God’s love

He Counts Every Hair

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30 KJV

Some people have fond memories of their dads taking them hunting or fishing and while these are great personal stories, my special times with my dad instead revolved around him cutting my hair. To you that might seem strange, but when you come from a line of barbers and hairdressers, it is just normal family stuff. What stands out most in my memory is how Dad held little snippets of my hair between his fingers and one by one meticulously trimmed them and then finished off by shaving the edges with his straight razor.

This is my grandfather’s actual barber set circa 1915

At the time, this all seemed pretty ordinary to me, but as I reflect back I realize this was my dad’s way of showing he loved me. In today’s verse Jesus teaches us that God expresses His love, the way my father did, not by tears, or some sort of emotional display, but by painstakingly examining and counting our hairs. Numbering our hairs, is a lot different than saying, God knows everything so he knows how many are on our head. God has actually taken the time to count every hair on every head throughout the whole world. It is His way of saying that He knows about us because He has counted the details of our lives one by one and then He gave His life in every detail for us when the hairs of His head were crowned with thorns for every one of us.

The Niagara Falls of God’s Love

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

I would like to thank Rev James Laurence who writes the blog, My Pastoral Ponderings for inspiring me to write today about the unstoppable power of the love of Christ. His post on the Awe of God got my mind turning back to our time at Niagara Falls. I remember standing transfixed as I witnessed the power of the falls and think they are a clue that God has left us to remind us of Him.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV

The Niagara River at just 38 miles in length is barely a creek in comparison to the 2,340 mile long Mississippi. But there is something about the Niagara that draws people from all around the world, and that is Niagara Falls. There that little river crashes 167 feet down to the rocks below in an astonishing display of raw power. It is an unforgettable sight but without it’s waterfall the Niagara would only be remembered as an obscure stream, marking the boundary between Canada and the United States.

Niagara reminds me of another short river that started with the man named Jesus. His early life in the village of Nazareth seemed uneventful to neighbors as he worked in a carpenter shop and played with His brothers and sisters in the streets. But His life picked up speed after he turned thirty years of age and was baptized by John. It flowed at a quickening pace as He healed a leper, ate dinner with sinners and gave sight to a blind beggar. Then what had been the gentle current of His life began to rush ahead as Jesus calmed a storm by his word and raised a man from the dead. Yet the most awesome display of all did not come till one dark afternoon as they nailed Jesus to a cross. There His final breath was swept over the edge of the waterfall of death. But the river of His life did not end there. Just like the Niagara River continues to flow past the falls so the love of Christ has rushed out of the grave and into our hearts. Now its depth and power compel us ahead because nothing – no nothing is more powerful than the waterfall of the love of Christ!

Photo by Anthony Rodriguez on Pexels.com

The Highway of Love

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

These verses are God’s highway giving us both guardrails and a center line. The guard rails tell us all that love is not. They keep us from veering off to the left by wishing we had what others do. When we look there we lose sight of gratefulness for all God has given us. On the other side is a guard rail to keep us from boasting. Because it is so easy when we have been blessed, to want to tell others how special we are.

Instead we need to keep our eyes on the center line that tells us all love is. Love is patient and love is kind, stopping to help someone with a flat tire by the roadside and giving space to the person in front who is driving slowly. Love is joyful when others find their way back onto the highway. Love stays up all night to help the person at the wheel to stay awake. And at the end of the day those guard rails of God’s love keep us from crashing, but it is the center line that will lead us all the way home!