He paid the price by blood to claim me as His own
In the mystery of a love before the start

And it has grown in days of rain and through the times of drought
While busy years of youth passed in a whirl
And everything was changing in my world
The words of Christ stood firm against the doubt 

Now it’s time of autumn leaves with harvest near
And He’s coming soon to gather children home
Forever to the place near Heaven’s throne  
Where my seed will in His hand rest without fear 

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Matthew 13;23 ESV

My Life is Just a Seed
By Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2023 all rights reserved
Photo by Ofir Eliav on Pexels.com

Quiet Sunday Thoughts – Abiding in Jesus

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; 
for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5 ESV
Photo by Elizabeth Tr. Armstrong on Pexels.com

Just as a branch must continue to remain a part of a tree through all four seasons, so we must remain by faith in Christ. He calls us to continue believing in, trusting and relying on Him through Winters of difficulties, Springtimes of change, and long hot summers of hard work to come to the Fall harvest full of fruit. If you are feeling unworthy or like a failure in your walk with Jesus today, know that this fruitfulness that doesn’t depend on your successes, abilities or strengths. In fact, God takes great delight in our weakness, because it brings us to depend entirely on Jesus! He promises that if we remain in Him, then He will see to it that at the harvest time which He has chosen, that we will be filled with much fruit! Have a blessed Sunday all!