God’s Hope

He Is Knocking – Part 1

/ pastorpete51

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:19-20 KJV

This verse wasn’t written just for folks who had gold stars on their Sunday school papers. In fact this is the church who Jesus just got done telling that he was ready to spit them out because they were like lukewarm water! But at the end of His rebuke  Jesus reminds me of my Dad telling me He only was spanking me because he loved me. Here is the first of two messages of hope for those of us who have been lovingly spanked.

The wonderful news is that He is standing right outside  our door not only today but every day. Whether we have been as pure as the Virgin Mary or as sinful as the woman caught in the act of adultery; Jesus stands outside waiting for our response to His knock. Why not fling open the door every morning and invite Him in? How does that work? Let’s imagine being inside the door of a home in the days of the apostles.

First Jesus says that if we will open the door He will come in and sit down with us at our table.  In that time the first thing to do for a guest would be to kiss Him on the cheek in greeting. My father from the old school Italian tradition often kissed me like that and as a teenager it was way more than I wanted! His kiss told me that He was delighted to call me his son and that anything I needed he was prepared to give. My father was always more generous with me than I deserved.

Next a guest upon entering the home would be provided a basin of  water and a servant who came to wash his feet. Our humble repentance  of  everything  displeasing to him is both our loving duty and our privilege. Once we open the door He willingly comes in and allows us to wash His feet which are clean then remember that He has chosen to wash our feet that are dirty. Last the host put a few drops of olive oil on his palms to wipe the guest’s hair clean from the  dust of the road. The oil that we can give Him at the doorway  is our joyful and grateful praise that He has  come. He is at every one of our doorways this morning knocking. The sooner we run to fling open the door. The sooner the Lord will come in.  Why wait even one more moment?1546260575853_image.jpg

 

Is That a Trumpet?

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I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.             Revelation 1:10 NRSV

It might seem strange that God’s voice sounded like a trumpet, but in John’s day the trumpet was commonly used for a number of things. The trumpet was actually a ram’s horn called a shofar and was blown at the beginning and end of religious festivals. The trumpet also called the public together for meetings and was sounded for armies to advance in battle. We should not be afraid when God blows a trumpet in our lives because is a sign He loves us and has a message we need to hear.

Shofar

The apostle John had been deported and imprisoned on an island as far from home as he had ever been. But in his isolation, rather than surrendering to despair John worshiped. Few of us experience those circumstances, but like John, in our own times of difficulty God is with us and, we can hear his voice.

Prayer: Father recently I have been battling fears and feelings of isolation. Thank you that You remember where I am and are blowing a trumpet so I can hear your voice in my life today!

The Other Side of the Hill

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For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  Romans 8:24

 

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In the town where I spent my teen-aged years there is a hill we called Mount Pleasant. On most days it was just another rolling green hill. But on some mornings you drove out of that sunshine into a deep impenetrable fog bank. Though the fog usually covered no more than a half of mile of the summit, it was terrifying. The only safe way through was to slow down and keep your eyes on the yellow center line. The most dangerous thing was to stop because then you became a target of the next car that came speeding along. But if you could just force yourself to just keep going, in just a few moments you would drive back out into sunshine.

Fog banks come to all of our lives. A single phone call and a visit to the doctor who told us that my wife needed surgery to remove a mass loomed ahead like a blinding fog. Everything around us seemed dark. Our lives slowed to a crawl. Days blurred into nights as my wife struggled through a painful week in the hospital after her surgery. Ahead lay more months of difficult recovery then more months of chemotherapy.

Through that time we were ever so slowly passing through our fog bank. We were learning how to pray together, and be gentle and honest with each other as we both struggled with our fears. But God’s promise to guide us through our own valley of shadows stood true. When life slowed to a snail’s pace the lines on the road of God’s promises remained and showed us the way – even if just one inch at a time! God stayed with us and carried us through. Today we are driving back out into a sunshine season with gratitude to God, our friends and family. But now we see with a hope, that no matter what dense clouds lie ahead, our sunshine road will be just on the other side of the hill.